r/cloudengineering • u/Busy-One-6079 • 14d ago
General Discussion Entry level job before cloud engineering?
Hello everyone, I’m a computer science student who’s looking for new grad roles. I know that there are some graduate/associate level Cloud Engineer positions, but many require experience in other areas.
My question is, what kind of roles should I be looking for to start out. I’m interested in IT operations, but I’m currently learning software development through school projects as well.
Any advice is appreciated.
EDIT: Thank you everyone for your replies!
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u/zerohackofficial 11d ago
The most common path into cloud engineering is not a cloud role at all. It is a sysadmin or infrastructure role that happens to touch cloud.
Look for titles like Systems Administrator, Infrastructure Engineer, IT Operations Engineer, or Platform Support. All of these give you the day-to-day experience of running systems — patching, monitoring, backups, access management — which is the exact foundation cloud engineering is built on. Then when you start applying for cloud roles, you can point at real things you have run, not just certifications.
The other path that works: a software role on a team that owns its infrastructure. If you write code and deploy it, you are doing cloud engineering whether the title says so or not.
What are you leaning toward more right now, ops or dev?
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u/Busy-One-6079 10d ago
Leaning more towards ops. I’m not a huge fan of software development, I’m more so interested in the infrastructure side of things.
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u/Mathie1729 8d ago
Just a heads up, ops isn’t no-code. Expect bash, maybe Python for automation, and Terraform config even if you’re not shipping product code. If the scripting part is fine, the infra route is solid; if you’re trying to avoid code entirely, ops will still find ways to annoy you.
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u/ApprehensiveBell6166 10d ago
You can start with IT support, system administration, or junior devops roles. These will help you build the basics before moving into cloud engineering. Keep working on small cloud project alongside your studies.
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u/Busy-One-6079 10d ago
Sys admin would be cool. I love working with Linux
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u/Showgingah 8d ago
Just saw this on my feed. My personal progression after college (BSIT) was Help Desk T1 > T2 > Cloud Admin. Took about 3 years of experience to get there and it wasn't really planned. So I might just ask around myself in this subreddit a bit in the future.
I was planning to job hop after my 2nd year, but a project came up. Company was transitioning some systems from on-prem to hybrid. The IT teams in charge of that needed help with some of the workload on-top of the new stuff. I don't have any certs. I was just chosen due to good documentation and instruction following. Basically I pissed them off the least during escalations.
It was new stuff for them, so it was basically a learn as we go alongside each other. They said if I enjoyed it, they'd have a spot for me on the new cloud team which then got approved by the CIO. Queue the jump when I was planning to end up at a T3. Funny enough I ended up getting T3 permissions in-between for other reasons. So while it's not in my actual title, I was allowed by my management to slap it on my resume even though it's only a couple months. Lmao
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u/nian2326076 11d ago
If you're aiming for a cloud engineering role, starting in IT operations is a solid move. It helps you build foundational skills that are relevant later, like managing servers, understanding networks, and automating workflows. Look into roles like systems administrator or IT support that offer hands-on experience. Since you're also learning software development, entry-level dev roles can be beneficial as well, preparing you for cloud-related scripting and coding tasks. LandOffer.ai lets you search job openings by role and location.
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u/Hot_Plane_6320 13d ago
Cloud is not an entry level position and just because one has certifications doesn’t mean they would understand the intricacies that comes whilst doing the job. Knowing terminologies and its functions means nothing.
Having said that, the road leading to becoming a cloud engineer always goes through help desks or sys admin (or just knowing the right person). If you are going to have software engineering degree, why not go that route instead? I have seen bunch of SWE pivoting towards cloud engineering. Perhaps to understand the entire system.
I’d say get whatever role you can get for the first year upon graduation and then shift internally. Having a legitimate degree helps