How to Break Into Cloud Engineering in 2025 (No Experience Required)

Cloud engineers earn $95K-$120K in their first year—about double typical help desk pay. This guide is built from repeatable transitions people have used successfully in the past few years.

Here’s what nobody tells you: You don’t need a computer science degree. You don’t need five years of IT experience. You don’t even need to be a “coding genius.” What you need is the right roadmap, 8-12 months of focused learning, and the guts to push through when it feels overwhelming.

This guide shows you the exact path that works in 2025—the certifications that matter, the hands-on projects that prove you can do the job, and the resume strategy that gets interviews. No BS, no shortcuts that don’t work, just the real timeline from where you are now to landing that first cloud engineering role.

Can You Really Break Into Cloud With No Experience?

Let me answer this directly: Yes, but not in 6 weeks like some courses promise.

The realistic timeline is 9-12 months from “I don’t know what AWS is” to “I just accepted a cloud engineer offer.” Fastest transitions happen in ~8 months with 20 hours/week of focused effort; slower ones take 14-16 months when life and work reduce study time. Most people land around 10-11 months.

What you actually need before you start:

• A computer and internet connection (obvious, but I’m being thorough)
• Ability to commit 15-20 hours per week to studying
• Enough money for one certification ($150) and lab access ($20-50/month)
• Basic computer skills (if you can troubleshoot your parents’ WiFi, you’re good)

What you DON’T need:

• Computer science degree (I don’t have one, most cloud engineers I know don’t)
• Current IT job (career changers from teaching, retail, military all succeed)
• Programming background (you’ll learn what you need along the way)
• Expensive bootcamps ($10K-$15K is overkill for cloud engineering)

The biggest lie in this industry is that you need years of traditional IT experience—help desk, then desktop support, then sysadmin, then maybe cloud. That’s the old path, and it takes 4-6 years. The new path? Learn cloud directly. Companies don’t care if you climbed the traditional ladder; they care if you can deploy a three-tier web app on AWS.

The Real Costs: Money and Time

Let me break down what you’ll actually spend, because this matters when you’re planning a career change.

Financial Investment:

• AWS Cloud Practitioner exam (optional): $100
• AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam: $150
• AWS free tier for hands-on practice: $0
• Study materials (courses, practice exams): $50-$200
• Total: $300-$450 to get certified and job-ready

Compare that to a bootcamp at $12,000 or a college degree at $40,000+. This is the most cost-effective career transition I know.

Time Investment:

• Months 1-3: AWS fundamentals and first certification (15-20 hrs/week)
• Months 4-6: Hands-on labs and portfolio projects (15-20 hrs/week)
• Months 7-9: Job applications and interviews (10-15 hrs/week)
• Total: 280-360 hours over 9-12 months

Can you do it faster? Sure, if you’re unemployed and can study 40 hours a week. Jason did it in 5 months, but he treated it like a full-time job. Most people have jobs and families, so 9-12 months is realistic.

Can you do it slower? Absolutely. If you can only commit 8-10 hours a week, plan for 15-18 months. That’s still faster than going back to college.

Month 1-3: Get Your First AWS Certification

Here’s where most people waste time. They spend 3 months getting AWS Cloud Practitioner because “you have to start with the basics.” Wrong.

Skip Cloud Practitioner if you have ANY technical background—even just help desk. Cloud Practitioner teaches you AWS vocabulary. It doesn’t teach you to actually build anything. Recruiters see it and think “marketing person learning cloud terms,” not “engineer who can deploy infrastructure.”

Go straight to AWS Solutions Architect Associate if you:

• Have any IT experience (help desk, desktop support, anything)
• Have basic computer networking knowledge (what’s an IP address, what’s a router)
• Can commit to learning

Only get Cloud Practitioner first if you’ve literally never touched IT and need confidence-building. It’s not useless; it’s just not necessary for most people.

Your 12-Week Study Plan for Solutions Architect Associate

Weeks 1-4: Learn by Doing, Not Reading Forget the 40-hour video courses for now. You learn cloud by building, not watching.

Day 1: Create your AWS free tier account. Yes, today. Go to aws.amazon.com, click “Create an AWS Account,” and follow the prompts. You’ll enter a credit card, but you won’t be charged if you stay within free tier limits. I’ll show you how to set billing alerts so you never get surprised.

Day 2-7: Launch your first EC2 instance (that’s a virtual server in Amazon’s data center). Follow AWS’s “Launch a Linux Virtual Machine” tutorial. Connect to it via SSH. Install a web server. See your website live on the internet. That’s cloud computing.

