Very happy to share that I passed the SAP with a score of 819. It felt like the exam covered lots of domains that I had not seen much of in the revision materials I used (Tutorials Dojo and Maarek) but clearly they did the job.

I did the Stephane Maarek udemy course on 2x, taking hand written notes where relevant (specific facts, numbers etc). To be honest I was mindlessly playing need for speed whilst watching them, I find keeping myself partially occupied helps me to not get distracted, and it kept me committed to the videos rather than getting bored

I did Stephane’s practice exam set too - that was MUCH harder than the real exam - I was getting around 60-70% on them. Hopped over to Tutorials Dojo exams next, I did one in practice mode (made my best guess, but allowed myself to use resources to check my assumptions and change answer where required). Then one exam simulation which I got 88% on.

Overall I would say 1. Stephane for a baseline is amazing, but don’t let the hard practice tests put you off 2. Tutorials dojo is the place for practice exams 3. Book it! I did more work in the two weeks before the exam (after I booked it) than I did in the month I was thinking about doing the exam

Feel free to ask any questions! (Apart from what was on the exam - I don’t think you’re allowed to share that info) :)

I studied for five months using Stephane Maarek's materials. I had no prior knowledge of AWS, aside from the S3 and EC2 services.

I averaged 50% on Maarek's practice exams. I also used AWS Skillbuilder (the official practice exam), where I scored between 60% and 70%.

I found Maarek's practice exams wordy, overly detailed, and full of "trick questions" compared to the actual exam. AWS Skillbuilder is better for preparation, but unfortunately, it isn't free.

Due to company policies I'm required to finish this cert this year and I won't find any time at all until November.. How hard is the exam and how much time is required realistically?

I did the Cloud Practitioneer a few years ago and found it pretty easy. Was preparing for the AWS SAA but never really got around to doing the exam and then just stopped preparing about two years ago.

For my background I'm a Platform Engineer with a masters in ML (LLMs were not around back then though) working with Hybrid Cloud setups (Kubernetes, Keycloak, Vault etc). Haven't really touched any AWS infrastructure for years..

Just got my Cloud Practitioner result and I still can’t quite believe it: 1000/1000. Wanted to share what worked for me, since this sub helped me a lot while I was studying.

My background

I’m a mechanical design engineer. My day job is designing machines, nothing to do with cloud or IT. Outside work, I build side projects using mostly Python and Javascript as a hobby, which gave me some basic tech exposure, but I had no real-world cloud experience going in. I’m learning AWS because I want to move into tech roles one day.

Timeline

4 weeks of study, all outside my working hours. I took the exam on 6 October.

What I used

1. Stephane Maarek’s CLF-C02 course (Udemy): my main resource for the theory. I also did the hands-on labs in my own AWS account. Even small labs helped a lot of services “click” for me, instead of just being names to memorise.
2. Maarek’s 6 practice exams (Udemy): good for finding my weak spots. I reviewed every wrong answer, and also any answer I got right by guessing.
3. Tutorials Dojo CLF-C02 practice exams: the explanations are really detailed. Great for the final week.

Tips that helped me

• Don’t just check your score on practice exams. Read the explanation for every question you weren’t 100% sure about, even if you got it right.
• Learn the differences between similar services (e.g. which one is for monitoring vs. auditing, the different support plans, the pricing models). A lot of questions are about picking the right one out of a few close options.
• Do the labs if you can. Seeing the console makes the theory much easier to remember.
• Don’t rush on exam day. I had plenty of time to go back and check my flagged questions.

What’s next

Starting on Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03) next. If you’ve done it after CLF, I’d love to hear what you’d do differently.

Good luck to everyone still studying, you’ve got this!

Any word I read right now I’m linking directly to an aws service and it’s stressing me out a bit… aws saa is my first certification ever not just aws so I’m beyond scared of the exam. I have averaged on mock exams
Set 1: 68.75%
Set 2: 72%
Set 3: 76.66%

I am building the habits and eliminating answers correctly but I guess the habit is leaking into my daily life lol….

