How I passed the AWS Solutions Architect Associate Certification Examination — SAA-C03 on my first… (2024)

“One Day or Day One. You Decide” — Paulo Coelho

Its either the trap of one day or the promise of day one.

In this article, I narrate the steps and strategies I took that led to me obtaining the Amazon Web Services Solutions Architect Associate (AWS SAA) Certification on my first sitting for the examination. I also include links to the resources that I used and found helpful.

Note: The SAA certification examination is a challenging exam. According to the statistics, given by CertWizard, only 28% of the AWS SAA-C03 candidates are successful at the first attempt, which leaves a 72% failure rate.

AWS advice that candidates sitting for the exam should have a minimum of 1-year professional experience working with AWS Services. However, you stand a chance of passing the examination after gaining required knowledge through AWS training courses and significant hands-on practice. The examination covers four core domains including.

· Designing Secure Architectures

· Designing Resilient Architectures

· Designing High Performing Architectures

· Designing Cost-Optimized Architectures

My Journey

I had just completed a post graduate program in cloud computing offered by Great Learning in partnership with University of Texas Austin McCombs School of Business that covered the AWS cloud services before deciding to sit for the AWS SAA exam. I have also gotten my hands messy with a lot of cloud projects and labs as part of the program requirement and done some personal projects as well to help me gain more knowledge on the AWS services and their integrations.

Now let’s dive unto the steps and strategies I implemented once I was ready to sit for the certification exam.

1. Book the exam.

I had put it to myself that I was going to take the exam twice (I even included timestamps), and each time I moved the date I proposed to write the exam because I wasn’t prepared; as a matter of fact, I wasn’t preparing for the exam; not with the rigor that was required of me to pass the exam. So, I decided to go all in and book the exam.

I set a realistic date — one that will provide me just enough time to prepare for the examination so that I can have a high chance of passing on my first attempt. I took a general review questions test on the SAA Certification examination to access my current stand and identify my knowledge gap and used this information to book a date that was 50 days away from the first day of preparation.

2. Source Study Materials

After doing some research on the materials and notes that prepare candidates for the SAA C03 examination, I settled for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate (SAA — C03) Exam Study Guide by Ben Piper and David Clinton. My choice of this study guide was based on the reviews of candidates who have used the study guide and passed and the content of the study guide which included the four core domain of the certification exam.

The study guide contains 20–30 end of chapter review questions and provides solutions and explanation to every question. Every chapter also contains exercises that are important for building hands-on experience. The guide also comes along with a 900 Questions question-bank and whitepaper flashcards which can be accessed through the Wiley site after purchasing a copy of the study guide.

3. Draft a Study Plan and adhere to it.

It is now study time. I took a look into my daily routine and made out time that I would use specifically to study for the exam. Everyday at the same time, I was there and I studied. For me, this ‘convenient’ time of maximum concentration was between 1am and 5 am everyday!. It was tedious especially since this was when I would normally be asleep, but in a few weeks into my new formed routine, I was adjusting and would not feel the stress of it so much during the day anymore.

This new formed routine meant I had to sleep earlier than usual so that I get enough sleep for the study times ahead. I aimed at studying 8–10 pages of the study guide per day, some days I fell short of this goal and other days I surpassed it. The important thing is that I showed up everyday for the 50 days that I studied for the certification examination.

4. Practice Questions

I found this step to be one of the most important steps to passing the examination but for best results, the preceding steps cannot be ignored to get here. Practice questions helped me sharpen my understanding of the key concepts that are part of the examination requirements and to develop an approach to answering the examination questions.

By day 35 of my 50-day study journey, I had completed studying the study guide including the chapters that highlight the exam requirements i.e. the four core domains. It was now time for practice, practice, practice.

I purchased the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Practice Exams by Jon Bonso of Tutorials Dojo on Udemy and used this to practice even more scenario-based questions. This practice exam set properly simulates the actual exam with detailed explanation to each question at the end of each question set. The explanation provides an overview of the topic, reference links to AWS documentation, and a rationale on why the option is correct or incorrect.

At this stage, I’m feeling a bit confident with my knowledge of the concepts and the structure of the examination, but preparation continues with even more practice questions. I also utilized the tutorial sessions of YouTube content creators like Peace Of Code that answer practice questions for the SAA-C03 examination. I found this recourse very helpful.

Exam day Confidence

It was exam day and even though confident, I was nervous. This is the first ever certification exam I would take and with the statistic pass rate hovering over my head, I was nervous. I was constantly reminded by my husband of the effort I had put into study and how it had prepared me for the exam.

Hurray a Credly Badge!!!

A few hours after my online proctored examination, I got my badge and was very excited. The hard work paid off!!!

…. And the journey continues…

In summary, the strategy I used was;

· Book the exam I found that this made me more aware of a timeline to the goal I set. Give enough time for preparation when choosing a date.

· Get study Materials I recommend the ones I used.

· Adjust Daily routine and make time for studying.

· Ace it!

Thank you for taking the time to read my story, I hope you find it helpful.

Follow me here on medium as I plan to document my journey to a cloud industry role through story telling and let’s connect on LinkedIn.