How to: Certifications
-	**Certifications:** AWS offers [**certifications**](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/) for IT professionals who want to demonstrate their knowledge.
  -	[Certified Cloud Practitioner](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-cloud-practitioner/)
  -	[Certified Solutions Architect Associate](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-solutions-architect-associate/)
  -	[Certified Developer Associate](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-developer-associate/)
  -	[Certified SysOps Administrator Associate](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-sysops-admin-associate/)
  -	[Certified Solutions Architect Professional](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-solutions-architect-professional/)
  -	[Certified DevOps Engineer Professional](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-devops-engineer-professional/)
  - [Certified Security – Specialty](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-security-specialty/)
  - [Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-advanced-networking-specialty/)
  - [Certified Machine Learning – Specialty](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-machine-learning-specialty/)
  - [Certified Data Analytics – Specialty](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-data-analytics-specialty/)
  - [Certified Database – Specialty](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-database-specialty/)

Associate level certifications were once required as pre-requisites to taking the Professional examinations - this is no longer the case.

-	**Getting certified:** If you’re interested in studying for and getting certifications, [this practical overview](https://gist.github.com/leonardofed/bbf6459ad154ad5215d354f3825435dc) tells you a lot of what you need to know. The official page is [here](https://aws.amazon.com/training/) and there is an [FAQ](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/faqs/).
-	**Training for certifications:** Training is offered by AWS themselves (mainly instructor-led and on-site) and various third-party companies (usually as video-based training) such as [A Cloud Guru](https://acloud.guru/aws-cloud-training), [CloudAcademy](https://cloudacademy.com/library/amazon-web-services/) and [Linux Academy](https://linuxacademy.com/library/topics/AWS/type/Course/).
-	**Do you need a certification?** Especially in consulting companies or when working in key tech roles in large non-tech companies, certifications are important credentials. In others, including in many tech companies and startups, certifications are not common or considered necessary. (In fact, fairly or not, some Silicon Valley hiring managers and engineers see them as a “negative” signal on a resume.)

Certifications are required to access certificate lounges at official AWS events such as [Summits](https://aws.amazon.com/events/summits/) and [re:Invent](https://reinvent.awsevents.com). Lounges typically provide power charging points, seats and relatively better coffee.

Managing AWS
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