How to Start a Career as an AWS Solution Architect?

Are you doubtful about starting your career as an AWS Solution architect fresher? Don’t worry, it’s obvious! Many aspiring IT professionals desire a career with one of the major cloud service vendors in the market presently. However, their desire to pursue a job at AWS is often masked by doubts that arise from a lack of information.

A candidate who wants to become an AWS Solutions Architect should understand the career path perfectly. The career path can provide information about the certification exam required to become an AWS solutions architect. Also, candidates should note the AWS solution architect roles and responsibilities clearly to prepare effectively for their career.

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The following discussion would serve as a guide for IT professionals and freshers searching for answers on how to become AWS architect. The discussion would provide introductory information about the AWS solutions architect career path and the associated certifications. Also, the discussion would focus on key skill requirements for AWS solution architect fresher candidates. Finally, the discussion would emphasize on the job description and what is the role of AWS Solution architect and average annual salary estimates of AWS solutions architects.

Let’s start with an answer to why choose an AWS Solution Architect career. If you are preparing for the AWS Solution Architect interview, it is recommended to go through top AWS Solution Architect interview questions.

Why Become an AWS Solution Architect?

Before learning about how to start a career in AWS as an architect, let us know the reasons first! At present, the cloud computing market has two prominent competitors for market share, i.e., Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.

According to Gartner, AWS occupies around 47.8% of the public cloud services market. The market share of AWS is over three times that of its nearest competitor, Microsoft at 15.5% market share.

As a result, companies on the cloud adoption bandwagon consistently look for employees skilled in AWS and cloud computing. Presently, the AWS cloud platform is the backbone of many businesses in over 190 countries. So, the number of job listings for AWS certified candidates has constantly been increasing over the years. The promising trends in salaries for AWS solution architect fresher professionals also drive the interest of many candidates. If you aspire to land your dream job in AWS cloud, we recommend you to search for AWS jobs near me and find the right job for you.

Who is a Cloud Architect?

The general definition of a cloud solutions architect can provide an initial clarity about the job role. The cloud computing architecture is made of the front-end platform, back-end platform, a network, and cloud-based delivery. The cloud solutions architect translates the technical requirements of a project into an architecture and design ideal for the final product. AWS Solution architect roles are for reducing the gap between complex problems and solutions.

An AWS Solutions architect has the necessary skills and training for evaluating organization requirements for making recommendations on architecture for implementing and deploying applications on AWS. AWS solutions architects also display commitment and promising fluency in AWS knowledge. Furthermore, AWS solutions architects also have a clear impression of the architecture of application and servers using the AWS platform.

Basic Skills for an AWS Solutions Architect

The most crucial aspect of responses on how to become AWS architect refers to basic skills. The awareness of the basic skills needed for an AWS solutions architect can help candidates address their job roles and responsibilities effectively. Here are the basic skills of an AWS solutions architect.

1. Fluency in at least one operating system such as Linux, Windows, Solaris, Ubuntu, or Unix. The recommended operating system experience for aspiring AWS solution architect fresher candidates is Linux (Ubuntu or Red Hat). On the other hand, prior experience as a solutions architect or administrator in any of the operating systems is also promising.
2. General understanding of specific programming or scripting languages.
3. Comprehensive knowledge of networking concepts such as IP addresses, DNS, TCP/IP, and HTTP.
4. High-level knowledge about key security concepts such as firewalls.

Also Read: Top Benefits of Getting an AWS Certification

Role-specific Skills for AWS Solutions Architect

An individual should also focus on the job-specific skills for an AWS solutions architect. These skills are essential for addressing the requirements of various AWS solution architect roles.

1. Communicating with sales and customers is an important part of the job of an AWS solution architect fresher. Therefore, interpersonal skills are very crucial for the job of an AWS solutions architect.
2. The major share of responsibilities of an AWS solutions architect deal with solving problems for addressing customer needs and business objectives.
3. Candidates eager about how to start a career in AWS as an architect should also have adaptability skills. AWS solution architects have to face varied tasks such as writing scripts, troubleshooting, or working on migrations. Therefore, adaptability is a crucial role-specific skill requirement for AWS solution architects.
4. The diversity of tasks thrown at an AWS solution architect every day implies the need for time management. Therefore, aspiring candidates for the AWS solution architect job role should have time management skills such as day-planning and task prioritization.
5. The final yet most important role-specific skill for an AWS solution architect fresher is to stay updated with constant improvements in AWS. Therefore, proactive learning and research is also a vital skill requirement for AWS solution architects.

Certifications Needed for an AWS Solutions Architect

We have covered the basic info on AWS solution architects and the specific skills needed to become one. Now, let us find out the certifications that can help you kickstart your career. You can find two noticeable certifications for starting a career as an AWS solutions architect. The first certification, i.e., AWS Certified Solutions Architect- Associate, is ideal for freshers. After clearing this certification, candidates can choose to pursue the AWS Solutions Architect Professional certification exam. Let us find out the basic details about these two certification exams in the career path for AWS solution architects.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect- Associate

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect- Associate certification is the go-to option for AWS Solution architect fresher candidates without any doubt! The certification requires one or more years of experience in designing distributed AWS systems with higher availability, scalability, and cost-efficiency. The certification exam is available in four different languages, such as English, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese.

