AWS Certification: Which One First? A Practical Path

If you’re asking aws certification which one first, you’re not alone—and the honest answer is: it depends on your background, but the decision is simpler than Reddit makes it. Pick the cert that matches the job you want next, not the one that sounds most impressive.

Start With Your Goal (and Your Current Skill Level)

AWS certifications map to roles. The fastest way to waste time is to study for a cert that doesn’t match your day-to-day work.

Here’s the opinionated cheat sheet:

• New to cloud/IT: Start with Cloud Practitioner only if you truly need fundamentals.
• You want an entry-level cloud job fast: Start with Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA).
• You’re a developer shipping code: Consider Developer – Associate (DVA) first.
• You run systems, networking, incidents: Look at SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA).

My take: SAA is the default best first cert for most people because it teaches core AWS services and architecture patterns that show up in interviews and real systems.

Cloud Practitioner vs Associate: When to Skip the “Beginner” Cert

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) is designed for broad awareness—billing, shared responsibility, basic services. It’s valuable if:

• You’re coming from non-technical roles (project, sales, finance).
• Your employer requires it as a baseline.
• You have zero IT/networking knowledge and need a guided on-ramp.

But if you already know basic computing concepts (DNS, VPC-ish networking ideas, what an API is), Cloud Practitioner can be skippable.

Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) is harder, but it’s also where you start thinking like a cloud engineer:

• designing for reliability (multi-AZ, backups)
• security basics (IAM, least privilege)
• cost tradeoffs (S3 tiers, Savings Plans)
• service selection (Lambda vs ECS vs EC2)

If your goal is to land interviews, SAA signals more than CLF. CLF signals “I started.” SAA signals “I can build.”

Picking Your First Associate: SAA vs DVA vs SysOps

If you only pick one first, use your job target as a tie-breaker.

Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA)

Pick SAA first if you want broad coverage and optionality. It’s the best foundation for later certs like Security Specialty or DevOps Engineer Professional.

Developer – Associate (DVA)

Pick DVA first if:

• you build apps and need AWS integration patterns
• you care about CI/CD, SDKs, Lambda, API Gateway
• you want to talk about event-driven design credibly

It’s not “easier” than SAA—just different. If you don’t code, DVA will feel abstract.

SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA)

Pick SysOps first if you live in:

• monitoring/alerts (CloudWatch)
• patching, automation, deployments
• incident response and ops hygiene

SysOps tends to be hands-on and operationally detailed. Great for those coming from IT operations.

A 30-Day Study Plan (With One Actionable Lab)

Cert studying works when you combine structured learning + labs + review questions. Don’t just binge videos.

A practical 30-day plan for your first Associate (SAA/DVA/SOA):

1. Days 1–10: Core services
   • IAM, VPC, EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda
2. Days 11–20: Architecture patterns
   • HA, scaling, decoupling (SQS/SNS/EventBridge)
   • security + cost basics
3. Days 21–25: Full-length practice exams
   • review why answers are wrong, not just right
4. Days 26–30: Weak spots + labs
   • build 2–3 small projects end-to-end

Quick lab: create an S3 bucket with encryption + versioning

This is the kind of “simple but real” task that helps concepts stick.

# Create a unique bucket name
BUCKET="my-aws-cert-lab-$RANDOM-$RANDOM"
REGION="us-east-1"

aws s3api create-bucket \
  --bucket "$BUCKET" \
  --region "$REGION"

# Enable default encryption (SSE-S3)
aws s3api put-bucket-encryption \
  --bucket "$BUCKET" \
  --server-side-encryption-configuration '{
    "Rules": [{"ApplyServerSideEncryptionByDefault": {"SSEAlgorithm": "AES256"}}]
  }'

# Enable versioning
aws s3api put-bucket-versioning \
  --bucket "$BUCKET" \
  --versioning-configuration Status=Enabled

# Verify
aws s3api get-bucket-versioning --bucket "$BUCKET"

If you can explain why encryption-at-rest and versioning matter (ransomware recovery, accidental deletes, audit requirements), you’re learning the right way.

Where Online Courses Fit (Soft Picks, Not a Shopping List)

Online education is useful when it’s opinionated and lab-driven, not when it’s a 20-hour slideshow. If you want structured paths, platforms like coursera and udemy often have AWS tracks that can keep you honest with deadlines, quizzes, and guided labs—especially if you’re studying after work.

My recommendation: pick one course, do labs weekly, and measure progress by practice exam review notes, not by “percent completed.” Use courses as scaffolding, not as the finish line.