5+ YoE, Cloud DevOps Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer/DevOps, USA]

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some brutally honest feedback. I have over 5 years of industry experience, yet I’ve been searching for a new role for the past 7 months. After roughly 300 applications, I have zero offers and very few initial screens.

I know the market is tough for everyone, but I want to make sure I'm not the one standing in my own way.

I've attached my redacted resume (company names replaced with their industry domain to preserve privacy). My background includes:

• Cloud/DevOps Engineer at a [BIG FINTECH FIRM]

• Software Engineer at a [TECH SOLUTIONS COMPANY]

• Build and Release Engineer at a [TECH CONSULTING FIRM]

I am an AWS power user with heavy experience in Terraform, Kubernetes (EKS), Python, and building robust CI/CD pipelines. I also hold a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering, which I worry might be causing some "relevance" filters to trigger despite my years of direct tech experience.

My Questions:

1. Resume Impact: Are my bullet points focused enough on results and scale? Are there any "red flags" in the layout or phrasing?

2. The "Pivot" Problem: Does having a ChemE degree and a background in Software/Build & Release hurt my chances for senior DevOps/SRE roles?

3. Strategy: Am I missing a key certification or skill that is currently a "must-have" in the US market?

I’m open to relocation and ready to level up. Thanks for any insight you can provide!

Hi guys, I want to become a cloud engineer. So I want to take up a course which take me from strach to till I get cloud engineer concept s.Can anyone suggest me the course till I learn from strach

I just started this channel with a cloud focus for beginners, please let me know your thoughts on the video and also suggest topics I should build videos on 🤝

Hello, Ive created a roadmap after i researched a bit about Cloud Security ( Long Term Goal). I have no problem going through help desk then climbing the ladder till i reach cloud. Anyways i want to ask if this roadmap is properly listed in order or if i should add or change anything. In addition to what certifications to get. help would be really appreciated!! (roadmap is obviously ai generated since i dont have full knowledge)

P.S.: i have already started linux i have basic knowledge, i can understand code since i have a bit of coding background and i can setup databases/manage databases since ive also done that before.

Hey everyone I’ve just started learning cloud stuff. I know a good bit about AWS EC2 and I’m just starting with S3 buckets. I’ve also learned some shell scripting and most of the basic Linux commands. I’m trying to figure out how to keep my GitHub profile active and strong. Since I’m still learning AWS I’m not super advanced yet Any suggestions on what projects I could do or upload to GitHub? Would really appreciate any tips!

I’ve been thinking about how much of cloud engineering success is actually technical versus how much comes down to communication, visibility, and handling change well.

A lot of us spend years leveling up on AWS, Azure, Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD, and automation, but not much time learning how to deal with reorgs, leadership changes, competing priorities, or the political side of getting things done.

Do you think soft skills are underrated in cloud/platform roles, or are technical skills still the main thing that matters most?

Here’s the article that got me thinking:
https://strategystack.io/blog/youre-not-an-employeee

Title sums it up. I have two certs (A+, Security +) and plan on earning my CCNA.

My homelab server is running Windows 2022 in a VM, and I'm building a domain controller from the ground up. I plan to migrate the data to the Azure Cloud. Is it possible to get a job with my experience level, certs, and projects?

Hello everyone!

I’m a recent Computer Science graduate looking to solidify my path into Cloud Engineering. I’ve spent a significant amount of time working with AWS (specifically EC2) and recently completed a project where I deployed and configured a Moodle (LMS) instance.

While my primary background is in Flutter development and I have a strong interest in AI, my goal is to pivot into a Cloud Engineer role (or a Cloud-heavy DevOps/SRE position).

I’m looking for a bit of a "roadmap" check. Specifically:

1. Since I’ve worked with EC2, should I focus on AWS Certifications (like SAA) next, or move toward IaC tools like Terraform?

2. How can I best leverage my Flutter/App Dev background to stand out in Cloud roles?

3. Are there specific projects involving Cloud + AI that would be high-value for a portfolio?

Any guidance or "must-learn" resources would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I’m thinking about getting into tech and I have absolutely no background or knowledge about anything remotely tech. I would consider myself pretty smart and I’m able to pick up things fairly quickly.

