AWS First Cloud AI Journey Community
A home for cloud builders, engineers and students — learning, shipping and growing together on AWS.
About us
A community built for people who keep asking why.
AWS FCAJ Community brings together curious students and cloud builders to learn by doing, share what they know, and help one another take the next step.
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Students, builders, and mentors learning together.
100+
Events hosted
Workshops, study sessions, and community gatherings.
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Campuses connected
One open community reaching across HCM City and beyond.
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People who found a place to learn, contribute, and belong.
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Take a look at the people, projects, and moments that make AWS FCAJ Community a place to grow.
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Bring your curiosity. Find your people.
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Frequently Asked Questions
FCAJ Workforce typically has two major enrollment periods per year, in January and July. Each course lasts 6 months. However, students can continue learning and networking with the community without time limits after completing the official course.
The program strives to support and mentor as many students as possible. Due to increasing job requirements, please ensure you meet or understand the following conditions:
- Basic knowledge of programming and IT. (If you're from a different field, it may take 1 to 1.5 years to learn the foundation).
- A personal computer for practice, with a minimum of 8GB RAM and capable of running Linux.
- Ability to create a personal AWS account.
- Commitment to 6 months of study, approximately 10-15 hours/week.
- A self-learning spirit and willingness to share with the community.
- Basic English reading comprehension skills.
Yes, university students can definitely join. Important things to ensure are basic programming knowledge, the ability to dedicate 10–15 hours/week, a self-learning spirit, and the ability to balance university studies with the program.FCJ Workforce has had successful student participants from universities including:
- Hanoi University of Science and Technology
- University of Engineering and Technology - VNU
- FPT University
- University of Science - VNUHCM
- University of Information Technology - VNUHCM
- Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education
- Ton Duc Thang University
- University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City
- Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City
- Van Lang University
- Hoa Sen University
- Nguyen Tat Thanh University
- International University - VNUHCM
- Saigon University
- Ho Chi Minh City Open University
- Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology (Southern Branch)
- Vietnam Aviation Academy
- Saigon University of Technology
- Nong Lam University Ho Chi Minh City
- Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport
- And many other universities.
The program offers special support for students, including:
- Internship opportunities at AWS partner companies.
- Chances to participate in real projects.
- CV writing and interview preparation support.
- Networking with industry professionals.
- Support for participating in cloud competitions.
- Opportunities to attend AWS events.
Here are common issues when registering for an AWS account and their solutions:
- Card not supporting international transactions: Use a credit/debit card that supports international payments (e.g., Vietcombank, Techcombank, VPBank) or virtual Visa/Master cards from reputable e-wallets like Momo or VNPay.
- Invalid address error: Fill in the exact address according to the required format. Avoid using special characters and Vietnamese diacritics, and use your own phone number.
- Payment verification error: Check the available balance in your card (usually needs $1 for verification) and contact your bank to enable international transactions.
- Other cases: Contact a mentor or AWS Support for assistance, and refer to detailed guides in the AWS Study Group.
The program is divided into specialized tracks. Each student chooses a track that aligns with their career goals:
Basic Track — AWS Foundation (Mandatory)
- Setting up and managing your first AWS account
- Cost management with AWS Budgets
- Basic architecture with VPC, EC2, S3, RDS
- Identity & Access Management (IAM)
- Monitoring with CloudWatch
- AWS CLI and basic Infrastructure as Code
DevOps & Automation Track
- CI/CD pipeline with CodePipeline/CodeBuild/CodeDeploy
- Advanced Infrastructure as Code with CloudFormation/CDK
- Container orchestration with ECS/EKS
- Advanced monitoring and observability
- Blue/Green and Canary deployments
- DevOps best practices and culture
Security & Compliance Track
- Zero Trust Architecture
- Identity Federation and SSO
- Encryption and Key Management
- Security Automation
- Compliance frameworks and security best practices
Data & Analytics Track
- Data Lake architecture
- ETL pipelines with Glue
- Real-time analytics
- Machine Learning operations
- Business Intelligence and Data governance
Serverless & Modern Applications Track
- Event-driven architecture
- Microservices
- GraphQL APIs with AppSync
- Serverless patterns
- Application modernization and performance optimization
AI/ML & Generative AI Track
- Foundation Models with Amazon Bedrock
- RAG pattern implementation
- Fine-tuning LLMs
- AI-powered applications
- Multi-modal AI systems and MLOps
FCJ Workforce focuses on real-world AWS projects, designed to help you apply knowledge practically and build an impressive portfolio. These include:
- Building serverless applications
- Deploying microservices systems
- Designing and implementing databases
- Automating CI/CD pipelines
- Security and compliance
- Cost and performance optimization
The core graduation requirement is to build 5 side projects/workshops that you are proud to showcase. Evaluation is based on your ability to build real-world projects rather than written tests. Requirements scale with your skill level, making graduation challenging as you progress.
