Which AWS Certification Is Best For You?

As the world’s leading cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services is in high demand. Many companies pay well to hire certified AWS professionals and having aws certification in your resume shows your commitment to the industry. Whether you’re starting or changing jobs, getting an AWS certification is an important step in your career. However, choosing which certification is best for you depends on where you want to go in your professional career.

If you’re new to AWS, the Practitioner level certifications are a good place to start. These focus on general knowledge of the service and how it can be used for business applications. This includes understanding deployment and operating principles as well as key AWS services and use cases. These exams have a wide variety of available study resources, including online courses, boot camps, books and practice tests. The AWS website also offers white papers and exam guides, which are based on input from subject matter experts (SMEs).

The Professional level certifications focus on deep knowledge in specific areas of AWS. This is usually for people who already have some experience working with AWS and are ready to validate their knowledge. These exams are more challenging than the Associate level and are meant to prepare you for a particular role in an organization that involves working with AWS.

The Specialty level certifications are the most difficult to achieve and are designed for people who have advanced expertise in a particular domain within AWS, such as networking or security. The Specialty certifications require years of experience and are similar in difficulty to the Professional level.