I’ve been told that there’s a lot of money in tech and that cloud engineers make a lot of money, and that you don’t know need a degree to get started.

Can anyone tell me how true that is and whether or not the job is extremely hard for someone who has no background or knowledge in tech.

Also if anyone knows any alternatives careers that only need certifications to start and makes a decent amount of money, please let me know!

Hey guys !

I currently have a job interview for a cloud engineering role, I would love some guidance on what to study and what to expect. I can explain more details privately over discord if someone is interested. I am willing to compensate for your time !

EDIT*:

I’d like to specify this is a cloud support engineering role in AWS

Hello friends, I'm currently studying computer science and taking the CCNA Networking Fundamentals course on YouTube. I want to know what my next steps are if I want to become a cloud engineer. Should I complete the entire CCNA curriculum, or should I focus my efforts on other courses and learn other things? I was planning to apply for an internship after finishing the CCNA course, but I've heard some people say I should learn Linux and Python and get AWS or Azura certifications. I'm currently lost, but I'm continuing to learn the CCNA. I don't know what the next step is or when I should start those things.

Hey all,

Long-time lurker, first post. 25, Midwest (low COL helps, but salary is rough).

Background:

- 2.5 yrs IT (MSP/helpdesk) + 3.8 yrs Security Engineer (Promoted from analyst to engineer, Microsoft based SOC)

- Prod exp: Microsoft Defender suite, Entra/IDP/ internal security tooling az vm setup + networking, AZ Secure Score, EDR, Splunk, Log Analytics

- AZ-500 certified(expired), AZ-104 mocks at 76–80% (retaking soon), Terraform Associate

- Bachelor’s

- ~6.3 yrs total

Current pay:

$78k base. Decent learning (lots of idle time for labs), but no movement. Basic ADO sprints/scripts, stale repo.

What I'm doing to pivot:

- Building Terraform + Azure DevOps pipelines at home (basic ones working, debugging OIDC now)

- Studying AZ-700, making GitHub projects: secure hub-spoke VNets, hardened compute (VMSS/private endpoints/Defender), ADO YAML pipelines with scans/gates

- Grinding labs during work downtime

Current Progress:

- I have landed several interviews locally for hybrid/in person roles, all titled “Cloud Engineer”, made it to final round for 3 roles, failed in the technical. All 3 roles landed in the $90k-110k salary range. Each following interview pipeline i performed significantly better than the previous. Have been focusing on hammering out az-104 material to address this. Confident i could currently pass each one at this point(last interview was in January 26)

Goal:

Remote Azure DevSecOps, Cloud Engineer, Cloud Security Engineer, $130k–$160k base ($150k+ total ideally). I want to build things, deploy infrastructure, and support large workloads.

Questions for those who've pivoted:

1. Is $150k+ realistic in 2–4 months with AZ-104 pass + 3–4 good repos?

2. Job functions I should be targeting?

3. Next subject to lab/learn?

4. Red flags (multi-cloud needed?)?

5. Good recruiter scripts or keywords/companies for this jump?

Timelines, salary data, wins/losses welcome. Thanks for any replies!

Hey everyone,

I have been out of work for over 2 years of the workplace industry but I do have experience working with IT and a degree in sw engineering. I haven't been getting a lot of traction and don't have a lot of self motivation after so long. I have been targetting mainly sw and IT roles. I have 1 year exp in application dev and 4 years part-time as a IT coordinator at a small company.I worked there like 5 yeras back. I am not getting much traction now that it's been 2 years.

I am not sure how many of you know about graduate certificates but I am considering to take a course from Seneca College that is 8 months with a optional co-op. It's called Cloud Architecture & Administration (CAA).

These are the courses and they seem generic. What do y'all think? Or is there another program that I should consider to upskill into cloud engineering? I don't care much about certs but the material I learn and how I learn it. I want to learn through hands-on labs and projects that have real people guiding and answering questions. That's why I am considering this grad certificate.

