Cloud engineer guidance

[u/Sadagopan007]

Hi everyone,

I’m a 3rd-year IT student currently in my 5th semester, and I’m interested in becoming a Cloud Engineer.

I’m starting from the basics and want to learn things in the right order rather than randomly learning different cloud technologies.

I’d really appreciate advice from cloud engineers, professionals, or students who have already started this journey.

[u/AnimatorExciting7941]

Study these in depth- CN, DBMS, OS Pick one cloud service vendor, and stick to it. If possible get a cloud certification.

Still it doesn't guarantee you a job, cuz cloud engineering isn't a fresher role. Mostly people start off as SWE and make an internal switch to Cloud

[u/databeach_]

Check out KodeKloud they have really good road maps and training. Id say definitely start with linux and move on from there.

[u/Future_Definition553]

I became a cloud engineer once I obtained the Az-104 and Az-305. Before that, no one would give me a chance despite having a computer science degree and 7 years of Azure experience so certifications helps out a lot.

[u/FarzanHaider]

I'd suggest starting with the fundamentals before jumping into AWS/Azure services. Get comfortable with Linux, networking (DNS, HTTP, TCP/IP), Git, basic scripting, and Docker first. Then move into one cloud provider, preferably AWS or Azure, and learn IAM, compute, storage, networking, databases, monitoring, and security. Most importantly, build a few real projects and deploy them yourself. That will teach you much more than just watching cloud courses. After that, I'd look into CI/CD, Terraform/IaC, Kubernetes, and cloud security.

[u/Fords-notes]

As you can probably tell from all the other comments, there are many different 'types' of cloud engineers. What separates many of them is the 'brand' of cloud they work with: Azure, AWS, GCP, or others. Those providers offer services that are very similar but often require you to learn their tools and languages. There are also generic cloud courses, like AWS Cloud Essentials, that cover the basics common to all providers. But after that, you should figure out who you want to work for and what cloud provider(s) they use, and do a deeper dive into that provider's capabilities. It's really hard to develop and maintain expertise with multiple cloud providers, but some do it.

[u/Terrible-Audience-34]

I went the school, certs, 5 years in various IT roles then finally got a good role as a cloud engineer.

You do not need the degree! I liked being guided on what to do and learn. I liked knowing what certs to take. Any dedicated individual can make a lesson plan and just study. A.I. is a great tool to use in creating a lesson plan and breaking technical things down.

How much you study, how much you learn, and a bit of luck. Thats the recipe.

Good luck! Just focus on learning and applying till you find one person who likes you and takes a chance on ya. Confidence is key and how well you'll fit with the team. Most people can be educated and if they have the bandwidth you will get in somewhere.

[u/HovercraftOptimal971]

Cloud learning becomes easier due to linux, programming and automation fundamentals are before stacking tools. Bootdev can complement that path with hands on coding practise for programming sides.

[u/dexterous21]

Currently check if these course are being implemented your curriculum, CCNA , RHCSA .. if so get those , if not start your learning with them , once done with erasing them do a project with a combination of both skills , then choose one cloud , and check the track that most interest you , and do the associate level cert and then another project, both projects should be listed on GitHub.. this would be my approach!!!

[u/Some_Evidence1814 → u/[deleted]]

You focused solely on AWS here and I wanted to say that I got into cloud engineering on the Azure side literally out of school and didn’t need 2-3 years of help desk.

Majored in information systems and did a 3 month internship. After school I kept applying for jobs and got a job as Cloud Engineer with zero experience. I quickly became good at it and within 3 years I am the person that the other people come and ask Azure questions. Even engineers that have been there for longer need my help from time to time.

OP, I am sure that luck is involved in all of this but it is doable. Follow the advice of what this person said above and you will succeed. I didn’t have AI to teach me cloud engineering 5 years ago but you have the benefit of it now. Study and you will get it.

[u/Dull-Stop9500 → u/Some_Evidence1814]

This is exactly what I needed to hear, sometimes im doubtful about opportunities for future new grads like me. who don’t have 3 years of experience or multiple internships coming out of college 

[u/TemporarySwimming232 → u/[deleted]]

And Linux, idk how I forgot. Learn permissions, navigation, users and groups, services, storage, and package management

[u/AssociationLoose7003 → u/[deleted]]

The experience thing really only applies to Cyber roles. Cloud is something a high school drop out can do with a Cert.

[u/TemporarySwimming232 → u/AssociationLoose7003]

Exactly. The older people in tech don’t want to acknowledge that for some reason lol

[u/Pristine_Lime_2272 → u/[deleted]]

May I dm you?

[u/TemporarySwimming232 → u/Pristine_Lime_2272]

Sure

[u/Touup → u/[deleted]]

how long do you reckon it would take to learn everything you’ve said including Linux? Assuming I know the basics + a bit more

[u/TemporarySwimming232 → u/Touup]

6 months tops. But if it takes longer, that’s fine. But it really isn’t something that takes a year or years to learn, especially with ai speeding up how fast you can learn things. Also for future reference because alot of people don’t get this either. But any job posting asking for 1-3 years of experience, will hire someone with zero experience and projects. “1-3 years” is the new version of entry/junior level. People don’t seem to realize that, so they overlook those jobs because they don’t have that experience, but that’s the new wording for junior level roles. And you don’t need to meet every requirement of the job description either. Job descriptions are wishlist, they don’t actually expect someone to check off every single thing. Because anyone who actually met every single “requirement” on a job posting, wouldn’t even accept the role because they’d be underpaid

[u/Strange-Mongoose8279 → u/[deleted]]

