Recertification made easy!

**Disclaimer...I do work for AWS but all views below are my own**

I took my AWS Cloud Practitioner certification in February 2021 having joined AWS 2 months earlier. With a background in Business Management in the Telecommunications industry i was entering an exciting and fast-paced world of cloud computing! I ramped up quickly on the Cloud Practitioner content using AWS Skill Builder content such as AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials (6 hours) and using the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification home page which contains the ever important study guide and Exam Prep Course along with other reading materials such as white papers.

After a great webinar series helping me to prepare for the exam with practice exam style questions (more on where you can find these later) i took the plunge to book the exam on a Friday morning from the comfort of my own home (the only option in a lock-down environment). I passed first time and the exhilaration i got from seeing how all that hard work paid off was worth the time investment in the studying.

AWS certifications are valid for 3 years and those 3 years have flown by!

In that time AWS has invested in a vast range of learning material to help us with the Foundational exam. From gamified learning such as AWS Cloud Quest and AWS Escape Room, to an Enhanced Exam Prep course which includes an official full length practice exam mirroring the experience in the real thing! The variety is amazing to see as it shows an investment in understanding we need to meet learners where they are at and how they (you!) learn best.

So when my email came through 6 months before my certification was due to expire I was excited to see a NEW recertification approach - AWS Cloud Quest: Recertify Cloud Practitioner. This allowed me the option to not only recertify for another 3 years, but also do so without revision, taking an exam, or putting a credit card down. What a game changer!

The gamified learning experience contains the same 12 games as the AWS Cloud Quest - Cloud Practitioner, but when you enter your candidate ID it unlocks a '13th Assignment'. I got started on the game in late December, targeting a completion of one game a day, allowing me to keep a consistent focus while managing around other work and personal commitments. Each game took me around an hour to complete and included topics such as Highly Available Web Applications, Cloud Economics and Troubleshoot an AWS Cloud Architecture.

If you are not familiar with the AWS management console the game follows a 'Learn > Plan > Practice > DIY' approach to guide you through the experience. I found the guided steps in the plan phase really helpful when it came to not just completing the activity but also giving me confidence to explore the console further.

The 13th assignment (I'm not going to lie) was a little more tricky than the other 12, but this was to be expected as a recertification lay on the back of it! There are 6 resource checks to complete based on learnings from the prior 12 assignments and i did have some moments of thinking i wouldn't complete them all before my last date to complete was looming. But I did! And the feeling was just as good, if not better, than sitting the official exam! Why? Because I had the ability to put my understanding of AWS concepts to life in a practical way.

If you have the Cloud Practitioner Exam due to expire in the next 6 months, take the beta Cloud Quest game available for free until May 31, 2024.

Other Materials:

Nicole.