Explore
AWS, Azure & GCP infrastructure
Cloud Engineer
Building infrastructure that exists only as code.
Typical pay
$95k-$170k
How you get in
IT or development background plus cloud certifications
Outlook
Very strong; cloud migration is nowhere near finished
Cloud engineers design, deploy and manage infrastructure on cloud platforms. Certifications carry real weight here because the platforms are standardized, which makes it one of the more learnable paths into high-paying infrastructure work.
A day in the life
- 8:30aReview cost anomalies and overnight alerts
- 9:30aWrite Terraform for a new environment
- 11:30aSecurity group and IAM policy review
- 1:00pLunch
- 2:00pMigrate a workload from on-premise to cloud
- 4:00pRight-size instances to cut the monthly bill
How to get in
IT into cloud
Duration
1-3 years
Cost
$1,000-$4,000
Credential
AWS Solutions Architect Associate or Azure Administrator
- Work in systems, network or support to build fundamentals
- Learn Linux, networking and scripting properly first
- Get an associate-level cloud certification
- Build infrastructure as code projects publicly, then move into a cloud role
Developer into cloud
Duration
6-18 months
Cost
$500-$3,000
Credential
Cloud certification plus IaC skills
- Work as a software developer
- Learn containers, Kubernetes and Terraform
- Take ownership of your team's cloud infrastructure
- Move into platform or cloud engineering
Certification-first with a lab
Duration
9-18 months
Cost
$1,000-$5,000
Credential
Associate then professional cloud certifications
- Build real infrastructure in a personal cloud account
- Stack certifications from associate to professional level
- Publish your infrastructure code as a portfolio
- Expect to enter through a support or junior operations role first
What people love
- · Certifications genuinely help you get hired
- · Strong pay and remote-friendly
- · Skills transfer across every industry
- · Clear ladder into architecture and platform roles
What wears people down
- · On-call for infrastructure incidents
- · Cost overruns become your problem
- · Platform services change constantly
- · Requires systems fundamentals, not just certification