If you’re looking to gain recognition and differentiate your professional experience, certification is a great way to showcase proficiency and knowledge in any field, including voice. We’re excited to announce the general availability of the AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty certification, the industry's first and only certification that validates your ability to build, test, and publish Amazon Alexa skills. The certification exam is available now at testing centers around the world.

The certification is designed to help voice developers build credibility by validating their Alexa and cloud expertise with an industry-recognized credential. This, in turn, will help open up more opportunities to build engaging voice experiences that have the potential to reach customers using more than 100 million Alexa-enabled devices.

“The demand from organizations for skilled professionals who can build skills for emerging voice-enabled workloads is increasing,” says Kevin Kelly, director, AWS Certification and Education Programs. “This new certification validates those skills with the only credential in the industry focused on Alexa skill building.”

Ryan Hollander, chief skill builder at Voiced, Inc., agrees. He says an AWS certification gives certified skill builders a leg up with voice and “a foothold in the future.”

“With this industry-recognized credential, developers can find new opportunities and projects that allow them to showcase their abilities and continue to innovate,” says Hollander.

To help showcase their industry recognition, certified skill builders will receive the AWS Certification digital badge. Once you successfully pass the AWS Certification exam, you’ll be able to download your digital badge and use it to gain exclusive access to AWS Certified Lounges at AWS events, share on social media outlets, and include in email signature to showcase your achievements.

How to Prepare for the AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty Certification Exam

We recommend that developers taking the exam have at least six months of hands-on experience designing and building Alexa skills, proficiency with a programming language, and published at least one Alexa skill in order to validate the exam areas above.

The exam validates developers’ ability to:

• Explain the value of voice
• Design the user experience
• Design the architecture to build the skill
• Follow AWS and Alexa security best practices for the skill
• Develop, test, validate, and troubleshoot the skill
• Manage the skill publishing process and work with the Alexa Developer Console
• Manage skill operations and lifecycles

To help you prepare, we’ve also put together an exam guide, which includes links to tutorials, technical documentation, and more. In addition to the resources included in the guide, AWS Training and Certification offers free, self-paced digital training courses.

Register for the AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty Certification Exam

To register for the exam, create an AWS Training account at aws.training and click “Certification” in the top navigation. Next, click the AWS Certification Account button, followed by “Schedule New Exam.” Find the exam you wish to take and click either the “Schedule at PSI” or “Schedule at Pearson VUE” button. You will then be redirected to the test delivery provider’s scheduling page, where you will complete your exam registration.

Validate Your Experience and Advance Your Career

Your ability to build Alexa skills opens up many opportunities for new business ideas, a new career in voice, and new customer experiences. With the AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty certification, you can accelerate your skill-building journey.

We can’t wait to see what you build.