AMA Deep Dive With Amber Israelsen On Amazon Web Services (AWS) - Zero To Mastery

6/28/22, 10:54 AM AMA Deep Dive With Amber Israelsen On Amazon Web Services (AWS) | Zero To Mastery
AMA
AMA Deep Dive

With Amber
Israelsen On
Amazon Web
Services (AWS)
Amber Israelsen
June 22nd, 2022 11 min read
Table of Contents
Who is Amber Israelsen,

and why should you listen
https://zerotomastery.io/blog/ama-deep-dive-with-amber-israelsen-on-amazon-web-services-aws 1/19
to her?
🙋 AMA with Amber

Israelsen on AWS
What is AWS and

AWS Cloud? Are they
the same thing?
What is an AWS
certification, and
what is it needed for?
Are AWS
certification’s a
requirement to get
an AWS job?
What is the best way
to get an AWS
certification?
Is AWS easy or
difficult to learn?
Do you need any
programming SIGN JOIN
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experience to learn
AWS such as Python
or others?
Do you need to know
multiple
programming
languages to use
AWS?
Can you get a good
career from working
with AWS?
What is the salary

range for working
with AWS?
What is 'auto-scaling'
in AWS?
What are AWS tools?
Does AWS offer a
visualization tool to
get an overview of
the architecture?
What is the point of
using an AWS
workload tool?
How do I get an AWS
job without
experience?
How long does it take
to get AWS certified?
🔥 Want to learn more

about AWS?
A quick note from the editor:
I recently got to join and moderate a live AMA

call that Amber Israelsen did with our
students in the Zero To Mastery virtual
campus.
Students and I asked questions about AWS,

how it works, how best to learn it, how it
compares to Azure and other cloud hosting
providers, some technical questions, and
much more.
You can check out some of Amber’s answers

to the questions from her AMA call below,
but first, let me introduce her.
Who is Amber
Israelsen, and why
should you listen to
her?
Amber has been a Software Developer and
Technical Trainer since the early 2000s and
holds multiple certifications for AWS,
Microsoft, and other cloud technologies.
As the Director of Technical Program

Management at GoDaddy, Amber also works
to bridge the gap between developers,
designers, and businesspeople with her
expertise in visual communication, user
experience, and business/professional skills.
In recent years, she has taught students

around the world about in-demand
technologies including AWS, Azure,
Dynamics 365, SharePoint, and ASP.NET.
Amber is also the instructor of our AWS

cloud practitioner certification here at ZTM.
As you can see, she knows what she’s talking

about when it comes to cloud hosting and
more, and so we figured we would pick her
brains on everything AWS.
She gave fantastic answers and resources,

and also did a deep dive into getting hired
which we’re going to share in its own blog
post in the future because it was that
valuable!
This was a great interview so with the intro

out of the way, let’s dive into Amber’s AMA
answers 😀.
🙋 AMA with Amber

Israelsen on AWS
Want to watch the video, ask questions in

our Discord, or join in live on our next expert
AMA?
These are all exclusive access for members

of Zero To Mastery. You can find out more
details about every course and the other
benefits of being a ZTM member here.
As a ZTM member, you can watch a

recording of Amber’s interview inside the
academy without having to wait for the
article and hear those interview tips now, as
well as other AMA calls!
What is AWS and AWS

Cloud? Are they the same
thing?
They are the same thing!
AWS or Amazon Web Services are a

collection of services that let you do things
like computing, databases, and networking.
Basically, all the things that you used to do
on-premises but moved out and onto the
cloud.
Sometimes you’ll hear this referred to as

