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Studying for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification (CLF-C02)

As a solution's architect, I want to keep up on my cloud skills. As noted in my previous New Year's Resolution post, I'm looking to get the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03) exam, and the Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) certification is the one that precedes this SAA-C03 exam. 

After speaking to others who have passed the SAA-C03 exam, they mentioned more than half the content is the same as the CLF-C01 exam. The exam has been updated last September and has changed content moving to the C02 edition. So I believe it's foundational to take this exam first. 

As a former academic, I have a high standard to passing the exam. While I'm already passing some practice exams, I don't want to sit for the exam until I'm getting over 90% on the practice exams. What's the point of barely scraping by when I'm doing this to truly gain skills and knowledge? Below I'm going to outline what I've been using to study.

AWS Skill Builder

I do pay for the $29/month subscription for the premium access to AWS Skill Builder. While there are some courses for free, some of the enhanced courses have content that I thought was critical for the exam. The standard exam prep course leaves a lot to be researched on the side, and the enhanced course covers some of those topics. Below are the courses, tracks, and games that I recommend.

  • Exam Prep Standard Course: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner - Free
  • Escape Room: Exam Prep for AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner - Free
  • AWS Cloud Quest: Cloud Practitioner - Free
  • Exam Prep Official Practice Exam: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner - Subscription
  • Exam Prep Enhanced Course: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner - Subscription
  • Cloud Essentials - Knowledge Badge Readiness Path (includes Labs) - Free
  • AWS Well-Architected Foundations - Free

 My favorite of these options was the Cloud Quest game. It has 12 labs to complete, challenges and quizzes, fun puzzles, and a lot of learning content like lecture videos (they are short) and documentation. I absolutely believe this is a great place to start before moving on to the rest of the traditional content.

Cloud Academy 

I am lucky enough to work at a company that provides a reasonable training stipend. If you're looking to expand your cloud knowledge, not just AWS, I believe the subscription is worth it. I used some of that stipend to purchase access to Cloud Academy. Here I used a few resources as well, like the below. The learning path includes modules of courses that can be expanded and used a la carte.

  • AWS Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) Certification Preparation Learning Path
  • Cert Prep: Certified Cloud Practitioner for AWS (CLF-C02)
  • Knowledge Check: Cloud Concepts (CLF-C02) Exam

Udemy

Like Cloud Academy, I used my stipend to pay for a few Udemy courses. Udemy courses are very reasonably priced when on sale (and they go on sale frequently). I believe I paid less than $15 per course. I wanted direct access to more practice exams. I had enough learning content, so I needed more ways to flex the knowledge in a way similar to the exam. Here are the courses that I bought.

  • AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Mock Exams CLF-C02 2023
  •  Complete AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02

Cybrary

I haven't used this more than handful of times, but I wanted to mention it because access to this content is free. Like other programs, there is a premium option, but these are what I have access to without paying for anything on Cybrary. Below is the one course I've been reviewing

  • AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner

I will be excited when I can post that I've passed the CLF-C02 exam. Honestly, I feel like I should have this exam already. As someone in my position in my field, it is expected that I have already have a certification like this one. Having the Solutions Architect exam will support my career as a solutions architect, and I feel like I owe it to myself. Let's start with this step, and I'm hoping to succeed. 

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