Wish I had seen your write up after I resigned from my mid-level AWS Data Engineer role @ Deloitte in late Oct 2024.... it would've helped me a bit on this ML Engr path of mine.
Congrats on hitting that 1,000 score, nice.
"WE" appear to be on very similar tracks for this. Thanks for sharing your information - I might have to check out the Examtopics course you mentioned.
I did use the Kane and Maarek AWS ML Engineer 'Associate' course, but I was a bit so-so on their material. (All the face time of the instructor in various lectures/lessons just distracts the heck out of me.)
I also used Maarek's ML Engineer Assoc practice tests (which was useful).
And.... I did use the AWS skillbuilder material - not too bad.
Last - I REALLY LIKED the TutorialsDojo ML Engr Assoc practice exams.
But I did discover that one of the courses / tests I used may mention something (some topic or aspect) that the others did not discuss and vice versa.....
And talking about education/hosts/instructors - everyone has to remember that some people like some instructors more than others. Some instructors just hit the right vibe for some of us - for others, it just does not work... speech patterns (not language or dialect), the way questions or theories are formed or posed. It is just the way an instructor gets through to us. Some of them are winners and some are just not at the same scale.
I also did a write up on my AWS ML Engineer Assoc journey if you wanted to skim over some of the content:
Thanks a lot for your appreciation, and thank you for the great learning content you have created. Please continue doing that and supporting our journey 😇
Did not break the 900 level as I had expected but passed it.
I had very, VERY poor sleep the night before and felt like garbage going in. As well as believing I was not ready for this exam and needed about another 4 - 5 days of prep work. I'd already rescheduled it by one day.
Finished the exam and all the questions I marked as review, I just said "SCREW IT" and left with an hour to spare.
I did NOT feel like reviewing and was really feeling like crap. Went home, took a nap.
Woke up to check email and guess what kind of surprise I got.
The passed exam email.
That was a major relief and removed a huge burden from my shoulders.
Please be aware, this time, I only did a few practice exams, not even close to what I did for the associate cert, not even close. Just studied the hell out of the few courses I had - and did not finish any of them (yet).
The AWS Skillbuilder Specialty course was a waste (the practice question exam was 'okay') of money. To be clear, the AWS Specialty course was a WASTE...
Now, I have to do prep work for interviews that I will likely start doing next week at some point.
Even with this market, here on the east coast of our (screwed up) country (america), my chances are better than most with the following:
a) nearly a decade in the AWS cloud architect world
b) AWS ML Engineer Associate &
c) AWS ML Engr Specialty
Those two certs should definitely help make up for the lack of hands-on work experience. Combined with my certs from last year for:
d) AWS Data Engr &
e) GCP Pro Data Engr
along with my double-grad degrees and my highest level security clearances.
ALL of above should definitely do a big push for me. With my confidence level in the workplace, it should be okay. But again, this damned economy could through a curve ball PLUS the LOOMING GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN...
Great insights, thanks for sharing your journey! I also prepared for the AWS Machine Learning Specialty (MLS-C01) exam, and the practice questions designed by P2PExams really helped me. They were close to the actual exam and boosted my confidence to attempt it successfully.
It is just, 'sheeesh....', so much we have to prep for now - what with the EVER advancing speed of GenAI and Agentic AI.
Since EVERY single company out there has a different set of knowledge requirements - I just had to set a baseline and continue from there (with the NVidia GenAI cert).
And THEN pick up whatever my next company wants a staff member to have. Like, Pytorch, Langchain, n8n, etc....
No way in heck we can learn everything 'before' getting the job. And I took off from work to learn what I could for the two Data Engineer certs and the two ML Engineer certs. No way I could've gained all four of those while working and commuting (in this heavy DC, Virginia, Maryland traffic).
After gaining the Data Engineer certs, I was at Deloitte for a bit before bailing on them and deciding to switch over to ML / AI as the better path.
Hello there.
DANG IT...!!!!!
Wish I had seen your write up after I resigned from my mid-level AWS Data Engineer role @ Deloitte in late Oct 2024.... it would've helped me a bit on this ML Engr path of mine.
Congrats on hitting that 1,000 score, nice.
"WE" appear to be on very similar tracks for this. Thanks for sharing your information - I might have to check out the Examtopics course you mentioned.
I did use the Kane and Maarek AWS ML Engineer 'Associate' course, but I was a bit so-so on their material. (All the face time of the instructor in various lectures/lessons just distracts the heck out of me.)