Amazon cloud or AWS cloud, or just ‘the
cloud’, but this all means the same thing.
AWS is a division of Amazon.com.
What is an AWS
certification, and what is it
needed for?
So the common question we see is do you
need an AWS certification to get an AWS
job?
If we look at it from a mile-high view, all

certifications, AWS or otherwise, are simply
a way to validate and show the skills that you
have. It helps to show that you have a certain
level of competency or knowledge on the
topic.
Are AWS certification’s a

requirement to get an AWS
job?
Some job postings will prefer or require that
you have an AWS certification but not all of
them. It really all depends on the company,
the industry they are in, and the level of job
that you’re applying for.
So, a certification is not always a

requirement to get a job but I will say this...
Hiring managers will often look at
applications that have them in a little more
detail vs applications that are missing the

certification.
Not only that, but learning and passing the

certified practitioner exam is going to give
you more knowledge and a broader
understanding of the topic that you want to
work on.
Another benefit of certifications?
They can often help you with self-confidence

around your skills and knowledge.
Not sure if you’re ready to apply for a

programming job? Taking courses and
certifications can both upskill you and help
you know that you’re ready.
What is the best way to get

an AWS certification?
We’re slightly biased in that we offer an AWS
certification program here at Zero To
Mastery!
The course takes you step-by-step through

everything you need to ace the exam,
including a practice exam to test yourself on.

It also gives additional resources to help you
learn even more, so you can follow along and
get practical experience, which is vital for
some job applications.
Practical experience is so important.
For example
The Sysop exam will often have you set up an

example server or network to show that you
practically know how to do this. This is why
it's vital that you follow along with the course
examples and get practical experience at
the same time!
Is AWS easy or difficult to

learn?
It depends on your background and the
method that you’re using to learn.
If you’ve been working a lot on-premise, and

your day-to-day job is to set up servers and
run cables around a data center, and write
code, then you’re going to have an easier
time learning how to apply those same skills
now on the cloud than someone with zero
experience.
Honestly though, it’s not that difficult even

starting from scratch, as long as you follow a
set path to learn from.
AWS is very intuitive with easy workflow

from the console and how they name
features etc.
I’ve used others and AWS is far easier to

grasp.
Do you need any

programming experience
to learn AWS such as
Python or others?
It really depends on the role that you’re going
to be using AWS for. If you’re using AWS in a
Developer role then yes, you’ll need to know
how to code when using AWS, but you need
to know that anyway for your day-to-day job.
It never hurts to learn a little Python or

JavaScript, and some JSON or YAML
experience will also help.
Do you need to know

multiple programming
languages to use AWS?
You shouldn’t have to as almost every
language is supported inside AWS so you
should be able to just use the same language
that you already use.
AWS currently supports:
C++
Go
Java
JavaScript
.NET
Node.js
PHP
Python
Ruby
And is currently setting up to work with

Rust
Can you get a good career

from working with AWS?
AWS has been around since 2006 but it
seems like there's been a lot more adoption
and talk of it in the last few years as
companies start to understand all the
benefits of moving off-premise.
It’s also allowed us to work on so many things

now that we couldn’t before such as Machine
Learning and A.I., Data Science, and more
thanks to the increase in storage capacity
and computing power.
In terms of job opportunities, this means

there is a LOT more demand for Developers
with cloud experience.
In fact, there were 173,228 AWS Cloud

Engineer Jobs at the time of writing, just on
one job posting website!
Personally, I think cloud-focused positions

are just in their infancy, and over the next 5-
10 years we will continue to see huge growth.
What is the salary range

for working with AWS?
It starts at around $72,000 a year and scales
up to $176,500, for an average salary of
$129,182 USD per year as an AWS Engineer.
It can vary depending on the role, company,

and country but compared to other jobs you
can do, the money’s pretty good!
What is 'auto-scaling' in
AWS?
Auto-scaling simply means that you can
scale up or scale down resources
automatically.
For example
Let’s say that you have a workload for B2B

and Monday to Friday you have a lot of
traffic, but on the weekends, the traffic
drops to almost nothing.
You probably wouldn’t want to pay for high-

traffic resources on weekend days right?
Likewise, let’s say that you’re Netflix and you

just dropped the new season of Stranger
Things. You can probably expect your traffic
to double or triple during that week.
Auto-scaling allows you to automatically

adjust the server resources that you use and
pay for, based on your needs. This saves you
money instead of having a flat fee, and also
saves you from potential upfront costs when
you have large spikes like this.
What do I mean?
Well traditionally, you would need to set up

servers on-premise to handle this load. This
means you might have to upgrade for those
one-off days each year, have a larger upfront

cost and pay for hardware you don’t always
use.
What are AWS tools?

