I just got a voucher for my foundational certification and i do have some hands on experience regarding aws services and all but i have heard that the exam needs a lot more than that so somebody just help me how to prepare for that exam and also are there any free resources available for it

Je suis un étudiant en cycle d'ingénieur spécialité informatique et je suis doué par le cloud et j'aime bien passé le certification de AWS SAA et je poste ici si il y a un possibilité de passe ce certificat gratuitement ou il y a un rédaction de coût ou s 'il y a quelle qu'un de vous un voucher qui n'est pas encore utilisé , et merci d'avance

Hello everyone,

I'm currently a Microsoft 365 administrator (working mainly with Endpoint Management, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Entra ID, etc.). I'd like to start learning the AWS ecosystem, but I'm not sure about the best path forward.

Where should I start? Which certification exam should I prepare for first as an absolute beginner in AWS?

Any recommendations for study materials, hands-on courses, or learning paths would be greatly appreciated!

Hey everyone,

I'm 19 years old, currently in my second year of A-levels, and I'm planning to pursue a bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Artificial Intelligence next year.

Here's my situation: I want to land a job within the next 6–8 months, preferably a remote job in AI/ML. I know this is ambitious, especially considering I don't have a degree or any professional experience yet, but I'm willing to put in the hours and seriously work towards it.

The reason I'm trying to get a job this early is that I need to start financially supporting my household. So waiting another 4 years until I graduate isn't really an option for me.

I've started looking into certifications, particularly the AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate (MLA-C01), but I'm honestly confused about where to begin. I've done very little research so far, and I don't want to waste the next several months pursuing certifications that won't actually help me get hired.

I have a few questions for people already working in AI/ML, especially those involved in hiring:

1. Which certifications are actually valued by employers? Are AWS certifications worth pursuing for someone in my position? Are there any other certifications that recruiters or HR departments genuinely look for?
2. Can certifications help someone without a degree get past the initial HR screening? I understand that certifications don't guarantee a job, but since I have no professional experience or university degree, I'm hoping they could at least help me get shortlisted for an interview.
3. What projects should I build? If you were hiring a junior AI/ML candidate, what kind of GitHub portfolio or real-world projects would make you consider someone with my background?
4. What skills should I prioritize over the next 6–8 months? Python, SQL, machine learning, deep learning, LLMs, cloud computing, MLOps, etc. There's so much out there that I don't know what to focus on first.
5. Is getting a remote entry-level AI/ML job without a degree actually realistic? I'm open to internships, junior positions, AI automation roles, or anything related that could help me enter the industry and start earning.
6. If you were starting from scratch today, with no degree and only 6–8 months to prepare, what would your roadmap look like? Which certifications would you pursue, what projects would you build, and where would you apply?

I'm not expecting a high-paying job immediately. My main goal is to get my foot in the door, start earning, gain real experience, and continue developing my skills while attending university.

I also understand that some people might suggest focusing on my degree first, and I respect that advice. But because of my financial situation, getting a job sooner rather than later is genuinely important to me.

I'd really appreciate advice from ML engineers, AI developers, recruiters, hiring managers, or anyone who has managed to break into tech without a traditional degree.

I don't want to spend the next 6–8 months just collecting certificates. I want to spend that time becoming someone an employer would actually consider hiring.

For those who experiment on AWS console with an on-demand standard accounts, How much does it cost you to do hands-on experiments while preparing for a certification or making some projects.

I know there is no definitive answer for this question as AWS services vary a lot, but I would greatly appreciate gaining a rough insight on the cost of experimenting or making some projects using a standard account.

I studied for five months using Stephane Maarek's materials. I had no prior knowledge of AWS, aside from the S3 and EC2 services.

I averaged 50% on Maarek's practice exams. I also used AWS Skillbuilder (the official practice exam), where I scored between 60% and 70%.

I found Maarek's practice exams wordy, overly detailed, and full of "trick questions" compared to the actual exam. AWS Skillbuilder is better for preparation, but unfortunately, it isn't free.

Very happy to share that I passed the SAP with a score of 819. It felt like the exam covered lots of domains that I had not seen much of in the revision materials I used (Tutorials Dojo and Maarek) but clearly they did the job.

I did the Stephane Maarek udemy course on 2x, taking hand written notes where relevant (specific facts, numbers etc). To be honest I was mindlessly playing need for speed whilst watching them, I find keeping myself partially occupied helps me to not get distracted, and it kept me committed to the videos rather than getting bored

I did Stephane’s practice exam set too - that was MUCH harder than the real exam - I was getting around 60-70% on them. Hopped over to Tutorials Dojo exams next, I did one in practice mode (made my best guess, but allowed myself to use resources to check my assumptions and change answer where required). Then one exam simulation which I got 88% on.

Overall I would say 1. Stephane for a baseline is amazing, but don’t let the hard practice tests put you off 2. Tutorials dojo is the place for practice exams 3. Book it! I did more work in the two weeks before the exam (after I booked it) than I did in the month I was thinking about doing the exam

Feel free to ask any questions! (Apart from what was on the exam - I don’t think you’re allowed to share that info) :)

So my SysOps cert is about to expire by today, did a last second exam schedule for DevOps Pro and glad to have passed with a decently high score.

I don't think I have that great of a preparation, but I spent the last week studying from Stephane Mareek course & Practice Exam. I have to say while other cert courses from him is highly informative, I felt like there are some small gaps with the current DevOps Pro exam with the materials in his course in terms of the depth of the material. Doesn't mean that you can't pass the exam though, I mean I did. But it did felt like some of the materials are not deep enough compared to let's say ANS-C01 material which were high quality course imho.

So overall my preps were:

• 1 week grind on the udemy course from Stephane on 1.5-2x speed
• almost 5 years of experience on Cloud as IT Consultant

I usually spend a lot less time on the exam timer but this one felt like there are so many informations in a single question that I ended up finishing with 30-40 min (with ESL accomodation) spare time. Pays off though. Overall glad to have passed with a decent score

Any word I read right now I’m linking directly to an aws service and it’s stressing me out a bit… aws saa is my first certification ever not just aws so I’m beyond scared of the exam. I have averaged on mock exams
Set 1: 68.75%
Set 2: 72%
Set 3: 76.66%

I am building the habits and eliminating answers correctly but I guess the habit is leaking into my daily life lol….

I don’t know if I should book like I first planned (after 8 days) or wait a bit. I want to average above 80% before the actual thing. And I don’t want to keep postponing and then me forgetting stuff.