Author Image Pat Saucier
Personal advice from an experienced exam taker – Keeping Up with Evolving AWS Security Best Practices and Threat Landscape

Personal advice from an experienced exam taker

Having taken more than 20 exams in my career and only failing two on the first attempt, I recommend the following strategies for effective exam preparation:

  • Diversify learning resources: Use at least two different types of learning resources to cover all bases and limit the risk of bias from specific authors – for example, a Udemy video course and a book, or a video course and a Cloud Academy learning path.
  • Develop a detailed learning plan: Structure your study time and topics to cover comprehensively. Set achievable goals, regularly assess your progress, and adjust your plan as necessary to stay on track.
  • Schedule your exam date and time: Booking your exam in advance gives you a clear deadline to work toward. Schedule your exam for when you are most alert and focused. For many like myself, the morning is ideal. Additionally, after booking your exam, consider giving a call or sending an email to the exam center. Some centers are infrequently used, and issues such as no staff presence on the exam day can occur, leading to lengthy rescheduling frustrations.
  • Practice with exam quizzes: Engage in extensive quiz practice, focusing on retaking failed questions and undertaking full new quizzes to simulate the exam experience and improve time management. Aim to consistently score above 80% on fresh quizzes to gauge your readiness for the real exam day.
  • Manage time: Always aim to answer all questions as guessing yields a better success rate than leaving answers blank. Calculate the time per question and set easy-to-remember milestones. As an example, the CSC exam requires 65 questions to be answered within 170 minutes, which means you should allocate 2.5 minutes and 37 seconds for each question. Aim to answer 12 questions after the first 30 minutes, 24 questions by the 60-minute mark, and so on.
  • Prefer in-person exams for lengthy tests: While online proctoring allows for taking an exam from home, it can be overly strict, risking disqualification for minor infractions. My preference is to opt for test centers to avoid these issues.

Moving on from the AWS certification, let’s delve into continuous professional development, emphasizing the power of participating in events and networks.