I also used Maarek's ML Engineer Assoc practice tests (which was useful).
And.... I did use the AWS skillbuilder material - not too bad.
Last - I REALLY LIKED the TutorialsDojo ML Engr Assoc practice exams.
But I did discover that one of the courses / tests I used may mention something (some topic or aspect) that the others did not discuss and vice versa.....
And talking about education/hosts/instructors - everyone has to remember that some people like some instructors more than others. Some instructors just hit the right vibe for some of us - for others, it just does not work... speech patterns (not language or dialect), the way questions or theories are formed or posed. It is just the way an instructor gets through to us. Some of them are winners and some are just not at the same scale.
I also did a write up on my AWS ML Engineer Assoc journey if you wanted to skim over some of the content:
https://patrick642.wordpress.com/2025/07/12/journey-of-achieving-my-aws-machine-learning-engineer-associate-certification/
Sooooo, thanks again - back to my ML Engr SPECIALTY studies.
Congrats Shirin. Incredible achievement and thanks for sharing your journey.
Incredible achievement! I'm so glad we were a part of it; thanks for sharing your tips for others - it's solid advice.
Thanks a lot for your appreciation, and thank you for the great learning content you have created. Please continue doing that and supporting our journey 😇
Yep, big help for me.
Now, I have to finish prepping for my NVidia GenAI Engineer exam as well... One last hurdle.
Okay, update for those who may have an interest.
Passed the ML Specialty this week.
Did not break the 900 level as I had expected but passed it.
I had very, VERY poor sleep the night before and felt like garbage going in. As well as believing I was not ready for this exam and needed about another 4 - 5 days of prep work. I'd already rescheduled it by one day.
Finished the exam and all the questions I marked as review, I just said "SCREW IT" and left with an hour to spare.
I did NOT feel like reviewing and was really feeling like crap. Went home, took a nap.
Woke up to check email and guess what kind of surprise I got.
The passed exam email.
That was a major relief and removed a huge burden from my shoulders.
Please be aware, this time, I only did a few practice exams, not even close to what I did for the associate cert, not even close. Just studied the hell out of the few courses I had - and did not finish any of them (yet).
The AWS Skillbuilder Specialty course was a waste (the practice question exam was 'okay') of money. To be clear, the AWS Specialty course was a WASTE...
Now, I have to do prep work for interviews that I will likely start doing next week at some point.
Even with this market, here on the east coast of our (screwed up) country (america), my chances are better than most with the following:
a) nearly a decade in the AWS cloud architect world
b) AWS ML Engineer Associate &
c) AWS ML Engr Specialty
Those two certs should definitely help make up for the lack of hands-on work experience. Combined with my certs from last year for:
d) AWS Data Engr &
e) GCP Pro Data Engr
along with my double-grad degrees and my highest level security clearances.
ALL of above should definitely do a big push for me. With my confidence level in the workplace, it should be okay. But again, this damned economy could through a curve ball PLUS the LOOMING GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN...
Big congratulations 😃
Yikes...!!!!
I went back to ExamTopics to check it out again - WOW...!!!! They are more expensive than I recall...
I am going to have to pass on them and stick with:
a) Udemy
b) TutorialsDojo
c) AWS SkillBuilder
d) ACloudGuru (still kinda useful)
Great insights, thanks for sharing your journey! I also prepared for the AWS Machine Learning Specialty (MLS-C01) exam, and the practice questions designed by P2PExams really helped me. They were close to the actual exam and boosted my confidence to attempt it successfully.
https://www.p2pexams.com/amazon/pdf/mls-c01
Copy.
It is just, 'sheeesh....', so much we have to prep for now - what with the EVER advancing speed of GenAI and Agentic AI.
Since EVERY single company out there has a different set of knowledge requirements - I just had to set a baseline and continue from there (with the NVidia GenAI cert).
And THEN pick up whatever my next company wants a staff member to have. Like, Pytorch, Langchain, n8n, etc....
No way in heck we can learn everything 'before' getting the job. And I took off from work to learn what I could for the two Data Engineer certs and the two ML Engineer certs. No way I could've gained all four of those while working and commuting (in this heavy DC, Virginia, Maryland traffic).
After gaining the Data Engineer certs, I was at Deloitte for a bit before bailing on them and deciding to switch over to ML / AI as the better path.