How I passed the AWS DevOps Engineer Professional Exam
I passed my AWS DevOps Engineer Professional exam without preparation and here's how I did it.
I am a Developer Evangelist at Twilio, co-author of Learn to Cloud, co-host of Random Cloud Chats podcast, AWS Community Builder, and YouTuber. Passionate about helping people get into cloud and sharing my learnings in cloud, DevOps and now DevRel.
Introduction
In this blog post, I'll share my experience taking the AWS DevOps Pro Exam, how I prepared for it, well I guess not prepared for it, and some recommendations for resources to help you pass the exam.
Preparation
Like the Azure DevOps Expert Exam (AZ-400), I didn't have any specific preparation for the AWS DevOps PRO Exam either. I had a coupon expiring and the exam version was retiring, so I decided to wing it.
That being said, I do have one year of DevOps engineering experience using TeamCity, CloudFormation, Terraform, and Azure DevOps, which helped me understand DevOps principles and where AWS tools fit in the process. However, I wasn't familiar with AWS-specific tooling, such as CodeCommit, CodePipeline, and CodeBuild.
My Exam Experience
I took the exam in person at a nearby college rather than doing it remotely from my home, via PearsonVUE. The exam took almost two and a half hours out of the three hours allotted, and I found it challenging to focus after the 30-35th question due to a lack of breakfast and a bad headache.
The questions were lengthier compared to the Azure DevOps Expert Exam (AZ-400), requiring more reading and remembering the context of the questions. Nevertheless, I passed the exam with a score of 756.
Recommendations for Exam Preparation
I suggest familiarizing yourself with all the DevOps tools offered by AWS, such as:
CodeCommit, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy, CodePipeline
CloudFormation
Elastic Beanstalk
SSM and OpsWorks
There were also questions about CloudTrail, CloudWatch logs, monitoring, AWS Config, and AWS Inspector.
Understanding the concepts of fault tolerance, disaster recovery, and high availability is essential. If you have a strong understanding of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and have worked within a DevOps or Cloud team, you should be well-prepared for the exam.
Resources
Though I didn't use any resources for my preparation, I recommend checking out Stephen Marek's courses on Udemy for AWS certificate courses.
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional 2023 - Hands On!
For practice exams, Tutorial Dojo/Jon Bonso's practice exams are a great option.
Conclusion
While I didn't prepare extensively for the AWS DevOps Pro Exam, my experience in the field and understanding of DevOps principles helped me pass. Remember that hands-on experience is invaluable when preparing for an exam like this. Good luck with your preparation, and I hope you find these insights helpful!
Bonus: If you are a video person, check out my YouTube Channel, where I talk about Cloud, DevOps and tech.
Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or LinkedIn, if you have any questions.
