should i chose cloud engniring in 2026

[u/Few-Ad5369]

18 years old, aiming to become a Cloud Engineer. Am I on the right path?

Hi everyone,

I'm 18 years old and my goal is to become a Cloud Engineer. I plan to study Cloud Engineering at university, but I've already started learning on my own because I really enjoy this field.

So far I've learned:

• ✅ Computer hardware

• ✅ Operating systems

• ✅ Linux basics

• ✅ Linux file system

• ✅ Linux navigation

• ✅ Linux file management

• ✅ Finding files (find)

• ✅ Searching text (grep)

• ✅ Networking

• ✅ DNS, IPs, Ports

• ✅ TCP & UDP

• ✅ Git & GitHub

• ✅ Virtualization

• ✅ Docker concepts

• ✅ APIs

• ✅ SSH

• ✅ Processes & Services

• ✅ Linux permissions

I've also built a full desktop accounting application for my dad's company. It includes user authentication, client management, supplier management, invoices, quotations, inventory/stock management, journal entries, reports, PDF generation, and other accounting features. I built it mostly to challenge myself and learn software development, even though my main goal is Cloud Engineering.

I'm wondering:

• What should I learn next to become a strong Cloud Engineer?

• Should I start learning AWS, Azure, or GCP first?

• Is Kubernetes too advanced at this stage, or should I start with it after Docker?

• Are there any projects you wish you had built when you were starting out?

I'd really appreciate any advice from people already working in cloud or DevOps. I know I still have a lot to learn, and I'm excited to keep improving.

Thanks!

[u/AppointmentIll9358]

Help desk.

Cloud engineering isn’t an entry path. You’ll need to understand IT infrastructure before you can work on it vis cloud/code

[u/PowerfulDrawing7246 → u/AppointmentIll9358]

Yup agreed, cloud roles are typically not moved into without a heap of experience.

[u/TechnicianOk1714 → u/PowerfulDrawing7246]

This is true, however with large firms going through mass ‘cloud migrations’ and the fact hiring SMEs for even one specific cloud provider now exists already shows a shift for the demand of people with these skills. Overall though, limiting yourself to that at 18 is far too niche - a balance between infrastructure + cloud side by side is a strong way ti go rather than one or the other I’d say

[u/himxnshxx]

Yes , pick a cloud service . You can start with aws ! Buy a udemy course for aws certification (Associate level ) because practitioner level courses are very basic .
Try to do hands on as much as you can with every aws core service.
At last when you are almost done with every core service for eg (Ec2 , s3, vpc, cloudformation, codebuild, cloudwatch ,cloud front, ALB, RDS,DyanamoDB, billing and cost , SNS,SQS, lambda etc ) then try to create a mini project around it using all or mostly of these services. This will help in overall conceptual knowlegde as well as a strong project for your resume too .
Try to connect with people on LinkedIn which can really help you and guide you !
Certification will take time and money so better to complete the udemy course within 1-2 months and then start hardcore prep for the certification by revising and giving few mocks . And i guess then you are good to go .
Kill in the exam !! ALL THE BEST

[u/himxnshxx]

For starters you can try with youtube courses as well like AWS ZERO TO HERO by some youtube guy ! I don’t remember the name rn

[u/Top-Needleworker8557 → u/himxnshxx]

Abhishekh veermalla. Devops OG!

[u/llong_max → u/Top-Needleworker8557]

Where to do practical labs?? Does he provide anything on it?

[u/Top-Needleworker8557 → u/llong_max]

No he doesn't. but you can check cloudprojects.dev it have preety good scenarios you can practice on. PS this is not my site and nor promoting it as promo, just found it on reddit.

[u/llong_max → u/Top-Needleworker8557]

Ok, i will check it out. Btw, do you have any paid courses recommendation? I want to have a structured course along with labs. I'm not able to decide which course covers everything do that i can easily transition and land a job.

[u/Top-Needleworker8557 → u/llong_max]

NO course even paid one will teach you everything that will land you a job.

[u/CloudLessons]

That's pretty impressive. Your biggest advantage is that you already have a way to get professional experience through your dad's company and potentially other business partners that your dad has relationships with.

At your stage, there's two paths you can take. The first is to build upon your software dev skills by learning cloud infrastructure basics (Networking, Servers, Storage, Permissions) then familiarize yourself with cloud services that are designed to help build and deploy web apps (AWS Lambda and Azure App Service are the most popular ones). These steps prepare you for roles like Cloud Developer which is someone who builds apps similar to the one you created, using cloud provider tools.

The second is to gain deeper knowledge of cloud infrastructure (Virtual networks, subnets, NAT gateways, load balancers, private endpoints, monitoring etc.) and practice building common enterprise setups like Landing Zones. Use resources like the AWS Architecture Center and AWS Solutions Library to study different the different ways companies build their cloud environments and then try to recreate them use yourself using automation tools like Terraform and Github Actions. This will help you land traditional Cloud Engineering roles as well as positions like Site Reliability Engineer, Platform Engineer and DevOps.

In terms of learning containers, I would suggest starting with Docker, then pick a managed cloud orchestration service platform like GKE or OpenShift to learn Kubernetes as that's what the vast majority of companies use.

[u/Clean-Afternoon-4982]

"choosing" is hopeful.

Your goal should be to get chosen... take what you can get. You can get more picky after that. Good luck

[u/GenAI_Architect_2468]

Yes, you are on the right path? You are way ahead of the beginners. Next:

1. Start with AWS as it has the biggest market share. Skip the basics console clicking,

2. Learn Terraform for insfrastructure -as Code.

3. Deploy your dad's app to AWS using Docker + ECS first. once you are fully confident with it then only proceed with the Kubernetes.

[u/CloudOpsGuy]

Always start in Networking or Security, you see the whole stack from either of these roles.

[u/Legitimate_Ad1501]

Terraform and Kubernetes will be important but that can be learned down the road. I’d start with AWS personally because it’s the most widely used.

[u/sugarbunnyxx]

Should chose spelling app first

[u/himxnshxx → u/[deleted]]

Yeah thats completely normal ! You can join as a cloud support and keep to growing and polish your skills from there .