And if it did, was it because of what you learned during the training or because of the certification itself?
Ask HN: Did obtaining an AWS Solutions Architect certification help you?
1–10 of 18 posts
Re: Ask HN: Did obtaining an AWS Solutions Architect certification help you?
#2I got mine with very little studying, I happened to already be working within a lot of AWS tooling and knew some general cloud architecture concepts, so in my case it was more of a validation tool.
So far it’s hard to tell if it has helped with anything. I might have gotten a look for an interview with it. But that’s hard to say, companies don’t usually tell you what resume items made them interested.
I would imagine it would make sense to get one if you want to work for Amazon, or maybe another big company that likes certifications. I don’t know that it would help elsewhere.
Try to get your company to pay for it!
Re: Ask HN: Did obtaining an AWS Solutions Architect certification help you?
#3I got mine with very little studying, I happened to already be working within a lot of AWS tooling and knew some general cloud architecture concepts, so in my case it was more of a validation tool. So far it’s hard to tell if it has helped with anything. I might have gotten a look for an interview with it. But that’s hard to say, companies don’t usually tell you what resume items made them interested. I would imagine…
What level was it?
Re: Ask HN: Did obtaining an AWS Solutions Architect certification help you?
#4In general, the value of any certification is inversely proportional to how many are awarded. If they are easy to get and lots of people have one (think liberal arts diploma), they're not worth much.
For comparison purposes, you might look at other similar proprietary technical certifications that have been in the marketplace longer --- for example, RHCE or MCSE (now defunct).
Re: Ask HN: Did obtaining an AWS Solutions Architect certification help you?
#5In general, the value of any certification is inversely proportional to how many are awarded. If they are easy to get and lots of people have one (think liberal arts diploma), they're not worth much. For comparison purposes, you might look at other similar proprietary technical certifications that have been in the marketplace longer --- for example, RHCE or MCSE (now defunct).
Not really sure about that. I know for a fact that many companies ask about just to be able to bypass the interview part about AWS.
Re: Ask HN: Did obtaining an AWS Solutions Architect certification help you?
#6I got mine with very little studying, I happened to already be working within a lot of AWS tooling and knew some general cloud architecture concepts, so in my case it was more of a validation tool. So far it’s hard to tell if it has helped with anything. I might have gotten a look for an interview with it. But that’s hard to say, companies don’t usually tell you what resume items made them interested. I would imagine…
What level was it?
I got associate and then professional a couple months later. I studied for neither beyond maybe an hour of looking at what the question formats looked like.
I figured that it was a better use of time to study only if I failed, and then re-take, since there’s no punishment for failure other than cost.
I barely passed professional, but I passed. Associate felt easy for me.
I have about 2-3 years experience working just about 100% within AWS for my job. I would think that both exams would be way harder and require study without so much practical experience.
Maybe an AWS certification could help you if you lack experience in your resume and want to land a cloud engineering role.
Also, if you’re paying yourself, as of a few months ago it seems like Amazon gives you a 50% discount code for your next exam every time you take an exam. In other words, only the first exam is full price. I couldn’t guarantee that this offer sticks around or anything.
Re: Ask HN: Did obtaining an AWS Solutions Architect certification help you?
#7In general, the value of any certification is inversely proportional to how many are awarded. If they are easy to get and lots of people have one (think liberal arts diploma), they're not worth much. For comparison purposes, you might look at other similar proprietary technical certifications that have been in the marketplace longer --- for example, RHCE or MCSE (now defunct).
Not really sure about that. I know for a fact that many companies ask about just to be able to bypass the interview part about AWS.
The question, if you have the luxury of asking it, is do you want to sign away a big chunk of your life to one of these companies?
Re: Ask HN: Did obtaining an AWS Solutions Architect certification help you?
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not really sure about that. I know for a fact that many companies ask about just to be able to bypass the interview part about AWS.
The question, if you have the luxury of asking it, is do you want to sign away a big chunk of your life to one of these companies?
Can you elaborate? Why a big chunk of your life?
Re: Ask HN: Did obtaining an AWS Solutions Architect certification help you?
#9Yeah it helped me. I don’t think it really helped me get a job. I think my CV and past experience was taken far more into account than any certifications I listed. However, it helped me to become familiar with some of the aspects of AWS that I didn’t use in my day to day job and also to solidify my understanding of some other areas. I don’t regret studying and passing it especially as it didn’t cost much.
Re: Ask HN: Did obtaining an AWS Solutions Architect certification help you?
#10I don’t have the Solutions Architect certification but I do have the AWS Certified Developer certification. I learned quite a bit during the training and it did help me get a job, though it’s hard to quantify how much as I’ve also been in IT/IS for nearly 15 years which includes 10 years of software development experience. I also get contacted fairly regularly by recruiters who see I have the certification listed on LinkedIn.