Get your first job in IT with AWS Certifications

Could you land your first job with just AWS certifications and no experience at all? Almost… but not exactly. The following explores how helpful an AWS Certification is when landing your first job in IT, and why it’s so important not to fall for the “only certifications will guarantee you a job” trap.

An AWS certification is a professional credential offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that validates an individual's knowledge and expertise in various AWS cloud computing services and technologies. These certifications are designed to demonstrate a person's proficiency in using AWS services and solutions to design, deploy, and manage cloud-based applications and infrastructure.

It's proof that you know how to use Amazon Web Services and understand cloud concepts. That said, one could deduce that obtaining these certifications is a really good way to demonstrate your knowledge and stand out among your peers.

But is that all? AWS Partners would disagree.

What are AWS Partners?

AWS partners are organizations that collaborate with AWS to offer a wide range of services, solutions, and expertise related to AWS cloud computing. AWS partners come in various forms and play critical roles in helping businesses leverage AWS services to meet their unique needs. In other words, partners are companies that help AWS implement their services.

You have different partner tiers:

AWS Select Tier Services Partners
AWS Advanced Tier Services Partners
AWS Premier Tier Services Partners

The equation is really simple: The more qualified you are, the more clients you get. The more clients you get, the more money the company makes. Therefore it’s in an AWS Partner's best interest to become more specialized, and that's where certifications come into play. To become a specialized partner among other things, you need technical certified individuals.

different-ranges-of-certifications-required-for-each-type-of-partner

As you can see, being an AWS Premier Partner, companies require 25 individuals be certified. And that’s why having a certification becomes really valuable, even more if it’s a Professional or Specialty one.

Other Benefits

There are even badges for how many certifications a partner has, which give more credibility to the provided service.

There are other benefits as a partner such as being eligible to earn credits for the client. That means, receiving hundreds or even thousands in financing through credits for you to offer your clients.

Final thoughts

To sum up, if you don’t have any experience at all, having an AWS Certification will really help you to obtain interviews and if you combine the knowledge acquired with real case scenarios you’ll be closer to landing your dream job. If on the other hand, you only obtain the certification yet don’t have any practical abilities or fieldwork, the certificate won’t really help at all.

Strategize. Find companies that are AWS Partners and apply to them. They’re looking for technical individuals and you’re looking for real case scenarios. It’s in real-life Cloud challenges where you actually get to apply your knowledge and ultimately gain the confidence and proof you’ll need to continue developing your professional skills.