The duration of the certification exam would be 130 minutes, i.e., 2 hours and 10 minutes. Candidates have to appear for the certification exam at a testing center of their choice. The exam would include multiple-choice questions, and the registration fee for the exam is USD 150. The AWS associate solutions architect certification exam tests the following abilities of candidates.

1. Productive demonstration of knowledge about architecture and deployment of secure and robust applications using AWS technologies
2. Defining solutions based on customer requirements by leveraging architectural design principles
3. Provision of guidance to organizations for the implementation of a project on the ground of best practices throughout the project lifecycle

Preparing for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam? Follow this AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam preparation guide and give your preparation a new edge.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect- Professional

As an AWS Solution Architect fresher, the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate certification is the best option for you! However, the next level in your career path is possible through the AWS Certified Solutions Architect- Professional exam. You can go for this certification after serving for two or more years as an AWS Solution architect.

The certification exam is available in English, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese languages. The duration of the exam is around 170 minutes, i.e., 2 hours and 50 minutes. The registration fee for the exam is USD 300. Candidates have to appear for the certification exam at a testing center of their choice. The format of questions would be multiple choice and multiple answer questions. The certification exam tests the following abilities of candidates.

1. Design and deployment of dynamically scalable, fault-tolerant, reliable, and highly available applications on AWS applications.
2. Selection of appropriate AWS services for designing and deploying applications.
3. Migration of complex and multi-tier applications on AWS.
4. Implementation of cost-control strategies.
5. Designing and deploying enterprise-wide scalable operations on the AWS platform.

Preparing for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional exam? Follow this AWS Solutions Architect Professional exam preparation guide and give your preparation a new edge.

Job Description of the AWS Solutions Architect Role

Now, let us take the focus of our discussion on what is the role of AWS solution architect. An outline of the AWS solution architect responsibilities and roles can help in getting AWS Solution Architect jobs for freshers. The primary entrants among AWS solution architect responsibilities include the following.

1. Identifying the right technology solutions for existing business problems.
2. Describing characteristics, structure, behavior and other software terminologies to project stakeholders.
3. Defining the features, requirements, and phases in the solution.
4. Providing specifications for defining, management and delivery of the solution.

These basic responsibilities for the basis of the following AWS Solution architect roles and responsibilities.

1. Performing architectural evaluation and analysis as well as the design of enterprise-wide systems.
2. Promoting the right design best practices and design tools such as IBM Rational.
3. Development, enhancements, and maintenance of established processes of service design for perfect and robust design.
4. Collaboration with a high-performance solution architect team to support the development of the enterprise-oriented project.
5. Accountability for current practices and suggestions.
6. Ensuring sustainability of configuration management.
7. Recognizing customer requirements, analysis of alternatives and product recommendations related to platform, software and the network configurations.

AWS Solution Architect Salary

One can find a number of AWS Solution Architect jobs for fresher role. Also, the candidates may get a good salary even as a fresher at the AWS Solution Architect role. According to the 2019 IT Skills and Salary Survey, estimates suggest that an AWS certified solutions architect can fetch an average annual salary of $130,883 in the United States and Canada. One can even get more salary with experience, advanced skills, and getting the associate-level and professional-level certification.

Preparing for the AWS Solutions Architect interview? Go through these top AWS Solutions Architect Interview Questions and get ready to ace the interview.

Job Opportunities for AWS Certified Solutions Architect

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect can apply for the following job roles:

• AWS Supply Chain Solution Architect
• Principal Solutions Architect
• Cloud Data Architect
• Enterprise Data Architect
• DevOps Solution Architect
• AWS Cloud Engineer

Final Words

On a concluding note, the career option for an AWS Solution Architect fresher is very straightforward. You have an associate-level certification exam by AWS for fresher level entry as an AWS solution architect. Candidates also have the option of upgrading their credentials to the professional level later on in their careers.

The promising salary estimates for AWS Solutions architect also present notable opportunities for a candidate’s future in this career. In addition to the promising salary and career development options, the role of AWS solutions architect fetches high demand in the labor market.So, don’t wait anymore to become an AWS Solutions architect. Grab the opportunity, right now!   

As an AWS Solution Architect Fresher, we recommend you to validate your skills with the AWS Solution Architect Associate certification exam. If you are aspired to become certified, check out our AWS Solution Architect Associate training courses and get ahead in your career!

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About Pavan Gumaste

Pavan Rao is a programmer / Developer by Profession and Cloud Computing Professional by choice with in-depth knowledge in AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform. He helps the organisation figure out what to build, ensure successful delivery, and incorporate user learning to improve the strategy and product further.

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