Can I Get A Job With Aws Certification Without Experience

If you’ve recently graduated and often peek at job descriptions to see if AWS certified engineers are in-demand or not – that’s quite normal. As a graduate, it might be possible that you don’t have the experience to check an employer’s list from the get-go. So we’ve often received the question – can I get a job with AWS certification without experience?

Let’s talk about it next.

Can I Get a Job with AWS Certifications Without Experience?

Think about it from an employer’s perspective. In the technology industry, it’s quite hard to actually verify and validate an individual’s skills. As a hiring manager, neither do you have the time to take extensive interviews, nor tests to see if the individual is actually skilled in what they’re looking for.

This is exactly where a certification comes in. Better yet – an AWS certificate has much more authority in the technology industry than a different vendor. AWS has established itself as one of the top contenders in the Cloud industry and their certificates are actually challenging so passing one suggests the individual is actually skilled.

Though you have to understand that there’s a large pool of people with the same certification as you. How do you plan on standing out from the masses?

That’s where our KCE process kicks in.

Certifications aren’t the only part of getting a job. You need to focus on Knowledge, Certificates, and have the Expertise to be a professional in the field of Cloud Engineering or a different technical role. 

Are AWS Certifications Worth It?

In your quest to get a job without experience, your first question would’ve obviously been whether these certifications are worth it or not. AWS certificates require experience in several domains before you can master the exam and get certified. Since the prerequisite is actual technical experience, the certificate tends to complement it. 

So – if you’ve picked a domain for yourself e.g. data engineering and have the required technical expertise for it – the certificates can be a boost for you. Not only do they help your employer validate your skillset easily, it also helps them identify if you’re the right match for the role.

Secondly, it also helps boost your profile. As controversial as it is, showcasing your progress publicly often allows technical recruiters to review your profile. These informal reviews can often help you in the longer run when you reach out to them for a technical role.

Which AWS Certification Is Best for A Career Beginner?

As of March 2021, AWS currently offers 12 certifications for individuals to get certified. These can be broken down into three categories: 

  • Foundational
  • Associate
  • Professional

Since we’re focusing on beginners, only four certifications are applicable. Here’s a list of them:

  • AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
  • AWS Certified Developer – Associate
  • AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate
  • AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate

Although the associate exams require some experience – it’s definitely not a hard-and-fast prerequisite. If you wonder which AWS certification is in demand for beginners – the Cloud Practitioner would be it.  

The entry level Cloud Practitioner is the first certificate which can help you set foot in the industry as an AWS certified engineer. It doesn’t do much other than helping you learn more about the basics of AWS. Although it covers the basics of AWS, you still need some experience with the platform along with theoretical knowledge of AWS. 

If you’re inexperienced to take this certification, you can go through study guides to prepare for the exam. We recommend studying from ACloudGuru, CloudAcademy, and the official AWS documentation. These three resources combined can help you learn more about the platform and cover all aspects of the exam easily.

Other than that, you can also go for the Associate exams. These require a bit more experience but are much lesser in numbers than how often you’d see another Cloud practitioner. Associate exams are also a prerequisite for the Professional certificates which we’ve left out of this discussion but are aimed at experienced individuals. 

How to Get a Job After AWS Certifications?

Let’s say you’ve just passed the AWS certificate exam – what’s next? 

This is the point where you start applying for job roles seeking beginners with some AWS cloud experience. You can look for jobs in two main ways – either search for posted jobs on well-known platforms like LinkedIn or Glassdoor or directly get in touch with hiring managers.

First one’s rather easy but the return isn’t always as effective. Remember how there’s a pool of certified individuals applying for the roles and the hiring manager can easily pick an individual with the most experience. Getting in touch with one directly simply helps you jump up the ladder and further promote yourself to a manager.

So how to get a job after AWS certifications? Start to be more interactive on platforms like LinkedIn, publish articles, showcase your knowledge of the domain by means of producing content and solving Cloud-related problems. That’s one way to get yourself recognized in today’s competitive market. 

Final Words: Getting a Job with AWS Certifications

AWS certificates are a great asset for individuals to have from the perspective of a hiring manager. Demonstrating your skillset and expertise to the industry is one of the best ways to get in the limelight. Not to mention, these certificates also showcase your willingness and ability to strive and learn more and more. 

As our departing message, we’d suggest focusing on these three aspects – Knowledge, Certificates, and Expertise to get a job. Simply picking one of these might make your case weaker. Make sure you’re able to uphold yourself technically if need be to showcase your skillset to an employer.

So – are you ready to take on a Cloud certification exam?