“AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty” is a premier certification offered by Amazon AWS. This certification gives recognition to the professionals who work in the field of data analytics. To achieve this certification, candidates need to pass an exam that is conducted by Amazon AWS. Here we will discuss the exam and how to prepare for it to get this industry-recognized credential. We will also discuss how mocks on professional certification exams offered by MachineHack are helping the candidates to prepare for these exams.
AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty Exam
AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty exam assesses the knowledge and understanding of candidates to design, build, operationalize and secure the data analytics solutions on the AWS platform. It also checks the candidate’s exposure to various data analytics related services provided by AWS. This exam is held online that can be attended at a designated test centre or can be taken from anywhere with online proctoring. To take this exam, the candidates need to register by paying a fee of $300 USD.
The important information related to exam pattern is given below:-
- Duration: 3 Hours
- Number of questions: 65
- Format: Multiple-Choice questions with one correct option or more than one correct options.
This exam is evaluated on a scale of 100 to 1000 where the minimum passing score is 750. Out of 65, there are 15 unscored questions that do not contribute to the scoring. The purpose of these questions is to check the candidate’s performance on these unscored questions. In future, in certain scenarios, it can be evaluated as scored questions. You can not identify these unscored questions during the exam.
Exam Contents
To award this credential, AWS checks different types of skills with a person through the exam. The main focus is on checking the candidate’s ability to define different AWS based data analytics services that can fit into the data lifecycle of collection, storage, processing, and visualization. It also assesses the candidates understanding of how different AWS data analytics services integrate with each other.
The questions in the exam are based on the following domains. The weightage of each of the domains is given against each of them.
- Collection (18%)
- Storage and Data Management (22%)
- Processing (24%)
- Analysis and Visualizations (18%)
- Security (18%)
The questions from the above domains are mostly related to AWS services. For example, questions based on the storage and data management domain will be related to different AWS products and services for storage and data management and how to use these in different use cases.
Steps to Prepare for the Exam
The AWS recommends that candidates with 5 years of experience in data analytics technologies and 2 years of hands-on experience with AWS should be the right candidates for this certification. The reason behind this recommendation is it expects that candidates with that much experience will have exposure to how to define, manage and secure data analytics services with AWS.
Along with the expected expertise, the candidates also need to have strategic planning to prepare and crack this exam. Here are the important steps that any aspiring candidate should take to prepare for this exam.
How to Crack AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty Exam
- Collecting Information
- Find the basic details about the exam on the official website of the certification. The complete guide to the exam with a content outline is given in detail by AWS. You can find it through this link. AWS has also given a set of sample questions that can be found using this link. After going through the exam guide and sample questions, you will be able to understand the breadth and depth of the exam.
- Learning through AWS Resources
- You can find hundreds of tutorials related to different AWS services and use cases that will help you to gain and brush up on the required skills. These tutorials can be found using this link. You can check the learning resources based on the domains as discussed above. Along with this, it is also suggested to go through the descriptions and use cases of all the relevant AWS cloud products. You can check this link to find a catalogue of all the AWS cloud products.
- Mock Test on MachineHack
- MachineHack, India’s leading hackathon and assessment platform, offers a variety of mock tests on professional certification exams. It also offers the mock test on AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty Exam. Through this mock, you can get a real experience of taking the main exam as the mock is based on exam details as given by AWS and feedback from the successful candidates. This mock will help you in self-assessment of your preparedness for this exam.
After taking a mock on MachineHack, candidates will be able to assess their knowledge and level of preparation. If they score well in mocks, they can go ahead and appear for the exam. Otherwise, they can again improve their knowledge with AWS learning resources followed by a further mock.
Final Words
With the right and strategic planning, no achievement is difficult. After gaining hands-on knowledge through professional experience and going through the different AWS services, you can certainly gain the knowledge that is required for this certification. Along with that, taking a mock test on MachineHack ensures preparedness. Following this way of preparation will certainly lead you to success.
All the best!!
