Detailed Review Of Preparation

** Disclaimer: All the details mentioned below are true to best of my knowledge. If you are still unable to clear the exam, it is definitely your luck (i.e., lack of preparation!)

Note: This not so funny disclaimer is only to tell you not to rush and give sufficient preparation time before attempting the exam! :-) **

Bit of my background: I'm currently working as a performance engineer for a migration project from on-prem to AWS; so, I do get on the job experience. I have cleared AWS Solution Architect, SysOps and Developer Associate exams before; so well versed with AWS services and basics. Due to the nature of work I hardly get time (max 1 hr per day) to prepare for the exam during weekdays. Whatever the little time I get, used it to go through the course and AWS DevOps blogs. And utilized 2 full weekends in last 2 months to give practice papers and to clearly understand the reasoning at the end (which is very important). Watched few AWS re:Invent videos here and there while having dinner. Those are just out of interest and not specifically as exam preparation.

Few Tips

Before the exam:

I think you must go through the course twice. First time in detail and do take notes on the key points. Second time may be 1 or 2 days before the exam; you can browse through quickly by setting to 1.5x video speed and slow down when you find the topic which might have been forgotten or unclear.

Udemy course used for preparation:

https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-devops-engineer-professional-hands-on/

Practice questions:

https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-devops-engineer-professional-practice-exam-dop/

You can also go through free Exam readiness course by AWS in training and certification portal.

Don't forget to utilize the free practice exam (do this atleast a week before) and 50% discount coupon for the next exam received as a benefit when you have passed the previous AWS exam. I know some of my friends unaware of it and paid extra.

If you are still not confident enough you can also do the practice exams from Whizlabs and the one from Jon Bonso (tutorial dojo) in Udemy. I have done this during my Associate level exams and they are equally good.

https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-devops-engineer-professional-practice-exams-amazon/

Practice exams really helps you to gauge your current level of understanding so that you can plan the exam date accordingly.

Since time is one of the constraint, you can take extra 30 mins if you are not a native english speaker. Would recommend to opt for it even if you are good at English. You can always end the test if you are able to finish early. This will atleast give that extra cushion. In AWS certification portal request for accommodation and choose ESL +30 to gain additional 30 mins for the subsequent exams.

During the exam:

You might have heard this multiple times from many; certainly, AWS Professional level exams are very lengthy and comprehensive. You need lot of patience to sit for so long, read through those lengthy questions and options, map architecture mentally (if you are good at visualizing quickly else write it down) and choose the correct option. Don't spend much time on one question which is tricky, if it is taking more than 2 - 3 mins flag for review and move on. Keep 20 - 30 mins at the end to review the flagged options and choose the best possible option you think.

Now, in terms of test questions coverage during my exam. Primarily exam questions were focussed around CloudWatch Events, Logs subsription, Lambda (for events response), Elastic Beanstalk (hooks, CLI, commands and container commands), ASG (lifecycle hooks), CodeCommit (correct IAM policy to be set), CodeBuild (to build and test scenarios), CodeDeploy (both on-prem and AWS deployment), CodePipeline (to orchestrate), SSM (all possible combinations), AWS Config, Kinesis, S3, DynamoDB, ECS, Elastic Search, X-Ray, DR (Multi Region, RPO and RTO), AWS Organization (OUs, Multi Account) and combination of all of these depending on the scenario.

After the exam:

Make sure to share your certificate in LinkedIn, you definitely deserve all the appreciations that comes after. And please do help others by sharing your certification journey.

Best Wishes!

Regards,

Vinay