How I passed my AWS CCP in 6 days
Do's and Don'ts
Hello, Hoodies!
As of about an hour ago, I am officially AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certified!
That makes for my 2nd cloud certification in 10 total days of study. I started Thursday a week go, got my AZ900 last Monday, and my AWS CCP today, the following Monday.
Here’s my tips and tricks for the exam.
NOTE: I cannot share the exact details of the exam. But I’ll tell you what I did and what you can do too.
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So here’s the deal:
Background
I’ve spent six years working with legacy hardware and security. My certifications include Net+, Sec+, CEH, and AZ-900, so while I’m not particularly cert-heavy, I have enough foundational knowledge to navigate the tech space.
Before this, I had no direct experience with AWS. However, I completed the AZ-900 in four days, which served as a helpful stepping stone before diving into AWS concepts.
Preparation
Here’s what I used during my study:
A Cloud Guru (ACG): Focused on their course materials and practice exams. I didn’t use the sandbox but found their explanations and practice questions to be incredibly valuable. That sandbox is gonna be clutch for future exams though.
Tutorials Dojo (TD) Book: Excellent for foundational knowledge. Highly recommend.
Tutorials Dojo Practice Questions: Not a fan. Many questions felt unnecessarily ambiguous and unhelpful for real-world prep.
ChatGPT and Quizlet: These were critical for quickly memorizing terms and concepts.
The Exam Experience
The ACG practice tests prepared me well. My scores on the first attempt for their three exams were 86, 86, and 80. While their scenarios were great practice, the actual exam presented slightly more nuanced situations.
Cloud Adoption Framework and Well Architected Framework Questions: These were the most challenging—less technical and more abstract. If you encounter them, focus on understanding the general purpose rather than technical details.
Overall Difficulty: Fair and well-balanced. Each question had one clearly correct answer, which reduced any second-guessing.
My approach:
Completed all 65 questions in 30 minutes.
Spent an additional 10 minutes reviewing flagged questions to ensure accuracy.
Challenges
Balancing preparation with running three businesses and experimenting with homelabs meant time management was critical. Study sessions were focused and consistent, which allowed me to make the most of my limited time each day.
I was eating carbs and smoking cigars like they were going out of style. But I’ll tell you what. IT WORKS! 1
Why This Cert Matters
The AWS CCP is more than just a certification—it’s a foundation for building on AWS. The skills I’ve gained are already proving useful. I’m currently exploring Lambda functions, SQS, EC2 spot instances, and Ollama to bring a SaaS idea to life. The practical applications of what I learned far outweigh the effort it took to pass the exam.
Key Takeaways
Choose the right resources: A Cloud Guru is highly effective for foundational prep. Avoid overly ambiguous question banks.
Master the basics: Familiarity with AWS services, pricing models, and terminology is essential.
Be strategic during the exam: Trust your instincts, flag ambiguous questions, and review thoughtfully.
If you have questions about the AWS CCP or are looking for advice, feel free to reach out. I’ll also be sharing updates on my SaaS project and how I’m applying what I’ve learned.
Until next time.
Cheers,
Evan Lutz (BowTiedCyber)
cigars are not a safe alternative to cigarettes, says the government overlords who said the jab was safe and pizza is a vegetable. But cigars do however increase neuroplasticity, as does all nicotine, and are far less addictive than cigarettes or direct nicotine sources. DYOR and live your life. Ima live mine with cigars. Thanks for reading my only ever substack footnote :)