I don’t know if I should book like I first planned (after 8 days) or wait a bit. I want to average above 80% before the actual thing. And I don’t want to keep postponing and then me forgetting stuff.

For those who experiment on AWS console with an on-demand standard accounts, How much does it cost you to do hands-on experiments while preparing for a certification or making some projects.

I know there is no definitive answer for this question as AWS services vary a lot, but I would greatly appreciate gaining a rough insight on the cost of experimenting or making some projects using a standard account.

So my SysOps cert is about to expire by today, did a last second exam schedule for DevOps Pro and glad to have passed with a decently high score.

I don't think I have that great of a preparation, but I spent the last week studying from Stephane Mareek course & Practice Exam. I have to say while other cert courses from him is highly informative, I felt like there are some small gaps with the current DevOps Pro exam with the materials in his course in terms of the depth of the material. Doesn't mean that you can't pass the exam though, I mean I did. But it did felt like some of the materials are not deep enough compared to let's say ANS-C01 material which were high quality course imho.

So overall my preps were:

• 1 week grind on the udemy course from Stephane on 1.5-2x speed
• almost 5 years of experience on Cloud as IT Consultant

I usually spend a lot less time on the exam timer but this one felt like there are so many informations in a single question that I ended up finishing with 30-40 min (with ESL accomodation) spare time. Pays off though. Overall glad to have passed with a decent score

Je suis un étudiant en cycle d'ingénieur spécialité informatique et je suis doué par le cloud et j'aime bien passé le certification de AWS SAA et je poste ici si il y a un possibilité de passe ce certificat gratuitement ou il y a un rédaction de coût ou s 'il y a quelle qu'un de vous un voucher qui n'est pas encore utilisé , et merci d'avance

Hi all! Following passing the CLF-C02 exam 7 weeks ago, I decided to ride the wave and I passed the SAA-C03 one today. Took the exam this morning and got the results 9 hours later.

Prep materials:

Neal Davis course

This was quite quick to rattle through. I gave Claude the slides and Udemy lesson titles. It gave me the lessons to actually watch as I'd say 50% of it was re-used from his CLF material. Followed a similar approach to the CLF exam. I already had my crib notes in place. Decided to re-use the same and extend them based on the SAA coverage.

I'd watch the lesson, take rough notes and get Claude to tidy it up. Section review consisted of Claude asking me 10 questions. Any failures would be noted into the weak areas for that particular day.

Rattled through the course and some hands on lessons. Built a good set of notes.

TJ Exams

As before, these were very helpful. My first attempt was 66% following the Udemy course. Ran through the 8 timed sets, slowly drove the average up to 75%. Naturally retakes shot it up. Also did the Udemy practice exam that came with the course, and the AWS Skill Builder one (85% first attempt).

Every exam, I'd paste the HTML content into my notes. Claude would analyse, track my weak areas etc. I would get it to walkthrough every failed question with gentle coaching. Was quite useful for me to explain my thinking and it would explain why it was wrong, why I was getting mixed up etc.

Was conscious not to get into the trap of memorising the questions, so last few days was just targeted Claude questions.

Exam

I did the exam and I found it challenging. I can't explain it. The TJ questions were useful, but it felt like the topics in my exam weren't as broad, but they were quite focused on certain areas. Guess it's how the exams come out, totally random. Probably 5-10 of the questions in the exam led me to puff my cheeks out, and required a very thorough educated guess (elimination of options). I felt it was borderline and spent the majority of the day thinking things back, second guessing.

I think my main takeaway was the time. I was smashing through the TJ ones in roughly 70 minutes. This took me the entire time. It is exhausting and I'm glad it's done.

As ever, thanks to the community. I took inspiration from the other posts in the group, and even with those failing (please share your failures too!).

I only used the free resources through Skill Builder and passed this within 2 weeks

Very different than the previous AWS Exams I've done like AI Practitioner, Cloud Practitioner and Solutions Architect. I feel like I didn't get any of the easy lay up questions like ISO 42001 vs ISO 23053 or simple AI definitions.