Why start by doing instead of studying? Because when you actually see an EC2 instance launch, when you SSH into a server you created in 30 seconds, when you deploy a website without buying physical hardware—that’s when it clicks. The theory makes sense after you’ve done it, not before.

Weeks 2-4: Work through these AWS services hands-on:

• EC2 (virtual servers)
• S3 (storage—think Dropbox but for applications)
• VPC (your private network in the cloud)
• RDS (managed databases)
• IAM (security and permissions)

For each service, watch a 10-minute YouTube video, then spend an hour building something with it.

Weeks 5-8: Structured Learning Now that you’ve played with AWS, the courses make sense. Use one of these:

• Stephane Maarek’s AWS Certified Solutions Architect course on Udemy ($15 when on sale)
• A Cloud Guru or Tutorials Dojo (subscription-based, $30-50/month)

Watch at 1.5x speed. Take notes on what you don’t understand from your hands-on work. The goal isn’t to memorize everything; it’s to understand how the services connect.

Weeks 9-12: Practice Exams and Weak Spots Buy Tutorials Dojo practice exams ($15). Take your first practice test. You’ll probably score 50-60%. Don’t panic—that’s normal.

The practice exams show you what the real exam tests. When you miss a question, don’t just read the answer. Go back to AWS and build it. Missed a question about Auto Scaling? Set up an Auto Scaling group in your account. You’ll never forget how it works.

Keep taking practice exams until you’re consistently scoring 80%+. Then schedule your real exam. The fear of a deadline is a powerful motivator.

Pro Tip: Schedule your exam before you feel ready. Book it for 3 weeks from now. You’ll study harder with a deadline, and if you fail (unlikely at 80% practice scores), you’ve only lost $150. Most people pass on first attempt if they’re scoring 80%+ on practice tests.

Month 4-6: Build Your Portfolio (This is What Gets You Hired)

Here’s the truth: Certifications prove you studied. Projects prove you can do the job. You need both.

I review 40-50 cloud engineer resumes every month. The ones with certifications alone? Maybe 1 in 10 gets an interview. The ones with certifications plus three solid portfolio projects? 7 in 10 get interviews.

What makes a project “solid”? It demonstrates you can design and deploy real infrastructure, not just follow a tutorial.

Three Projects That Get Interviews

Project 1: Static Website on S3 + CloudFront (Weekend project)

Deploy a resume website to AWS S3, add CloudFront for global distribution, configure a custom domain.

Why this matters: Shows you understand storage (S3), content delivery (CloudFront), DNS (Route 53), and HTTPS (Certificate Manager). These are basics every cloud engineer uses daily.

Project 2: Three-Tier Web Application (2-3 weeks)

Build a simple web app (to-do list, blog, anything) with:

• Frontend: React/HTML hosted on S3
• Backend: Node.js or Python API on EC2 or Lambda
• Database: RDS (PostgreSQL or MySQL)
• Load Balancer: Application Load Balancer for high availability

Why this matters: This is the architecture pattern for 80% of real-world applications. If you can build this, you can work on production systems.

Project 3: Infrastructure as Code with Terraform (2 weeks)

Take Project 2 and recreate it using Terraform instead of clicking in the AWS console.

Why this matters: No serious company builds infrastructure by clicking around AWS. They use Infrastructure as Code (IaC). Terraform on your resume = you understand modern cloud practices.

Document Everything in GitHub

For each project, create a GitHub repository with:

• README.md explaining what you built and why
• Architecture diagram (draw.io or Lucidchart, even hand-drawn and scanned works)
• Step-by-step setup instructions so someone else could recreate it
• Screenshots of the working application
• Terraform/CloudFormation code if applicable

Your GitHub becomes your portfolio. When recruiters google your name, they see: “This person doesn’t just have a cert; they’ve actually built cloud infrastructure.”

Month 7-9: Land Your First Cloud Job

By month 7, you have:

• AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification
• Three portfolio projects on GitHub
• Basic understanding of Linux, networking, and cloud services

You’re job-ready. Not “senior cloud architect” ready, but “junior cloud engineer” or “cloud support engineer” ready. That’s enough to get hired at $85K-$105K depending on location.

Resume Strategy for Career Changers

Your resume needs to overcome one objection: “No cloud experience.”

Instead of this:

Experience:
Help Desk Technician | 2020-2024
- Answered support tickets
- Troubleshot user issues
- Managed Active Directory

Do this:

Cloud Infrastructure Projects | 2024
- Designed and deployed three-tier web application on AWS (EC2, RDS, ALB) serving 1000+ requests/day
- Automated infrastructure deployment using Terraform, reducing setup time from 3 hours to 8 minutes
- Implemented CloudFront CDN reducing page load time 60% for global users

Help Desk Technician | 2020-2024
- Diagnosed and resolved 2,500+ technical issues (developed troubleshooting skills critical for cloud debugging)
- Managed Windows Server and Active Directory (foundational IT skills supporting cloud migrations)

See the difference? You’re reframing your help desk experience as relevant foundation and leading with your cloud projects as proof of capability.

