How to become a cloud engineer with no experience

15 February

How to become a cloud engineer

Cloud Engineer jobs are one of the most in-demand jobs in the IT sector in 2022 because most organizations are moving mainly in the cloud. These companies have shifted their work and business processes online into the cloud, making it easier for customers and employees to access information anywhere and work more from home.

With this, the technologies are growing so fast that companies will need more technical people to tackle this great demand for tech companies.

This article will discuss how to become a cloud engineer and what steps or information you will need to become one.

What is cloud based computing

Think of cloud computing as your bank account where you deposit money for security, but you can access it from anywhere through an ATM and take out any amount of it from your deposited total. Without access to the atm and your atm card, you will need to go to the bank to take out some cash.

The money you deposit at the bank is your information in cloud computing. ATM in cloud computing is any device that can access the internet. All the information you have saved can now be accessed, changed, and deleted with the access of any device. With any device that can connect to the internet. All that information is stored in online databases in a secure location.

Who is a cloud engineer or professional

Cloud engineers are the tech professionals that manage the cloud services and evaluate if anything needs changing or upgrading. They troubleshoot if any problem arises and designs a new upgrade to improve the functionality. They can help build and move cloud-based infrastructure of various types of establishments and business and their processes, either private or public and even a combination of both in a hybrid sense.

What cloud engineer job description is

Cloud engineers are mainly responsible for technical aspects of cloud computing, which can range from designing the software that can manage cloud systems and functionality. They are responsible for following tasks and duties, some more pronounced ones.

What is the average cloud engineer salary

As with most jobs, the cloud engineer salary depends on more than one factor, like experience, education, and certifications, among others. On average, a cloud engineer can get a salary of $117,688 per annum. Enhancing your skill set, including certificates and degrees, can earn you more per annum.

How long does it take to become a cloud engineer

Most cloud engineers start with a degree in the IT field and then add additional skill sets to pursue cloud engineering. Some of the basics of cloud engineer requirements are:

• Complete your 4-year degree

Typical bachelor’s degrees for a cloud engineer are computer sciences, information systems, technology, or related fields like software engineering. Among the core subjects in that program, most core courses' essentials should be computer and technical subjects plus aspects of software and system infrastructure.

• Learning programming languages

Learning and expertise in programming languages is a must in most software fields, especially to become a cloud engineer because you will apply these skills in your cloud engineer job description. A few of the popular ones are Python, Java, Ruby, and C++, which will help you perform your duties better. Furthermore, professional knowledge will require at least one mainstream cloud service and infrastructure. Hadoop, AWS, and Azure are a few mainstream cloud services.

For example, Python has been one of the fastest-growing languages in the past few years and is used by many cloud platforms.

• Hands-on experience

Gaining hands-on experience is vital to becoming a sound cloud engineer by doing open-source projects or internships in related field companies when searching for cloud engineer jobs for freshers. The most crucial aspect here is to hone and develop your IT skills giving you a better understanding in a real-life professional and work setting.

Nonetheless, you can always use online resources to learn some hands-on experience through tutorials and mock projects if your question is how to become a cloud engineer with no experience or even how to become a cloud engineer without a degree.

• Master’s Degree

When considering a career in Cloud engineering, studying a master's in related and specialized courses is recommended to get the most out of it. With a master's degree, you can get more in-depth knowledge of IT, programming, or development.

• Certified cloud-based engineer/professional

Mega software companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft offer different courses in Cloud Engineering, completing which you get certified in that specialization. These certifications show your competency and expertise level in the required competency. 

• Platform proficiency

As we mentioned in the programming language, cloud engineers should be well-versed in at least the three big platforms: AWS, Google, and Azure cloud platforms. If you are more of a programmer and need to learn proficiency in these platforms, you can always use online resources like YouTube and Coursera to learn in-depth about these platforms.

Most of these platforms can be learned by subdividing them into category courses like foundational courses, associate, professional, and specialty level courses. 

What is the cloud engineer specialization

Now that you know how long does it take to become a cloud engineer, you need after getting the degree and some hands-on experience, you need other things. You should know at least one programming language. Also, some of the complementing vital concepts are required to have a know-how of and some of which are following:

• Storage and networking

Cloud engineering is primarily nothing but managing data and the tools used to make it more efficient. So, you must be competent in different ways to store data and accurately reaccess the data from this storage from services like Azure storage. This knowledge is partially complete without a good understanding of how networking works and its benefits to cloud computing.

• Virtualization and operating systems

Cloud storage data access is run on different machines in a virtual environment; thus, understanding the virtualization of cloud data and mechanics is necessary. Furthermore, how to access this knowledge and use it appropriately should remain the same regardless of the OS on your machine. You should have a good grasp of virtualization in the case of windows and Linux-based systems.

• Security and disaster recovery

Most of the data you will be managing, storing, or sharing is sensitive and must be protected. Whether the data or the applications running the data and even the complete infrastructure, they must be protected against cyber attacks and security threats because even small security laps can bring everything down to the ground.

• Web services and devops

You should have a sufficient understanding of the functioning of cloud computing on a centralized platform where users can interact while you are testing and deploying patches when needed through the help of DevOps automation. You should also understand the linkage between cloud operations and the development teams working alongside you.

What are some major cloud computing roles

As an example, the following are some roles that cloud engineers fit in with different companies and are required to perform these duties for when you don’t know how to get a job as a cloud engineer.

• Solutions architect

The main task of the Architect is to choose and implement appropriate technologies and software that their company or business needs. In this role, Solution Architects are required to analyze the system's technical environment, what it requires, and take care of all the specifications.

• SysOps administrators

These professionals are on a different plane than the solution architects as they need to work on either hybrid systems or fault-tolerant cloud-based systems. They need to deploy highly scalable forms of these systems and properly manage and troubleshoot them. Overall, SysOps administrators need to also worry about the operational costs incurred due to service usage and manage the infrastructure required for this service.

• Cloud security engineer

Security engineers must be familiar with complying with regulatory rules and helping their company set up control-based technologies designed with these regulations in mind. They must protect data and information and further, as mentioned in the skillset section.

What skills do successful cloud engineers need

First of technical skills like programming, applying the codes, and what processes are involved in cloud-based services. Other technical skills like troubleshooting technical issues with software development and cloud application functioning are good to have. Furthermore, soft skills like technical thinking, critical analyses, and strategic thinking to understand and resolve technical issues always help. Other soft skills such as good communication ability to lead are added boons.

What can other technical jobs cloud engineers work in

As long as a professional has expertise in could engineering, they can also work in other domains such as software development and data science engineering by encompassing these additional technology roles in their cloud engineer job description. Software engineering and architecture can also accommodate cloud engineers easily.

How's the work environment for cloud engineers

They work full-time with an organization and can work from home most of the time if needed. It mostly depends on day-to-day activities, but in the case of larger projects, they may need to spend extra time when necessary.