Per the exam guide, the recommended experience prior to taking this exam is at least 1 year of hands-on experience designing cloud solutions that use AWS services. However, candidates with 1-3 years of IT experience have been able to prepare for and earn this certification as a starting point on their AWS Cloud learning and certification journey.

Candidates who do not have any IT work experience would benefit from first earning the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner to get foundational knowledge of AWS Cloud before attempting the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate.

This certification ranks among the top 10 certifications of 2023. Certified individuals report increased confidence as a result of earning this industry-recognized certification and increased credibility with technical IT/cloud colleagues and customers.

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional and AWS Certified Security – Specialty are certifications that other cloud professionals have earned to advance further in roles like solutions architect. Cloud professionals have also earned the AWS Certified Data Engineer- Associate to advance in roles like cloud data engineer.

This certification is valid for 3 years. Before your certification expires, you can recertify by passing the latest version of this exam, or by earning the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional, which will automatically recertify this Associate-level certification. 

Yes. Once you earn one AWS Certification, you get 50% discount on your next AWS Certification exam.