Passed my Cert!
Bit of backstory leading up to this last week (skip this paragraph if you just want to read about the test). Tried to take my SAA at home a few weeks ago and as soon as they released my test to my computer at home, the chat window froze on half of the screen. I was still at the instruction page but couldn't do much. I ended up grabbing my phone to call them and they shut the test down and revoked. After spending 3 or 4 hours with support over many days and emails back and forth with AWS, I finally gave up trying to get my money back or another voucher. They claimed I was cheating as I picked up my phone. I didn't even see a single question.
The Test: A few weeks pass and I finally got my account unlocked (not sure if it was locked from my claimed cheating above).
Took the SAA in person this last week and passed. I studied with Stephane on Udemy with course and practice tests. I found the test questions difficult. I flagged probably 30 or 40% for review that I was unsure of. I had to reread the questions 2 or 3 times due to the length and complexity. After reviewing flagged questions I had about 30 minutes left at the end.
I found the udemy practice tests were quite different from the real thing. The udemy tests seemed to focus on a smaller range of topics and specific information while the real test was a broader range of topics. Something like knowing the SQS max queue length in batch mode vs regular was in Udemy test but not on the real thing. I don't think I had more than 1 question that involved kinesis data streams / firehose but it was heavily focused on in the practice. Still, I studied only with Stephane for a few months and passed with an 806. I don't have much direct AWS experience.
Now I am going to chill and recover from the stress of the last month and dealing with Pearson. Good luck all! You got this
Bit of backstory leading up to this last week (skip this paragraph if you just want to read about the test). Tried to take my SAA at home a few weeks ago and as soon as they released my test to my computer at home, the chat window froze on half of the screen. I was still at the instruction page but couldn't do much. I ended up grabbing my phone to call them and they shut the test down and revoked. After spending 3 or 4 hours with support over many days and emails back and forth with AWS, I finally gave up trying to get my money back or another voucher. They claimed I was cheating as I picked up my phone. I didn't even see a single question.
The Test: A few weeks pass and I finally got my account unlocked (not sure if it was locked from my claimed cheating above).
Took the SAA in person this last week and passed. I studied with Stephane on Udemy with course and practice tests. I found the test questions difficult. I flagged probably 30 or 40% for review that I was unsure of. I had to reread the questions 2 or 3 times due to the length and complexity. After reviewing flagged questions I had about 30 minutes left at the end.
I found the udemy practice tests were quite different from the real thing. The udemy tests seemed to focus on a smaller range of topics and specific information while the real test was a broader range of topics. Something like knowing the SQS max queue length in batch mode vs regular was in Udemy test but not on the real thing. I don't think I had more than 1 question that involved kinesis data streams / firehose but it was heavily focused on in the practice. Still, I studied only with Stephane for a few months and passed with an 806. I don't have much direct AWS experience.
Now I am going to chill and recover from the stress of the last month and dealing with Pearson. Good luck all! You got this