Where to Apply

Best places for first cloud job:

• AWS Partner companies (consulting firms that implement AWS for clients)
• Startups (series A-B) using AWS (more willing to train junior talent)
• Cloud support roles at AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud (good entry point, $70K-$85K)
• Managed service providers (MSPs) doing cloud migrations

Avoid initially:

• FAANG companies (require 3-5 years experience minimum)
• Enterprise companies (move slowly, prefer traditional IT career path)
• “Senior cloud engineer” roles (you’re not ready yet, don’t waste time applying)

Application volume strategy: Apply to 30-50 jobs in your first month of searching. Customize your resume for each (change the project descriptions to emphasize what that job cares about). Expect a 10-15% callback rate if your resume is strong. That’s 3-7 interviews from 50 applications.

Interview Preparation

Cloud engineering interviews have three parts:

1. Behavioral questions (STAR method)

• “Tell me about a time you solved a difficult problem”
• “How do you handle learning new technologies?”
• “Describe a project you’re proud of”

Practice answering these by talking about your portfolio projects. “I designed a three-tier web app and ran into an issue where…” is a perfect STAR story.

2. Technical fundamentals

• “What’s the difference between S3 and EBS?” (storage types)
• “Explain how a VPC works” (networking)
• “What’s an IAM role vs IAM user?” (security)

These questions test if you actually understand AWS, not just memorized for the cert. Your hands-on labs prepare you for this.

3. Architecture scenarios

• “Design a scalable web application”
• “How would you make this application highly available?”

This is where your projects shine. You’ve literally built these architectures. Walk them through your three-tier app. Explain your design decisions. Show them you can think architecturally.

What to expect for salary: Entry-level cloud engineer roles pay $85K-$115K depending on location. San Francisco: $110K-$130K. New York: $95K-$120K. Denver/Austin: $85K-$105K. Remote roles from tier-2 cities: $80K-$100K. Any of these is likely double your current help desk salary.

Your First Week: Do This Today

Stop researching and start doing. Here’s your action plan for the next 7 days:

Day 1 (Today):

• Create AWS account
• Set up billing alerts ($10 threshold so you get warned before spending real money)
• Launch your first EC2 instance using AWS free tier
• Total time: 1-2 hours

Day 2:

• Connect to your EC2 instance via SSH
• Install a web server (Apache or Nginx)
• Deploy a “Hello World” HTML page
• See your website live on the internet
• Total time: 2-3 hours

Day 3-4:

• Create an S3 bucket
• Upload a simple website (your resume or portfolio)
• Configure it for static website hosting
• Access your website via the S3 URL
• Total time: 2-3 hours

Day 5:

• Buy Stephane Maarek’s AWS Solutions Architect course on Udemy (wait for $15 sale)
• Watch the first 3 modules at 1.5x speed
• Take notes on EC2, S3, IAM
• Total time: 3-4 hours

Day 6-7:

• Plan your 12-week study schedule (which services to learn when)
• Set up a GitHub account (free)
• Create your first repository called “aws-learning-journey”
• Document what you built on Days 1-5
• Total time: 2-3 hours

Total time investment Week 1: 12-18 hours

If you complete this first week, you’re ahead of 80% of people who say they want to learn cloud. Most people get stuck in “research mode” watching YouTube videos about cloud careers for months. You’ll have actually built something and deployed it to the internet.

Common Mistakes That Waste Months

These mistakes regularly slow down or completely derail cloud career transitions. Avoid them.

Mistake #1: Certification Collecting Without Building

Tom got Cloud Practitioner, then Solutions Architect Associate, then Developer Associate, then SysOps Administrator. He had four AWS certs and zero portfolio projects. Eight months of studying, zero job offers. Why? Because certs prove you can pass tests. Projects prove you can build infrastructure. Companies hire people who can build.

Fix: For every certification, build two projects that use what you learned.

Mistake #2: Tutorial Hell (Following Guides Without Understanding)

Jennifer followed 50 YouTube tutorials. She could recreate anything she watched but couldn’t design anything herself. In interviews, when asked “How would you architect X?” she froze. She knew how to click through AWS console but didn’t understand why.

Fix: After following a tutorial, try to build something similar without looking at the guide. Break things. Debug them. That’s where real learning happens.

