AWS Certified Security – Specialty: A Surprising Win

The AWS Foundation and the 12x Spark

I first got into the AWS world back in 2009, right when AWS introduced the concepts of VPC and RDS. That was a mere three years after EC2 and S3 were officially launched. Fast forward to today, and it’s a staggering 16 years that I’ve been building products on AWS, yet there are still services I barely have a clue about.

A few years back, I met a guy whose LinkedIn profile really caught my eye: he had the 12x AWS Certified badge. I was intrigued, mostly because I thought it looked pretty cool, but also because I honestly hadn’t known much about the whole certification thing until then. Naturally, the first thought that popped into my head was, “I want that, too.” If he could pull it off, why couldn’t I?

I dove headfirst into this world, searching for info on how tough the exams were, why people pursued them, and what the payoff actually was. That’s when I discovered the ecosystem of consultants being sold to large enterprises, indirectly or directly backed by AWS programs. Having spent most of my professional life (barring the first few years) building products in startups - either as a founder or right there at the very beginning - the certification path was completely foreign to me and seemed based on a completely different set of values.

An Easy Start: The Associate Certifications

This was during the pandemic era, when everyone seemed to have a little more time on their hands. Over a few weeks, I progressively scheduled the exams for all the Associate-level certifications:

• Developer
• Solutions Architect,
• SysOps Administrator.

To my surprise, it was pretty straightforward. I wasn’t acing them (scoring between 790 and 850), but it was enough to pass. The ease came primarily because the answers were more or less automated in my head—all the scenarios presented in the questions were instantly recalled from my years of hands-on experience. I’m terrible at concentrating in silence, and since music isn’t allowed during the test, I think my error rate was partially down to that, as my focus would just drift, especially towards the end.

After successfully clearing the Associate level, I realized it must be damn hard to pass all 12 certifications if you rely solely on my approach—the one where everything is basically automated by years of experience. Honestly, achieving all those certifications felt like a pretty unattainable goal at that moment. There were domains I didn’t have a clue about, like Data Analytics at the time, or ones I simply didn’t dare to touch, like Advanced Networking. After all, I wasn’t exactly networking like crazy back then to confidently say I could nail that exam.

Hitting a Wall and Changing Strategy

Despite that setback, I decided to press on. After a short break, I scheduled both the Advanced Networking Specialty and the Solutions Architect Professional exams. I failed both times. I needed 750 points but only managed 730 and 720, respectively. It was frustrating because I truly thought I had what it takes, but since I’m constantly second-guessing my own abilities. I started digging into how others—the successful ones—were doing it.

That’s when I uncovered the world of video courses and countless services offering test simulations. Essentially, material that explicitly prepares you for the exams, teaching you to spot the nuances in question phrasing and watch out for the critical differences between the ‘easiest’ and ‘most efficient’ answer, and so on.

I realized these folks spend weeks, maybe even months, rigorously preparing for the exams, and that hitting the target of 12 certifications is a multi-month, intense process. For me, that completely stopped making sense, simply because I didn’t need them for anything. I finally understood that for consultants, it’s pure business value, which is why it pays off for them to prepare so thoroughly. It wasn’t my motivation. So, right then, I closed the chapter on AWS certifications, leaving just a tiny ‘maybe someday’ percentage in my head—after all, some internal ambition still made me want a couple of the certs I personally found attractive.

The Final Attempt: A Surprising Security Win

A few days ago, that old urge resurfaced, and I decided to try the Security – Specialty exam. I felt like I had a solid grip on encryption and security within AWS, so maybe this one would stick. I have to admit, for a large number of questions—perhaps due to poor concentration or a genuine misunderstanding of the vague phrasing—I simply eliminated the answers that made no sense, rather than being able to select the correct answer(s) outright. However, that strategy paid off: I scored 825 points! 🎉

It wasn’t easy, but because the answers kept coming automatically by way of eliminating the nonsense, it wasn’t extra difficult either.

I have to admit, I’m genuinely encouraged, and I might try for a couple more soon—before another inevitable failure slams the brakes on me and sends me right back to feeling like I’m still not qualified, even after all these 16 years. 😁