A few days after passing my last certification, I asked myself what I'd done since the pandemic started. I posted the list below on Twitter on 28 May to share what I have achieved.

This tweet was liked 1.9K times and retweeted 173 times! It was the first time I'd had that much impact on Twitter. And I got quite a few questions about my job and the challenges I started working through.

The encouragement I received gave me the motivation to share my story. In this post, I'm going to explain everything and answer all the questions I got.

Why I started the #AWSCertified Challenge

We're all experiencing different things and struggling in various ways. It's our choice to take action or not. I spent the last two years working for my startup and trying to change the world.

It didn't work out as I expected. But it was full of intense experiences that I could never have had as an employee. I'm not saying that being an employee is bad. But I was responsible for my business, and that changed everything.

I'm the kind of person who cannot stay still for long. I find my energy in challenges, and Quincy Larson had exactly what I needed: the #AWSCertified Challenge.

This challenge helps you find the motivation to pass your first AWS Certifications. What you need to do is commit to this challenge. After that, Andrew Brown from ExamPro has you covered. For now, you can prepare for three AWS Certifications for free:

Each day, you watch the course, share your progress, and encourage at least two other people. I did that for almost 50 days, which allowed me to meet many people in the AWS community and pass three certifications in a row. The preparation was very intensive, but I enjoyed the #AWSCertified Challenge!

For more details about AWS and the #AWSCertified Challenge, I recommend that you read Quincy's post. He explains everything you need to know to start the challenge.

If you want to read about my preparation and how I managed to pass three certifications, you can read this post.

Some of you asked me if I considered other courses to prepare for the exams. We're all working differently, and it's something to keep in mind.

From my perspective, I think one course is enough to pass the exam. I only used freeCodeCamp and other free resources. I enjoyed Andrew Brown's teaching method: straight to the point! It gave me more time to experiment by myself.

Also, I believe that practice is the key – not hours and hours of courses.

How I found my new job

Question yourself

At the end of my startup, I looked for a job. Before starting this new step, I asked myself many questions, such as:

  • Should I join a Startup or a Corporate company?
  • If Corporate, how big?
  • What kind of position?

It's necessary to know what you want and what you can offer. Know yourself, what kind of company is right for you, and what kind of position you can hold.

There are many positions in the tech industry. If you're a Developer today, maybe you wish to become a Solutions Architect one day. You should know your goals, and if you're not ready today, work for it!

Get feedback from professionals

I'm frequently asking for feedback on things I can improve. It doesn't cost you anything, and it can help you grow.

For instance, I wanted to review my CV with someone before applying. I registered for a job fair and got feedback from a professional.

My feedback

If there were three things I learned from all my interviews, I would say:

  1. Dare to apply for a job even if your profile doesn't meet all the qualifications
  2. Be motivated - you have to show your motivation from start to finish. Do your homework and understand the company you want to work for. During the interview, provide a detailed explanation of your previous experiences
  3. Trust your network - if you know someone working on the tech industry, feel free to contact them. Sometimes, a recommendation is all you need

These things helped me to find my job, and today, I'm proud to announce I'm a Technical Architect at delaware France!

Note: That's okay to fail multiple job interviews. Put your ego aside and keep going. I know how frustrating and demotivating it is. But the most important thing is to learn from your failures. Don't forget, opportunities are in front of you, not behind!

How I managed my time during the lockdown

After working for two years for my startup, I no longer knew how to just do nothing. I needed some challenges to continue to improve myself.

Become an author at freeCodeCamp

Something I had in my mind for a long time was to start blogging. During my startup period, I noticed that if I was able to explain something with my own words I understood it better.

Looking for my next challenge, I decided to apply to become an author at freeCodeCamp to share my experience with others.

I needed to submit three articles I had already written to the editorial team. Because I had none at this time, I had to write them first before applying:

How I went from 0 to 2 AWS certifications in 30 days
I followed the #AWSCertified challenge and I’m now both an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner and AWS Certified Solutions Architect
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I deployed a server-side React app with AWS Elastic Beanstalk. Here’s what I learned.
AWS Elastic Beanstalk can help you deploy easily using Node.js or Docker platforms
1*8I-HPL0bfoIzGied-dzOvAJohan RinMedium
0*cWzqTIu2oxQ1M7ju
I deployed my first AWS Cloud Development Kit app. Here’s what I learned.
AWS Cloud Development Kit can help you to deploy your AWS CloudFormation stack in few lines of code
1*8I-HPL0bfoIzGied-dzOvAJohan RinMedium
0*Wy06DC8fZsTCBuUb

Pass my first Azure Certification

Since joining my new team, I've undertaken another exciting challenge: to improve my knowledge of Azure.

This time, there was no challenge from freeCodeCamp. I started my #AzureCertified Challenge to keep up that forward momentum. But don't worry, Andrew Brown will get you covered soon.

I decided to take the first exam, AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals, to give myself a smooth transition from AWS to Azure. And I passed!

The current situation

If I look back on what I've accomplished so far, I think I haven't done that much. My objectives were clear, and for me, it was only baby steps every day! ?

Motivation, Patience, and Dedication. That's all it takes to achieve what I did.

No shortcut. No magic trick. No superpower.

And guess what? You can do it too. No, you can even do better.

To conclude, I'd like to share some thoughts with the Black community.

We all have a responsibility to stop racism. The time to act is now!

"Never allow yourself to stay comfortable. Comfort is complicity. Discomfort means change. Sit with it." - Tatiana Mac

#BlackLivesMatter

That's it for me, hope you learned something! If you have any questions, find me on Twitter and feel free to ask me anything.