Study Notes

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Exam Playbook ​

Strategies and tactics I've picked up across multiple certification exams.

Study Strategies ​

🧠 Feynman Technique

Pick a concept. Explain it simply as if teaching a beginner. Find gaps. Simplify again. If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.

🔁 Spaced Repetition

Review after 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month. Your brain retains more when material is revisited at increasing intervals. Tools like Anki automate this.

🍅 Pomodoro Technique

Study for 25–50 minutes, break for 5–10 minutes. Repeat. Maintains focus, prevents burnout, and improves retention over marathon sessions.

🔧 Hands-On Practice

You can't pass most technical certs by reading alone. Use free tiers (AWS, Azure, GCP), build sample projects, break things and fix them.

📚 Multiple Sources

Don't rely on one resource. Combine official docs, video courses, practice exams, labs, and community forums for well-rounded preparation.

🎓 Teach Others

Explain concepts to friends, write blog posts, answer forum questions. Teaching forces you to organize knowledge and reveals hidden gaps.

Building a Study Plan ​

A structured approach beats random studying every time.

📋
Week 1–2 — Download the official exam guide. Map topics to weights. Start with the highest-weighted domain + hands-on practice.
📖
Week 3–6 — Work through remaining domains. Balance theory with labs. Review earlier domains weekly using spaced repetition.
🧪
Week 7–8 — Practice exams under timed, exam-like conditions. Review every wrong answer thoroughly — understand the why, not just the what.
🎯
Final Week — Light review only. Skim cheatsheets. No new material. Get good sleep. Confirm exam logistics.

Exam Day Tactics ​

🧾 Brain Dump First

Use the first 2 minutes to write down formulas, mnemonics, and hard-to-remember facts on scratch paper. Reference throughout the exam.

⏱️ Time Budget

Divide total time by questions. Example: 120 min ÷ 85 questions = ~1.4 min each. First pass: answer what you know. Second pass: tackle flagged questions.

🔍 Read Keywords

Watch for MOST, LEAST, NOT, BEST, EXCEPT, FIRST. These change the answer completely. Underline or highlight them mentally before answering.

✂️ Eliminate First

Cross out obviously wrong answers. Even eliminating one option improves your odds significantly. Then analyze what's left carefully.

🚩 Flag and Move

Stuck for more than 90 seconds? Flag it and move on. Later questions sometimes contain hints. Come back with fresh eyes on the second pass.

🔄 Trust First Instinct

Only change an answer if you find concrete reason it's wrong — like misreading the question. Gut-feel second-guessing usually hurts your score.

Common Question Patterns ​

💰 "Choose the MOST cost-effective solution"

They're testing cost optimization. Look for:

  • Serverless over provisioned resources
  • Reserved/savings plans over on-demand
  • Managed services over self-hosted
  • Right-sizing and auto-scaling

Eliminate the most expensive option first — it's usually the obvious distractor.

🏗️ "A company needs high availability..."

They're testing architecture and resilience. Look for:

  • Multi-AZ or multi-region deployments
  • Load balancing and auto-scaling
  • Backup, replication, and failover
  • No single points of failure

If an option uses only one AZ or has no redundancy, eliminate it.

🔒 "Ensure security and compliance..."

They're testing security best practices. Look for:

  • Encryption at rest AND in transit
  • Least-privilege IAM policies
  • Network isolation (VPC, security groups)
  • Audit logging and monitoring

The most restrictive option that still works is usually correct.

⚡ "Migrate with LEAST operational overhead"

They're testing managed vs self-managed thinking. Choose:

  • Managed services over self-hosted
  • Serverless over containers over VMs
  • Automated over manual processes

"Least operational overhead" almost always means "let the cloud provider handle it."

Exam Day Checklist ​

Night Before

  • Light review only (30 min max)
  • Organize ID and confirmation
  • Set multiple alarms
  • Prep clothes and breakfast
  • Sleep 8 hours — worth more than cramming

Morning Of

  • Nutritious breakfast (protein + carbs)
  • Moderate caffeine if usual
  • Arrive 15–30 min early
  • Quick 10 min note skim (optional)
  • Deep breaths before starting

During Exam

  • Brain dump on scratch paper
  • First pass: answer confident ones
  • Flag uncertain questions
  • Watch time checkpoints
  • Never leave questions blank

Final 15 Minutes

  • Review flagged questions
  • Verify all questions answered
  • Only change answers with clear reason
  • Submit with confidence
  • Breathe — you prepared for this

Managing Test Anxiety ​

🫁 4-7-8 Breathing — Breathe in 4 sec, hold 7 sec, exhale 8 sec. Repeat 2–3 times.
🎯 One at a Time — Don't think "85 questions left." Focus on just this one question.
💪 Positive Self-Talk — "I prepared for this. I know this material. One question at a time."
🧘 Micro-Breaks — Close eyes for 5 seconds. Stretch shoulders. Look away from screen.

If You Don't Pass ​

It's not the end. Many people need 2+ attempts.

  1. Review your score report — identify which domains were weakest
  2. Focus study on gaps — don't re-study everything, target weak areas
  3. Take a break first — come back to it after a few days with fresh perspective
  4. Try different resources — if your study material didn't click, switch approaches

INFO

You don't need 100% to pass — most certification exams require around 70%. Missing a few hard questions is normal and expected.