How to pass the AWS Machine Learning Speciality Exam & Other AWS Certification Exams
In 2023, I passed the AWS Certified Machine Learning, earning my first Specialty exam certification. I’ve shared in previous channels and talked about how I succeeded on other AWS certifications, namely the AWS Certified Solutions Architect certification.
This blog post will share my approach to the AWS and Public Cloud Certification exams. I hope this will help anyone looking to uplevel and demonstrate additional capabilities in their area of expertise.
Step 1: Understand the Exam Blueprint
AWS provides an official exam guide or blueprint for each certification. Start by reviewing the AWS Certified Machine Learning — Specialty exam guide to understand each topic's domains, objectives, and weight on the exam.
The AWS Machine Learning Speciality exam has the following content domains and weightings:
- Domain 1: Data Engineering (20% of scored content)
- Domain 2: Exploratory Data Analysis (24% of scored content)
- Domain 3: Modeling (36% of scored content)
- Domain 4: Machine Learning Implementation and Operations (20% of scored content)
The AWS exams have two kinds of questions: a single-answer multiple choice and a multiple-answer multiple choice. Neither question has partial credit, so you must answer correctly to gain a point. The points accumulate to a score. A passing score for the exam is 750/1000.
Since this is an AWS exam, you should expect to get questions that involve specific AWS Services. The appendix of the official exam guide lists relevant AWS services. Search for each service’s product page to understand what that service does at a high level.
Step 2: Acquire Prerequisite Knowledge
Before attempting the specialty exam, it’s essential to have a solid understanding of AWS core services and the domain of the specialty. A set of questions will require more in-depth knowledge of specific AWS Services, especially those related to machine learning, such as Amazon SageMaker, AWS Lambda, Kinesis, Amazon S3, and RedShift.
Study the Recommended Resources:
- AWS offers various resources to help you prepare, including official documentation, whitepapers, webinars, and online training courses. Some of the key resources include:
- AWS Certified Machine Learning — Specialty Exam Readiness Workshop
- AWS Certified Machine Learning — Specialty practice exam
- AWS whitepapers on machine learning topics: Review the whitepapers mentioned in the exam blueprint. They often contain valuable information related to AWS machine learning services and best practices.
Other study methods include:
- Gaining practical experience. Try to work on real-world machine learning projects using AWS services, as it will give you a better understanding of how these tools are used in practice.
- Enroll in online courses or training programs. AWS provides its own training through AWS Training and Certification, but you can also find courses on platforms like Coursera, edX, or A Cloud Guru that cover the necessary topics.
- Join online forums, discussion groups, or social media communities where you can ask questions, share experiences, and learn from others who have taken the exam.
Step 3: Practice with Sample Questions
Practice with sample questions and mock exams to get a feel for the type of questions you’ll encounter. This will help you become more comfortable with the format and time constraints of the exam.
The simulated training on Tutorial’s Dojo or A Cloud Guru is good for those unfamiliar with the test structure. This will allow you to understand better how to take the test, mark questions for review, skip a question and keep track of the remaining test time.
After taking a practice exam, review your answers. Whitepapers or documentation can help clarify concepts that may be on the exam. These resources often contain valuable information about AWS machine learning services and best practices.
I prioritized understanding regularization, the common unsupervised and supervised ML libraries and algorithms, the recommendation systems, and neural networks. A PDF of my notes copied from various resources can be found here.
Step 4: Schedule the Exam
Once you feel adequately prepared, schedule your exam through the AWS Training and Certification portal. It was less work to find and drive to a testing center than to schedule and set up an online exam. So, I found a testing center with dates that worked with my schedule.
In the days leading up to the exam, review your notes, take more practice exams, and make sure you’re comfortable with all the topics outlined in the exam blueprint. Tutorial’s Dojo also has one-pagers on the common AWS services, which are great to review sometime before taking the exam.
Step 5: Take the Exam
On the exam day, arrive early at your testing center or online exam. If you’re taking the online exam, ensure your computer and internet connection are working properly. Follow the instructions provided by AWS for the online exam format.
At my testing site, I was asked to turn off my cell phone and leave my belongings in a locker. My test space sat other examiners in a separate desk space with a dry-erase marker and whiteboard. I used the whiteboard to write down a few reminders for myself.
During the exam, stay calm and focused. Answer the questions to the best of your knowledge. If unsure about a question, make your best guess or mark the question to review later on. During my exam, I remember marking multiple answer multiple-choice questions for review since they were the trickiest to answer. I took about 15 minutes to select responses for questions I did not answer or marked for review.
I had sixty minutes left when I left the exam. As with any exam, time management and pacing are crucial. If you read the multiple-choice questions carefully, some details at the start of the question may quickly eliminate incorrect answer options. I often found similarities in question and answer options. Marking those for review will give you time at the end of the exam to think more deeply about those questions later on without distributing your concentration.
After completing the exam, review your results and understand where you need to improve your knowledge for future attempts. Be also sure to answer all questions!
Step 6: Wait for the results!
The AWS Certified Machine Learning — Specialty exam results are shared a few days after taking the exam. I got my certification results email in less than 24 hours, along with a credly certification badge to share with my network.
The AWS Certified Machine Learning — Specialty exam can be challenging, so adequate preparation is essential. This blog post shares some tips on how to pass AWS certification exams. Good luck with your exam!