Mistake #3: Waiting Until You’re “Ready” to Apply

Marcus studied for 18 months. He wanted to be “fully prepared” before applying. He kept finding new things to learn. He never applied for a job.

Fix: You’ll never feel 100% ready. At 70% ready, start applying. You’ll learn the other 30% on the job. That’s how everyone does it.

Mistake #4: Only Studying, Never Building

David spent $3,000 on courses and watched 200 hours of videos. His AWS account had zero projects. He could explain cloud concepts but had never deployed a real application. Interviewers asked “Show me something you’ve built” and he had nothing.

Fix: The ratio should be 40% learning, 60% building. If you watch a 2-hour video on VPCs, spend 3 hours building different VPC architectures.

Mistake #5: Ignoring the Resume and Application Strategy

Lisa had the certs and projects but applied to 100+ jobs with a generic resume. She got 2 callbacks. She was frustrated and almost gave up.

Fix: Customize your resume for every job. Research the company. Mention their tech stack in your cover letter. Ten targeted applications beat 100 generic ones.

What Happens After You Get Hired

This is the part nobody talks about: your first cloud engineering job will be hard. You’ll feel like an imposter for the first 3-6 months. That’s normal. Every cloud engineer I know felt this way, including me.

Month 1-3 at your first cloud job:

• You’ll spend 50% of your time googling things
• You’ll break things in dev environments (everyone does)
• You’ll ask “stupid questions” (they’re not stupid, you’re learning)
• You’ll feel overwhelmed by how much you don’t know

This is expected. Companies hiring junior cloud engineers know you don’t know everything. They’re hiring you for your ability to learn, not your encyclopedic AWS knowledge.

Month 4-6:

• You’ll start recognizing patterns
• Questions you had to google in Month 1 become automatic
• You’ll deploy your first feature to production (scary and exciting)
• You’ll start mentoring the next junior hire

Month 7-12:

• You’re no longer “junior” in your own head (others still call you junior)
• You can design basic architectures without supervision
• You’re valuable to your team
• You’re thinking about what certification or skill to learn next

Year 2-3:

• You’re a mid-level cloud engineer ($110K-$135K)
• Companies start recruiting you on LinkedIn
• You have options: Stay generalist, specialize in security/networking/data, move toward architecture
• You’re mentoring others who are where you were 2 years ago

The Real Timeline

Let me show you what three different people’s journeys looked like, so you can set realistic expectations:

Sarah: Teacher → Cloud Engineer (8 months, $98K)

• Month 1-2: Solutions Architect Associate
• Month 3-5: Built four portfolio projects (overachiever)
• Month 6-8: Job search, interviewed at 6 companies, got 2 offers

Why so fast? She treated it like a full-time job (40 hrs/week). She was unemployed and motivated to change careers quickly.

Mike: Help Desk → Cloud Engineer (16 months, $105K)

• Month 1-4: Solutions Architect Associate (slow because working 50 hrs/week)
• Month 5-10: Built three projects (slow and steady)
• Month 11-16: Job search while learning DevOps tools (Docker, Terraform)

Why so long? He could only study 8-10 hours/week. Life got in the way—kid, family, full-time job. But he stayed consistent and got there.

Jennifer: Military → Cloud Engineer (11 months, $92K)

• Month 1-3: Solutions Architect Associate
• Month 4-7: Built three projects, learned Linux deeply
• Month 8-11: Job search, struggled with resume positioning, finally broke through

Why this timeline? She had discipline from military background but had to learn how to translate her skills for civilian tech recruiters.

Your timeline will be different. It depends on how much time you can commit, your learning speed, your current technical foundation, and your job search skills. But 9-12 months is the middle of the bell curve.

You Can Do This

Twelve years ago, I was resetting passwords for $42,000 a year. I was bored, frustrated, and convinced I was “too late” to change careers at 28. I thought you needed a CS degree and years of experience to work in cloud.

Early cloud certs used to guarantee quick promotions; today the market is crowded, and proof of work matters more than paper credentials. The playbook here reflects current hiring reality, not nostalgia.

None of them had CS degrees. Most came from help desk or non-tech careers. The youngest was 22, fresh from a failed attempt at college. The oldest was 47, coming from retail management. All of them are now cloud engineers making $90K-$130K.

What they had in common: They committed to the process, they built real projects, and they didn’t give up when it got hard (because it does get hard around month 4-5 when the initial excitement fades).

If you’re reading this and thinking “Maybe I could do this,” the answer is yes. The question isn’t can you do it. The question is will you do it.

Start today. Create that AWS account. Launch that first EC2 instance. Twelve months from now, you could be a cloud engineer. Or you could still be thinking about becoming one.

The choice is yours.