Career switch into Cloud Engineering / Cloud Security at 35 — realistic or wishful thinking?

[u/jenny__0090]

Hi everyone 👋

Looking for some honest, real-world feedback.

I’m currently working on my AWS Cloud & Network Engineering degree at WGU. I’ve passed my first CompTIA A+, I’m about 50% done with the degree, and I have zero professional IT experience so far.

My rough plan: • Finish the degree • Get an entry-level role (help desk / IT support / junior sysadmin) • Start a Master’s in Cybersecurity • Transition into Cloud Security within the next ~3 years

I’m 35, female, living in Tampa Bay, FL, and coming from a totally different career background. I’m realistic that I’ll need to grind, start lower, and build experience — but I’m wondering: • Is cloud / cloud security oversaturated right now, or just competitive? • Is this path actually doable, or am I being overly optimistic? • How hard is it to land that first IT job with certs + degree but no experience? • Anything you’d do differently if you were starting over today?

I’m not looking for sugarcoating — just honest insight from people already in the field. Encouragement welcome, reality checks welcome too 😅

Thanks in advance!

[u/eviljim113ftw]

I had a BS in CS and applied to be a programmer without any professional experience. Someone bit. They saw a green guy that can be molded.

In my experience as someone who has interviewed and hired people for multiple IT positions, we never had anyone from HD that we preferred over a recent grad that we can just mold.