Our experience hasn’t been THAT bad but we did waste a lot of time in weekly meetings with AWS “solutions architects” who knew next to nothing about AWS aside from a shallow, salesman-like understanding. They make around $150k too, by the way. I tried to apply to be one, but AWS wants someone with more sales experience and they don’t really care about my AWS certs
As an AWS Solution Architect (independent untethered to Bezos) I resent that comment. I know slightly more than next to nothing about AWS and I can Google something and come up with something convincing and sell it to you in a couple of minutes!
How do I make $150k (or more) having high-level conversations about AWS with senior software engineers? Seriously. I’m sure it’s not an “easy” job, but fuck if I make less actually writing the software (median SWE salary is something like $140k in the US- depends on who you ask but it’s not the $250k+ that Levels.fyi would lead you to believe).
I can guarantee an SA working for AWS makes more than $150k. A returning L4 intern makes that much (former AWS Professional Services employee)
And no one cares about AWS certifications. They are proof of nothing and disregarded by anyone with a modicum of a clue.
I’m speaking as someone who once had nine active certifications and I believe I still have six active ones. I only got them as a guided learning path. I knew going in they were meaningless.
I’m sure everyone here is aware of the colloquial hate that certs get outside of IT (“A+”, etc.) , even I.
What I don’t know is why AWS would rather pay a salesman $150k (or more… I looked up salaries a few months ago, but either way…) to sell the wrong things to customers, rather than have a software engineer who has actually used these products, sell the right thing to customers. I should hope that all AWS Solutions Architects need to pass the cloud fundamentals exam before interacting with customers, but maybe not?
There are different types of SAs at AWS. There are the generalist SAs who I never worked with and the specialist SAs who have deep experience in a specific area of the industry - not just AWS.
And even they aren’t to be confused with “consultants”. SAs are free to customers and give general guidance and are not allowed to give the customers any code.
Consultants are full time employees at AWS who get paid by the customer to do hands on keyboard work. But even we couldn’t work in production environments. We did initial work and taught the customer how to maintain and enhance the work.
If you don’t know the cloud fundamentals, learning enough to pass a few multiple choice questions.
As an anecdote, I passed the first one - the Solution Architect Associate - before I ever opened the AWS console.
This cracked me up. I was "asked" to get some AWS certs since I joined a company that was an AWS Partner. We have a new VP that is forcing other people to get them. Big waste of time for all practical purposes.
Having an AWS certification is not a requirement or even that important to get a job at AWS in the Professional Services department. Depending on your job position you are required to have certain certifications once you get there.
I now work for a partner and you are required to have a certain number of “certified individuals” to maintain partnership status. But even then, certifications never came up in my three interviews after getting “Amazoned” a couple of months ago.
But then again, after having AWS ProServe on my resume and having been a major contributor to a popular open source project in my niche, door opened for my automatically.
I didn't mind getting the certifications to "help out" the company, I just find it such a racket: paying for courses, buying books, $200 tests. Some people take months preparing for that stuff! I didn't buy any courses and only spent a few days preparing, but others spend tons of time and money on it.
And based on my own personal interactions with other "certified" individuals, it doesn't actually mean anything.
