Advice on certifications
Context : A recent grad in Computer Science(DS Track), do not have any official experience so far. Need something substantial on my resume for opportunities. Interview selection rate was not that great either.(International Student). I was an academic at heart, so I applied to 1 PhD program and got in - It is in a slightly new domain than my prev ones - Operations Research/Industrial Engineering. I will be joining in Fall'26 and have some time to spare and want to knock out a certification and build a portfolio at the same time aiming for internships for Summer'27.
I hear the "projects/skills >> certs" argument and initially began with this plan :
- Prepare for AWS CLF -> Got a udemy course as well -> simultaneously prep begin for AWS DEA -> course bought for this as well
- Give CLF and then use the 50% to give DEA.
- Been working on an "in-depth" creative cloud based LLM project that actually solve problems I face. In-depth? - I have built the mockup, tested the basic utility and functionality. Also spent a big chunk of my time and effort in building the experimentation infrastructure(Data Engineer) to collect data to make the product better/personalized for other future users. Will collect data for me and my friends(alpha testers) and make decisions for the product(Data Scientist).
Given that my domain has changed, but the job descriptions have not really changed(as much of optimization/prescriptive analytics still happens under the DS role), I was thinking about these things :
- Can I just skip the CLF and do an SAA instead?(I want to try the Sales Engineer role). And people say CLF is too easy and introductory in nature.
- Should I prioritize the DEA -> SAA now?(I don't mind even though i have bought the course for CLF)
- I do have some other cool projects that I would wanna do(and would HAVE to do) for my new-ish resume(more OR friendly i guess?)