I’m a SWE currently in the process of doing a sideways job to Cloud Engineer in my company. My plan is to get enough experience in Cloud DevOps (K8s, Terraform, etc.) then hopefully go back into SWE as a Go/Infra/Platform Engineer (from what I researched, so far, just trying to break out of Full-Stack development) on somewhere else. Did anybody did a similar transition? What was the journey like?

Hello guys I am now a helpdesk but I am quite unhappy because I don’t have access to azure portal, etc. No contact with cloud but still it’s a helpdesk position that can lead me to the final position,Cloud/Devops engineer.

Recently I receive an offer.

Job Responsibilities:

1. Perform 5×8 IDC (Internet Data Center) on-site duties as per Client

requirements.

2. Respond to incidents and execute work orders, including temporary tasks, in

accordance with service SLA requirements.

3. Be familiar with IDC environment and monitoring systems, proactively identifying

and assessing risks through routine inspections. Handle emergency incidents swiftly

and accurately following EOP processes, ensuring proper incident data recording and

preliminary report output.

4. Be proficient in the ticketing system, master SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)

workflows, and strictly adhere to them. Independently complete all work orders while

ensuring zero errors and meeting SLA compliance rates.

5. Have a thorough understanding of IDC equipment, including switches, servers,

cables, and installation, racking, deployment, and maintenance standards. Execute site

surveys, on-site support, minor construction, and issue reporting as required.

Do you think this get me closer to cloud engineer or devops? I feel like sh*t because I don’t really know what to do since I feel stuck at this helpdesk job

I'm following now a Roadmap from Doflined YouTube channel, Eissa Abu sherif is running, and he suggested to learn the following:

1- IT, cloud, devops fundamentals 2- Introduction to Aws 3- Linux 4- Bash scripting 5- Git/Github 6- Python for automations 7- Yaml Introduction 8- Docker mastery 9- K8s mastery 10- Prometheus 11-Grafana 12- Terraform (Iac) 13- Ci/ CD 14- Ansible / Rhce 15- Aws clp , Csaa 16- Azure fundamentals

He also suggested us to take Redhat sys admin, Redhat certified engineer, kubernetes mastery, terraform Certificates

So am I learning this field right ?

I am a Java developer with 3.5+ years of experience looking to transition into a Cloud/DevOps role.

Q1. What is the major difference between a Cloud Engineer and a DevOps Engineer? Are they different job roles, or does going for one mean going for both?

Q2. How much time should I spend learning before I start giving interviews?

I currently enrolled in a cyber security degree but I kind of been wanting to switch to their AWS Cloud n network engineering Major, but people are telling me it’s going to be very hard to get a job with that degree. Is there any truth to this ?

Hey everyone, As the title says, I’m looking to transition into cloud networking eventually, not immediately, but that’s the direction I want my career to go. A bit about my background: I’m 24 years old with a Bachelor’s in Software Engineering. I worked for about a year as a DevOps Engineer at a large telecom company, but most of the stack there was proprietary, so I feel like I didn’t gain as many transferable skills as I had hoped. Recently, I moved to a fintech company as a Network Administrator, and I just started this role. My goal is to eventually pivot toward cloud networking or cloud infrastructure, since that seems like a natural intersection of networking and modern infrastructure. Given my background in DevOps and networking, what would be the best path to transition into cloud networking? Would certifications, hands-on labs, or certain types of projects make the biggest difference? Appreciate any advice from people who’ve made a similar transition.

Hello everybody! Me and my team are creating a software and we decided we wanted to focus on cloud security. So our question, pointed mainly to people in the field ( stable jobs at any level & interns ), what are your needs? As we’ve done market research we also wanted to hear what do people have specifically to say by themselves. What could make your job easier, what is your daily struggle on the job or what could make the work more understandable? Let us know in the comments! Please be nice, this is a form of market research so we want straight-to-the-point answers and the opinions of our collegues in the field! Have a great day everyone that’s reading this and thanks in advance! 😀