Introduction

Let’s face it, cloud experience is a must in today’s world. Even most banks in Europe now are using an “On-premise Cloud” which is funny but understandable all in one.

Even if you’re a master of pragmatic code practices and system design, some companies will still look for that AWS, Azure or GCP experience. This is wrong and all, but there was a time where you can “study” your way out of it which was Cloud Certifications.

In 2016, you could be hired in a very senior position just because of an Azure/AWS certification, even if you never shipped anything to production. Cloud was new with not much content around and having those certifications was the only way to validate that you’re an expert in that area.

Sadly, the good times are over now and in 2023, cloud certifications have near ZERO impact for you on a job or resume.

The Problem

Everyone has one

Don’t feel special as this is not a niche anymore, most universities and companies sponsor their students to take cloud certifications for free. The internet is packed with resources and study plans that makes it as simple as taking any other exam.

Not in Real World

You will not learn the cloud with a cloud certification. Certifications aren’t adapted to a production grade environment.

They are more of theoretical tests and use cases that you don’t see very often, and they are useful for you to understand a cloud service, when and how to use it.

Having spent weeks to prepare and pass that certification, your learnings will not easily translate to the real world, and you will have to re-learn and improvise.

What can you do then?

With the same amount of effort, focusing on the important aspects of how the Cloud is used will give you a better ROI on the efforts you’re making.

Taking a more practical approach here will give you more value and make sure you understand the concepts you’re trying to learn.

Scout Projects

Instead of looking for certifications, look for projects that would be interested to do and showcase. If you’re applying for a transportation company, a simple Sock & Inventory System would be much more valuable to build and discuss in your interviews.

Here’s a list of simple systems to build on any cloud provider and can be a great addition to your resume:

• A simple Task Scheduler that sends emails.
• A personal blog (static website).
• A ticketing system

Think in Concepts/Patterns

Provider specific certifications will make you understand a specific service from a given provider. But what really makes you stand out is the concept itself and the common patterns you would use it with.

An Amazon SQS is just a queue, A Kafka is just a Stream, you should architect and learn your system with those concepts. Know which one is used where.

You will then see that providers are just implementation details that you don’t care for!

Fundamentals are Key

Cloud is a mere tool, you should be familiar with other concepts or you’ll have a very hard time using what you learned. Here’s the top list of things you should self learn before thinking of doing a project or certification:

• Building any Client-Server Architecture in any language (UI-API for example)
• DevOps (CI/CD)
• Linux basics
• Networking basics (IP, MAC, NAT…)

Pivot and Iterate

Given you’ve done that in one or two projects, you might need new ideas or inspiration to explore other areas or dig deep into a service or concept. When you reach that state, you should look at any cloud certification curriculum and explore it!

Certifications are definitely organized that can shed the light on new things to learn when the time comes. This hybrid approach will guarantee that you understand, practice and apply what you’re learning while building things that you can use and showcase as part of your portfolio!

Conclusion

A Cloud certification value has changed over the years, and having one up your belt for the sake of having it will not help you in your career. But learning and building in a real world scenario will!

Use those certification as a guideline and reference when you’re stuck, your projects, obstacles and learnings are much more valuable for you, companies and interviewees!