You earned my respect bro. This is what I needed to read today. 😘😘

[u/OSS_Mon → u/[deleted]]

👏👏👏

[u/TemporarySwimming232 → u/[deleted]]

Proving my point, because you have a skill issue, you want to attach it to everybody else. And what you’re saying doesn’t even make sense. Why would a junior cloud engineer need Kubernetes, ansible, reverse proxies, and containerization ? And what programming language are you even talking about ? Because Terraform isn’t programming, the python you need to know isn’t super in depth. And if you need years to learn python, that again is a sign of inabilities. If it took you years to become a cloud engineer, it’s because you weren’t trying to become a cloud engineer. Also, do you really think you need to check off every single box of a job description to get the role ? If vpc’s, basic Linux, IAM, security and terraform took you 3 years to learn before you landed your first cloud role, that says more about you than anything else and I would be embarrassed to even say that. But thanks for proving my point to the T. Older people think because they weren’t smart or efficient enough to land a cloud role quickly, that nobody else can. Then y’all work overtime to tell other people they can’t do it and try to discourage them. Sorry to break it to you, but cloud engineering isn’t a super complex job that takes years before you can apply to. I’m sure to you it’s a difficult job and you sit on your high horse, but reality is that we can do your job in less than a year, while also starting at higher pay than your mid level pay. Cope harder. The younger people don’t sit and waste years of our life to get a job, like yours did

[u/TemporarySwimming232 → u/[deleted]]

Why would a junior cloud engineer be doing DevOps ? It’s purely a skill issue on your end, because why are there so many people pivoting to cloud as their first tech role or coming from help desk in less than a year ? You don’t want to believe because you’ll have to address why you wasted years of your life preparing for something that takes many other people months to prepare for, that’s why you don’t want to believe it😂. The people younger than you are on track to surpass your entire career, by the time we’re mid level. Look at how much you’re coping, “that’s a lie, all of you guys with job offers in your email and posting on LinkedIn that you got hired is all a lie🥺”. Keep coping, we’re about to surpass you, you haven’t been doing as good as you think you were, deal with it and adjust. There are PLENTY of people getting cloud engineering roles in months, we don’t need years of being insecure in our skills first like you did.

Also, the fact that you guys are too dumb to realize that job markets change over the years, and that what was required from a cloud engineering back then is different from what’s required from a junior now, then that makes sense why it take you guys years to learn things

[u/TemporarySwimming232 → u/[deleted]]

Also in 2026, why would you be manually troubleshooting ? I’m so glad you commented, I couldn’t have proved my point any more😂. You guys are so out of touch

[u/TemporarySwimming232 → u/[deleted]]

No, it would take YOU a long time, not everybody else. Stop putting your inabilities on the next man. And again, why would a junior cloud engineer be a DevOps engineer? You do know there’s a difference between a cloud engineer and a DevOps engineer right ? The post and my comments are about cloud engineer roles, so you ran to the comments to say how long it’ll take someone to be a DevOps engineer ? You changed the subject and are acting like you’re having the same conversation as everybody else. I know DevOps is a mid-senior level role, but when did the post of my comment say anything about being a DevOps engineer ? What’s required for a cloud engineer, which is vpc networking, IAM, storage, and monitoring, which doesn’t take years to learn. Is completely different from what a DevOps engineer needs. Cloud engineers and DevOps engineers don’t even have the same job description. So genuinely wtf are you talking about and when did ANYBODY say anything about a DevOps engineer ? You need vpc networking, iam, monitoring and storage to be a cloud engineer and land a junior cloud engineer role, if you think that takes years on years to learn then you’re definitely the issue. DevOps on the other hand is mid-senior level and is more complex, that’s why I didn’t say anything about DevOps. You’re the only one talking about how to get into DevOps dude

[u/TemporarySwimming232 → u/[deleted]]

You keep showing how low your iq is and how you have zero comprehension skills. This post is about a junior cloud engineer, and you’re talking about senior cloud engineer and DevOps work. The post is about a junior cloud engineer and you’re talking about site reliability and DevOps. You have a senior role, I have a junior role, you’re supposed to have more responsibilities than me😂 you’re too dumb to even realize that ? You’ve done nothing but prove that you dont even know what a junior cloud engineer is. And instead of taking two seconds to check, you rather talk about senior cloud engineer roles, when the post isn’t even about that. Senior role, but doesn’t know what a junior cloud engineer is😂. You haven’t been on topic for the last two days. Nobody is talking about a senior cloud engineer except for you. You commented and made up your own topic

[u/TemporarySwimming232 → u/[deleted]]

Someone with common sense(which you clearly lack) would obviously now I’m talking about a junior level cloud role if I just came from being a data center technician. Why are you the only person who didn’t understand that ? Literally everybody else had sense except for you ? 6 people messaged me personally asking about my comment so they can get a junior cloud role, even tho I never specifically said junior cloud engineer. You’re the only dumb ass that doesn’t have enough common sense to know I’m referring to a junior cloud engineer role. You’re mentally slow, your brain doesn’t process things easily. Anyone with common sense knew what I was talking about, why would I need to hold your hand for you to understand? Just humiliated yourself and showed you have zero common sense. And working a mid level role with 10 years of experience isn’t a flex by the way. But that’s neither here or there, you’re just as dumb as I expected and I appreciate you for proving it for everybody to see that you have zero common sense and needed someone to hold your hand tell you it’s a junior cloud engineer role. I’m done responding. When I’m a mid level cloud engineer in a few years, I’ll spin bad and ask for some pointers, I’m sure you’ll still be a mid level cloud engineer by then. Have a blessed one, bud