MLS-C01 Data Engineering Practice Question
A data engineer needs to schedule an AWS Glue ETL job to run every hour. Which service should be used to trigger the job?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse AWS Lambda as a scheduler because it can be triggered by CloudWatch Events, but the question asks for the service that triggers the job, not the service that runs the trigger logic; EventBridge is the native scheduling service, while Lambda is a compute target.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Amazon CloudWatch Events (EventBridge)
Amazon CloudWatch Events (now part of Amazon EventBridge) is the correct service for scheduling AWS Glue ETL jobs on a recurring basis, such as every hour. It allows you to create a time-based rule using a cron or rate expression that triggers an AWS Glue job directly as a target, without needing additional compute or orchestration logic.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS Lambda
Why it's wrong here
Lambda can invoke Glue but requires its own scheduling.
- ✗
AWS Step Functions
Why it's wrong here
Step Functions is for state machines, not simple schedule triggers.
- ✓
Amazon CloudWatch Events (EventBridge)
Why this is correct
EventBridge can schedule cron jobs to trigger Glue.
- ✗
AWS Data Pipeline
Why it's wrong here
Data Pipeline is for complex ETL orchestration, not simple scheduling.
Go deeper
Related to this question
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Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on MLS-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A data engineer needs to schedule an AWS Glue ETL job to run every hour. The job reads from an Amazon DynamoDB table and writes to Amazon S3. Which AWS service should the engineer use to trigger the Glue job on schedule?
easy- A.Amazon Kinesis Data Streams
- B.AWS Step Functions
- ✓ C.Amazon EventBridge (CloudWatch Events)
- D.AWS Lambda
Why C: Amazon EventBridge (formerly CloudWatch Events) can trigger AWS Glue jobs on a schedule using cron or rate expressions. Option A is incorrect because Amazon Kinesis Data Streams is for real-time streaming data, not scheduling. Option B is incorrect because AWS Step Functions is for orchestrating workflows, but scheduling is typically done via EventBridge. Option D is incorrect because AWS Lambda is a compute service, not a scheduler, though it can be used in conjunction with EventBridge to trigger Glue, but the direct scheduler is EventBridge.
Variation 2. A data engineer needs to schedule an AWS Glue ETL job to run every hour. Which service should they use for scheduling?
easy- A.AWS Lambda
- ✓ B.Amazon CloudWatch Events
- C.Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS)
- D.AWS Step Functions
Why B: Amazon CloudWatch Events (now part of Amazon EventBridge) can trigger an AWS Glue ETL job on a schedule using a cron or rate expression. This is the native, serverless scheduling service for running jobs at fixed intervals, such as every hour, without needing to manage any infrastructure.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This MLS-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the MLS-C01 exam.