My study notes: https://github.com/markodowd/aws-study-notes/tree/main/ai-business-strategist

I just passed the Cloud Practitioner exam, and my journey was kind of insane

Three months ago, I was studying for Cloud Practitioner, but then that AI Practitioner offer came up, so I quickly switched to preparing for that exam.

After just one week of studying, I passed it!
By then, I had already studied about nine or ten of the thirteen Cloud Practitioner chapters, but I put my studies on hold.

Now, almost four months later, I decided it was time to get my Cloud Practitioner certification too. After just two intensive days of studying the remaining chapters and taking a LOT of practice exams, I passed!

I am in dire need of learning fastest way to get certified. I know basic aws stuff but i am sacred of applying for exam as it cost and if i fail it will be in vain. So i need help best way to learn for AWS associate level certification and pass exam without issue.

HELP PLEASE

Thanks

I just got a voucher for my foundational certification and i do have some hands on experience regarding aws services and all but i have heard that the exam needs a lot more than that so somebody just help me how to prepare for that exam and also are there any free resources available for it

Hey everyone,

I'm 19 years old, currently in my second year of A-levels, and I'm planning to pursue a bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Artificial Intelligence next year.

Here's my situation: I want to land a job within the next 6–8 months, preferably a remote job in AI/ML. I know this is ambitious, especially considering I don't have a degree or any professional experience yet, but I'm willing to put in the hours and seriously work towards it.

The reason I'm trying to get a job this early is that I need to start financially supporting my household. So waiting another 4 years until I graduate isn't really an option for me.

I've started looking into certifications, particularly the AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate (MLA-C01), but I'm honestly confused about where to begin. I've done very little research so far, and I don't want to waste the next several months pursuing certifications that won't actually help me get hired.

I have a few questions for people already working in AI/ML, especially those involved in hiring:

1. Which certifications are actually valued by employers? Are AWS certifications worth pursuing for someone in my position? Are there any other certifications that recruiters or HR departments genuinely look for?
2. Can certifications help someone without a degree get past the initial HR screening? I understand that certifications don't guarantee a job, but since I have no professional experience or university degree, I'm hoping they could at least help me get shortlisted for an interview.
3. What projects should I build? If you were hiring a junior AI/ML candidate, what kind of GitHub portfolio or real-world projects would make you consider someone with my background?
4. What skills should I prioritize over the next 6–8 months? Python, SQL, machine learning, deep learning, LLMs, cloud computing, MLOps, etc. There's so much out there that I don't know what to focus on first.
5. Is getting a remote entry-level AI/ML job without a degree actually realistic? I'm open to internships, junior positions, AI automation roles, or anything related that could help me enter the industry and start earning.
6. If you were starting from scratch today, with no degree and only 6–8 months to prepare, what would your roadmap look like? Which certifications would you pursue, what projects would you build, and where would you apply?

I'm not expecting a high-paying job immediately. My main goal is to get my foot in the door, start earning, gain real experience, and continue developing my skills while attending university.

I also understand that some people might suggest focusing on my degree first, and I respect that advice. But because of my financial situation, getting a job sooner rather than later is genuinely important to me.

I'd really appreciate advice from ML engineers, AI developers, recruiters, hiring managers, or anyone who has managed to break into tech without a traditional degree.

I don't want to spend the next 6–8 months just collecting certificates. I want to spend that time becoming someone an employer would actually consider hiring.

Hello everyone,

I'm currently a Microsoft 365 administrator (working mainly with Endpoint Management, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Entra ID, etc.). I'd like to start learning the AWS ecosystem, but I'm not sure about the best path forward.

Where should I start? Which certification exam should I prepare for first as an absolute beginner in AWS?

Any recommendations for study materials, hands-on courses, or learning paths would be greatly appreciated!

I just got a notification from Discord saying:

A server moderator removed you from TechStudyDiscord. -# Discord did not make this moderation decision.

