You Have AWS Skill Builder. Now What? Explore 4 Entry-Level Cloud Career Paths

One way to start is to work backward from the kind of role you might want. 

An AWS-commissioned study looked at more than 800 million professional profiles and 650 million job descriptions to understand early-career opportunities in cloud. Of the 18 entry-level roles analyzed, four stood out for their combination of demand, attainability, and career growth: Cloud Engineer, DevOps Engineer, Software Development Engineer, and Systems Engineer. 

The good news? AWS Skill Builder  has learning experiences that can help you start building skills for each of them. 

Here’s how to use it:

Cloud Engineers work with the infrastructure applications to run on. That can include monitoring cloud environments, troubleshooting issues, working with networking and storage, and helping keep systems available and reliable. In the study, Cloud Engineer had 50% attainability for early-career CS degree holders and the highest demand within the Cloud & DevOps job family. 

If that sounds like the kind of work you want to learn more about, start with the AWS CloudOps Engineer Learning Plan  in AWS Skill Builder . 

The path covers areas like monitoring, networking, compute, storage, databases, automation, security, and high availability. It also includes hands-on labs, so you can practice the skills as you learn them. 

If you want to take it a step further, AWS Skill Builder  also includes preparation resources for AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer - Associate (SOA-C03) . You can work through exam content, refresh your AWS knowledge, practice, and assess your readiness when certification becomes part of your plan. 

You do not need to know every AWS service before you begin. The learning plan gives you a place to start and lets you build from there. 

If automation, deployments, and understanding how software moves from development into production sound interesting, DevOps may be a path worth exploring. 

DevOps Engineers can work with CI/CD pipelines, containers, infrastructure as code, deployment automation, and other parts of the software delivery process. The study found 48% attainability for early-career CS degree holders and showed progression into roles like Cloud Automation Engineer and Solutions Architect. 

For this path, you can use the AWS Solutions Architect Learning Plan  in AWS Skill Builder . 

The training covers cloud architecture, security, resilience, networking, computing, storage, performance, and cost optimization. You can also use digital training and hands-on labs to see how those pieces work together in AWS. 

If you decide you want to pursue certification, AWS Skill Builder  also has preparation resources for AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03) . 

The goal is not to become a Solutions Architect before applying for a DevOps role. It is to build a stronger understanding of the cloud environments and services you may work with. 

Maybe you are more interested in building applications. 

The Software Development Engineer had more than 1 million openings in the study, making it the highest-demand role included in the research. The study also found that cloud knowledge is increasingly becoming an expected skill for developers. 

AWS Skill Builder  has an AWS Developer Learning Plan  designed around building, securing, and deploying applications on AWS. 

You can learn about serverless applications, APIs, storage, containers, security, infrastructure such as code, CI/CD, monitoring, and how those pieces come together when you are building the cloud. 

If certification is something you want to work toward later, you can also use the preparation resources for AWS Certified Developer - Associate (DVA-C02) . 

As you go through the learning plan, try applying what you learn to something small. Building and deploying a simple application can help make the concepts much easier to understand. 

Not every career maps neatly to one certification or learning plan. Systems Engineer is a good example. 

Systems Engineers can work across infrastructure, networking, compute, reliability, troubleshooting, and the different systems that make up a technical environment. The role had the broadest accessibility of the four included in the study, with 55% attainability for early-career CS degree holders and 32% for people with related degrees. 

There is not one AWS Skill Builder  path specifically called “Systems Engineer,” but you can still use Skill Builder to prepare for this type of work. 

Go to Explore All Digital Training , choose Infrastructure Engineer  under Roles, and then filter by learning format. 

You can use options such as AWS SimuLearn  and Digital Course with Lab  to find training that combines AWS knowledge with hands-on practice. 

This is also a useful way to think about Skill Builder in general. You do not always need to follow one learning plan from beginning to end. You can use the catalog to build a path around the skills you want to develop. 

You do not need to know exactly which job you want before you start learning. 

If you are interested in building applications, start with the AWS Developer learning experience . If you like troubleshooting systems and working with infrastructure, explore CloudOps . If automation and deployments interest you, the Solutions Architect path  can help you build a broader cloud foundation. And if infrastructure, networking, and understanding how systems work together sound more interesting, explore Infrastructure Engineer training . 

You might try one path and realize another area interests you more. That is okay. The point is to use Skill Builder to explore the work, not to lock yourself into one job title. 

One thing the research makes clear is that hands-on skills matter. 

Cloud and DevOps roles are increasingly asking for skills like containerization, CI/CD, and infrastructure as code earlier in someone’s career. 

As you work through AWS Skill Builder , look beyond the courses too. Use the labs, try a guided exercise, and build something small with what you just learned. When you see AWS SimuLearn , give that a try too. It gives you another way to practice cloud skills in a more interactive environment. 

You do not have to complete everything at once. Pick a skill, practice it, and then move to the next one. 

Your first learning plan does not have to determine your entire career. 

Cloud Engineer can grow into CloudOps and consulting roles. DevOps can lead to Cloud Automation or Solutions Architecture. Systems Engineering can lead into Infrastructure Engineering and DevOps Architecture. 

For now, choose the area you want to understand better and start there. 

Open AWS Skill Builder , find the learning path that matches it, and see what you enjoy doing. 

And if hands-on learning is your style, keep an eye out for the next article in this series. We’ll take a closer look at gamified learning and how you can use AWS SimuLearn  to practice what you are learning. 

➡️ Which cloud career are you most interested in exploring? Drop it in the comments below and tell us what you’re hoping to learn next.