There are far too many to list here, but
basically, AWS tools are a suite of tools
designed to help developers build, test, and
deploy their programs to either AWS or even
on-premises.
Does AWS offer a

visualization tool to get an
overview of the
architecture?
Yes, it does! It was previously called AWS
Workload but is now known as AWS Well-
Architected Tool.
Basically, it will take what you’ve built and

creates visuals for you, and it’s free to start
using!
What is the point of using

an AWS workload tool?
This tool helps you to visualize what you
have in your project and how things relate to
each other.
This is always helpful but especially so if

you’re taking over a project or coming onto
one, this will help you to understand how
everything is being implemented.
When you have thousands of servers and

databases, a tool like this is a lifesaver!
How do I get an AWS job

without experience?
The key for any tech job with no experience
is to sell yourself on how you can help them.
This might not be just in the interview but
also in advance.
Interviews aren't about you. They are about

how you can deliver value for the company
hiring you.
Here are some ideas of how you can stand

out:
Build yourself into an authority via

blogging, Youtube, or other channels
Take courses and certifications to show

your skill levels
Create a portfolio of your own projects
Work on open source projects for the

topic you want to work in
We cover a lot more on how to get a tech job

in this article here.
How long does it take to

get AWS certified?
It all depends on the path you follow to learn.
Learning for free from articles and youtube

videos is completely possible but will likely
take longer than a well laid out course.
For example, my AWS certification course

has ~7 hours of video lectures to complete (+
exercises + practice exam). It is super
focused on teaching you only what you need
to know and not wasnting your time on
things that you're unlikely to use in the real
world and or that you don't need to know to
pass the exam.
Don't hold me to it but someone could learn

everything they need to know and practice
enough to pass the exam in less than a week
if they're focused full-time and have some
technical background.
For someone else, it might take a few

months. Everyone is different.
🔥 Want to learn more

about AWS?
You can check out Amber’s course and learn
how to become an AWS practitioner and get
certified here.
Best articles. Best

resources. Only for
ZTM subscribers.
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post and want to get more
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6/28/22, 10:54 AM AMA Deep Dive With Amber Israelsen On Amazon Web Services (AWS) | Zero To Mastery

AMA Deep Dive

Who is Amber Israelsen,

🙋 AMA with Amber

What is AWS and

What is the salary

🔥 Want to learn more

A quick note from the editor:

I recently got to join and moderate a live AMA

Students and I asked questions about AWS,

You can check out some of Amber’s answers

As the Director of Technical Program

In recent years, she has taught students

Amber is also the instructor of our AWS

As you can see, she knows what she’s talking

She gave fantastic answers and resources,

This was a great interview so with the intro

🙋 AMA with Amber

Want to watch the video, ask questions in

These are all exclusive access for members

As a ZTM member, you can watch a

What is AWS and AWS

AWS or Amazon Web Services are a

Sometimes you’ll hear this referred to as

AWS is a division of Amazon.com.

If we look at it from a mile-high view, all

Are AWS certification’s a

So, a certification is not always a

detail vs applications that are missing the

Not only that, but learning and passing the

Another benefit of certifications?

They can often help you with self-confidence

Not sure if you’re ready to apply for a

What is the best way to get

The course takes you step-by-step through

including a practice exam to test yourself on.

Practical experience is so important.

The Sysop exam will often have you set up an

Is AWS easy or difficult to

If you’ve been working a lot on-premise, and

Honestly though, it’s not that difficult even

AWS is very intuitive with easy workflow

I’ve used others and AWS is far easier to

Do you need any

It never hurts to learn a little Python or

Do you need to know

AWS currently supports:

And is currently setting up to work with

Can you get a good career

It’s also allowed us to work on so many things

In terms of job opportunities, this means

In fact, there were 173,228 AWS Cloud

Personally, I think cloud-focused positions

What is the salary range

It can vary depending on the role, company,

Let’s say that you have a workload for B2B

You probably wouldn’t want to pay for high-

Likewise, let’s say that you’re Netflix and you

Auto-scaling allows you to automatically

Well traditionally, you would need to set up

one-off days each year, have a larger upfront

What are AWS tools?

Does AWS offer a