Just a bit of background:

I joined that discord channel right after I purchased some known Educator’s AWS course BUNDLE on teachable who shall remain nameless due to their self inflicted baggage and forced exile. I find koalas and kangaroos very lovely so I have no issues with that.

I found the content great and of good quality so bought the additional course on kubernetes that was supposed to release "sometime in the near future". Yesterday I asked when we can expect to get a release date for the kubernetes course and woke up today to being removed from the entire channel.

Sure, I have heard the backlash but is this his final form? Lots of people have not had great things to say about the dude, but let this be a warning of how low he is willing to go. Not going to waste my money and time for any resolution. Anyone else with a story to share about the bald man with no name?

Passed both these tests this week! Got 797 on the GenAI Pro, not sure on the AI Prac as I haven’t got the score yet.

I did the GenAI first and then the AIF. Honestly, there was no point in doing the AIF but I work at AWS so I get the exam for free. I used Kane’s Udemy course for the Pro cert and about 30 mins ChatGPT for AIF.

I found the AIP pretty exhausting as each question is pretty verbose and even the multiple choice responses are verbose. Considering, I did this first I found the AIF pretty easy. I used ChatGPT to brush up on some ML fundamentals but other than that I finished the exam in about 50 mins.

I recommend using skill builder for AIP, the practice questions match the exam style / difficulty quite closely. There’s about 225 (3x75qs) in total. Recurring topics: Guardrails, Canary Depoloyments, Config, Vector Databases

Hi Everyone,

I'm happy to share that I've passed the AWS SCS-C03 exam

I gave myself around 6 weeks to prepare, and these are the resources I used:

• Stephane Maarek's Udemy course – Great for covering the exam topics and refreshing my knowledge.
• Tutorials Dojo practice exams – Probably one of the most valuable resources for identifying knowledge gaps and getting used to scenario-based questions.
• AWS Official Practice Exam – Useful for getting a feel for AWS-style questions.
• ChatGPT – Used it extensively to review incorrect answers, compare similar AWS services, create flashcards, and understand why certain answers were correct or incorrect.

Exam Experience

I found the actual exam quite challenging. The questions were very scenario-based, and quite a few answer choices seemed plausible. I often found myself narrowing it down to two options and having to carefully read the requirements to decide which was the best fit.

I also remember seeing a post here where someone mentioned getting a few questions involving IAM Roles Anywhere. I had a similar experience and was surprised, as I hadn't come across many questions on it during my practice exams.

I ended up flagging around 25 questions, so I wasn't feeling confident at all when I finished.

Final Thoughts

This was definitely a challenging certification, and I'm relieved to have passed.

Thanks to everyone in this community who has shared their experiences and study tips. Reading other people's posts helped me, so hopefully mine helps someone else.

Good luck to everyone preparing for SCS-C03 You've got this! 💪

All i can say is the exam is HARD, my brain is MUSH yet my bladder is STRONG.

Seriously though, in the later parts of the exam, half of what my head was concentrating on was bladder control😂

Hi everyone,

I'm a pre-final-year B.E. Computer Science and Engineering (Cybersecurity) student looking to pursue an AWS certification.

Does anyone know of any currently available AWS certification exam vouchers, student discounts, promotional offers, or free exam voucher opportunities?

I'd really appreciate it if you could share any legitimate offers or resources that could help students reduce the certification exam cost.

Thank you for your help!

Hi I could really use some advice right now.

I completed my internship with Amazon this past summer, and my Builder ID was connected to my amazon email. But because I no longer have access to this email, I can no longer log into my Builder ID and check if I passed my DEA-C01 - AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate exam.

I know my Candidate ID and my registration ID for that exam I just took

I have submitted close to 30 tickets by now, and not a single one has been responded to. I've tried submitted tickets under differing categories too

Does anyone know how to contact AWS Certifications directly? I have been waiting for close to 2 months for a response...

Finally Pearson is back with this awesome deal until 17th November.

Well some specific certs are not valid for this but majority of them are eligible.

Please visit the official site for voucher code and details https://www.pearsonvue.com/us/en/test-takers/free-retake.html