Each project must be a complete case study where you can:
- Present detailed architecture.
- Demo all features.
- Explain every design decision.
- Prove achieved metrics.
- Share lessons learned.
- Write in-depth blog posts.
You will qualify to apply for AWS Community Builder (see more at: https://aws.amazon.com/developer/community/community-builders/), be invited as a speaker at AWS events, contribute to AWS blogs, get priority access to AWS beta programs, receive AWS credits, connect with AWS Heroes/experts, and contribute to AWS open source.
FCJ Workforce is a non-profit program; there are no tuition fees. You only need to cover the costs for hands-on labs on your personal AWS account, estimated at approximately 500,000 VND/month, provided your account is well-managed.
Managing personal account costs is critical. The program provides:
- Guidance on setting up billing alerts.
- Documentation on cost optimization.
- Mentor review and advice on saving based on AWS Well-Architected.
- Free tier and credits from AWS through event activities.
- Guidance on using AWS free services.
- Cost optimization tips for the Vietnamese market.
The program follows a self-paced online curriculum. You practice on your personal AWS account at your own speed.Monthly offline meetups are organized where you can share your research or side projects as a speaker. Locations:
- Hanoi: 7th floor, Grand Terra Building, 36 Cat Linh Street, O Cho Dua Ward, Hanoi city.
- Ho Chi Minh City: 26th floor, Bitexco Financial Tower, 2 Hai Trieu, Sai Gon Ward, Ho Chi Minh City.
The program includes live or recorded speaker-sharing sessions where participants present a professional slide deck, deliver a demo, host a Q&A, provide follow-up materials, and write a technical blog post across several technical series:
- AWS Architecture Series: Well-Architected Framework, Microservices, Serverless, Multi-region strategies, Cost optimization.
- DevOps & Automation Series: GitOps, Advanced IaC, Container orchestration, Monitoring & observability, Automation best practices.
- Security & Compliance Series: Zero Trust, Security automation, Compliance frameworks, Incident response.
- Data & Analytics Series: Data Lake architecture, Real-time analytics, ML operations, Data governance.
- AI/ML Series: Foundation Models, RAG implementations, LLM fine-tuning, AI applications, MLOps.
- Modern Applications Series: Event-driven patterns, API design, Frontend optimization, Mobile backends, Performance tuning.
Graduates can pursue positions at leading companies in Vietnam, including:
- AWS Partner Companies: FPT Software, VNG, Tiki, Shopee, Techcombank, Vietcombank, VPBank, HDBank, MSB, PhuLong, PVcom, ACBS, Bamboo Airways, VTV, VietjetAir, Jio Health, Tinhvan Consulting, Ahamove, Vingroup, Masan Group, Circle K, FE Credit, VIB, Vietnam Airlines, Grove, and many others.
- Multinational Companies: Amazon, Gameloft, Lazada, Yandex, FPT, Home Credit, CitiGroup, Codeforce, Grab, and others.
The volunteer team assists with:
- Internship placement and priority job referrals at AWS partners and customers.
- Reference letters.
- CV writing and interview preparation support.
- Networking events with companies.
- Support in applying to become an AWS Community Builder.
Networking opportunities include:
- Joining the AWS Study Group community with over 41,000 members.
- Connecting with AWS expert mentors and the volunteer team.
- Participating in monthly offline and online community events (AWS User Group Vietnam, AWS Community Day Vietnam, AWS Summit Vietnam).
- Monthly local meetups in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
- Meeting and learning from previous cohorts and season Champions.
- Connecting with global AWS experts by applying to the AWS Community Builder program.
AWS interfaces and features update frequently, and volunteer documentation updates happen roughly twice a year, so unexpected errors can occur. If you get stuck, you can receive support through:
- The volunteer team via WhatsApp.
- The AWS Study Group community on Facebook.
- Weekly office hours.
- Regular code review sessions.
- Updated documentation and FAQs.