How to re-sit your AWS Cloud Practitioner exam without sitting the exam!
So you sat that AWS Cloud Practitioner exam a couple of years ago thinking, now I have that under my belt I’m all good — right ?!
Well actually as all AWS exams go, they do expire in three years. This is a good thing as the platform changes and the technology get’s better it is appropriate that you re-sit these exams if you want to keep current and up to date. If you only have the Cloud Practitioner exam under your belt then you are in luck — there is a new way to re-sit the exam without having to actually sit the exam again.
Spare a thought for those AWS Certified Gold Jacket wearers out there who have all 12 exams to re-sit!! :-)
What is the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification?
This certification is the first of the full certifications that are tested with an exam that is either completed at an exam centre in your local area or one that is proctored online at home.
The Cloud Practitioner is a Foundation level exam and covers broad entry level topics for understanding what cloud computing is, what and how you would use the AWS cloud.
Even if you are just dabbling in Cloud Technologies and you don’t know if you will specialise in any of cloud providers, the AWS Cloud Practitioner will give you a great foundation for understanding how the “cloud” works regardless of the vendor.
The exam is a 90 minute, 65 question, Multi Choice or Multi Answer exam that normally costs $100usd and lasts for three years.
So what is this new non-exam resit option?
This is a new recertification option for AWS Certified Cloud Practitioners who are due to recertify within six months. With this new option, no exam is required and you will deepen your AWS knowledge with hands-on experience. This is a free beta, available November 21 — May 31, 2024.
AWS have released a lot of new content on their “Skill Builder” platform recently, where you will find a lot of interesting content for free available to learn new skills in AWS Cloud technology. (I’ll do another blog on Skill Builder).
AWS have expanded the AWS Cloud Quest online gamified learning platform (on Skill Builder) where you perform assignments for clients and residents of Cloud Island. There are several quests and games available that you can check out (some require a subscription).
Login to Skill Builder here: https://explore.skillbuilder.aws
You can create an account or use your APN credentials if you have them.
Once logged in this is the area you are looking for in Skill Builder:
As you can see here, there is the AWS Cloud Quest — Cloud Practitioner option on the far right which is a great way to study for your Cloud Practitioner exam if you are looking to sit it for the first time.
But for this post we are looking at the AWS Cloud Quest: Recertify Cloud Practitioner option — second from the left.
So go ahead and enroll in the digital training (select the AWS Cloud Quest: Recertify Cloud Practitioner) to get started or use this link to jump straight to it (make sure you are logged in to Skill Builder first) https://explore.skillbuilder.aws/learn/course/17623/AWS%2520Cloud%2520Quest%253A%2520Recertify%2520Cloud%2520Practitioner.
Once you enroll and click “Start Game” the game will launch and you can begin the Cloud Quest game:
Once in the game, if it is your first time using Cloud Quest you will be asked to create your Avatar.
I have already completed the Cloud Quest Cloud Practitioner game so this puts me back in the game where I left off, now I need to select the new Re-Certify option to go into that game role — but for this you will need your certification “AWS Candidate ID” that you used when you sat the exam.
This is found in your AWS Certification login as shown here:
Now that you have your Candidate ID, go back to the game and now you can select the roles option on the main screen:
and select the “Recertify Cloud Practitioner” role:
Here I ran into a problem, your email address in your AWS Certification account must the be same as your Skill Builder account. In my case I had used my personal email for Certification and work email for the Skill Builder — as I work for Deloitte (an AWS Premier Partner) I get additional Partner only courses in Skill Builder. So I have changed my certification email to my work email and it is all working now.
Once you have selected to do the Recertify Role then the easiest way to get around is to use the “XR Device” -
That will list the assignments you have to do to finish the recertify quest…
Now the sweet bonus here is that if you have already done the Cloud Practitioner Cloud Quest, you only need one more assignment to complete the recertification!
Once you Route and Go, you will be taken to Recertification Island where you will find the resident that needs your help to troubleshoot their AWS Architecture.
Here you will get a full list of all the issues that they have and should you accept the challenge, you will be guided through using the console to fix those objectives.
Go ahead and Accept the challenge!
From here you get taken through the challenge and what the solutions are to fix it, I like how it details the Architecture and then has the detailed videos on the left for you to study up on what each piece of the solution is so that you can get a full understanding of each component.
Next in the Plan section you can work out what you need to do, then go ahead and Practice to get hands on with the console.
Here you will be provisioned a Lab Environment and be able to trouble shoot the issues and make the changes to the Architecture in the lab. Hit “Start Lab” to get a lab environment and step through the fixes.
Lab instructions are on the left so you just need to follow those instructions. Remember you can exit at anytime and come back to the Quest. Your progress is remembered in Cloud Quest so no issues getting back to here if you need to come back to it (you may need to reprovision the lab if it has timed out).
Follow the instructions and complete the Lab which takes you through things like adding instances to a Load Balancer, adding a read instance to your Database cluster etc. Note that the instructions are not fully step by step like they are in the Cloud Practitioner Quest, as that is more for study than testing your knowledge.
Now you can validate everything in the DIY section to complete the objective. Once completed you will end up back at the start of the Cloud Quest world, so you will need to go back to the XR device and click on the “Collect” option to get back to Recertification Island and do a final check in with the client.
Claim that recertification credit!
Now you have re-certified your Cloud Practitioner exam you can now look at further training or… forget about it for another three years!
Conclusion
This is a fun way to re-certify your exam, it does require you to know how to get around the console and shows that you do actually know and understand how AWS services work and I think that is a great thing — it is not just head knowledge or knowing the answers from a practise exam.
Just a note that if you have not already completed the Cloud Quest Cloud Practitioner assignments then you will need to do all the modules in the Recertify role not just the final one.
Jump on into it if you're keen to test out your skills and forget about the exam!
