The Solutions Architect job is NOT what you think.

The Solutions Architect role varies between different companies. If you're looking to land an entry level job as a Solutions Architect, you need to understand what the role actually does.

There's a growing trend towards a more sales oriented Solutions Architect role than the typical more implementation focused role. This isn't a "bad thing", as such, but as a beginner you need to know the difference to inform your job hunt. This video breaks it down.

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Solutions Architect Tweet Survey:

Luca Mezzalira:

GPS:

Andrew Brown:

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00:00 - Introduction
02:40 - Guest introductions - GPS, Andrew, Luca
03:30 - The confusions surrounding Solutions Architect for entry-level.
05:50 - Is Solutions Architect a genuine entry-level role?
07:15 - What is a Solutions Architect? And why is it so ambiguous?
10:10 - A sales-oriented Solutions Architect vs Implementation
15:05 - Why cloud provider Solution Architects can be a different breed
17:35 - Answered: Is Solutions Architect an entry-level role?
18:10 - Why you don't NEED to start as a Solutions Architect
19:00 - Why career switchers can be more successful as Solutions Architects
19:29 - Why you should tailor your job hunt to companies specifically
20:30 - Watch next: analysing over 2,000 cloud job descriptions

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FIND OUT MORE:

LET'S CHAT

Legal Disclaimer: These videos are for education purposes only. I am not responsible for any incurred costs or damages from following any of these tutorials. Follow the tutorials at your own risk, taking necessary precautions for cost management, security, etc.

[MadeByGPS]

Solid video, that GPS person seems pretty cool.

[ThoughtfulTechyCloud]

There's so much more to getting a job as a Solutions Architect than simply passing a certification. Beyond tech, Solutions Architects need business, relationship building, and great communication skills just to name a few to truly stand out from the crowd. Nice video 👍

[supersoniqamanyi]

Ah, the Solutions Architect role, the mystical unicorn of job titles. It's like big Techs thought, 'Let's create something so vague and elusive that no one can really define it, and then watch everyone scramble to fit in, like a small elliptical hole 🕳️ for triangles and every other pegs.' Well played, Techs, well played. 👍😅

[starsoffyre]

I work at AWS as a Cloud Architect, which (you may be surprised) is internally a different role vs a "Solutions Architect". My main role is a combination of technical delivery (implementation) and consulting, with not much sales involved. When I joined (at L4 level), I only had 1 YoE in IT.

Simply taking certs and knowing how to answer MCQs won't get you a job, but taking certs AND using the knowledge to build your experience will drastically increase your chances.

[JohnTubeK]

SA’s role is not entry…. you can’t jump into this job function out of college and carry any weight with other IT teams or stakeholders

[mo.dia]

"Read, Read, Read the job description.." Thank you !

[rghosh]

It need not be many years. It needs to be diverse experience across various IT functions and technologies. I worked 1 year as a developer, 3 years as a support engineer, 1 year as a cloud and devops engineer across 4 different companies and now I am a Solutions Architect at Amazon

[MysoreMasala]

Please make more such videos. This was mind blowing. Everyone easily generalizes but hardly anyone take the time to find out the nuances of cloud roles.

[samirayusifova]

This is the best video on the topic of cloud solution architecture! I wish I had watched it before pursuing my career in clouds. I had naively believed that obtaining couple of AWS certs would immediately open all doors within solution architecture. I was so gullible! Thank you so much for creating and sharing this valuable content! 🎉🎉🎉

[gevorian]

I'm so glad I got to be a technical project manager before pursuing the SA role, I feel that it brought a lot of your mentioned skills out that some other people may lack. I am a great communicator, collaborator, and will always do my best to make the client & stakeholders happy.

Though I haven't gotten a solutions architect role as of yet, I do hope to in the near future.

[mo.dia]

I started with the Help Desk then System Administrator, Then Network Engineer, then DevOps Engineer, Then now Senior DevOps/ Cloud Engineer, hopefully I can get the Solution architect job next

[rp]

Each cloud platform (AWS, Azure and GCP) provide free online training, as well as support forums. Hands on practice and project building make for a better resume and interview talking points. 🤓

[metalheadvlogs]

You raise some very interesting points here, but it certainly mirrors my own experience. I've been working in IT for almost 20 years now in various roles, but only in the last 3 years have I been looking at architect roles.
I took a job as an SA back in 2021 with one company, but unfortunately it wasn't what I expected (more focus on sales and support instead of implementation). I left that job, returned to my previous role at my old company and have been promoted last August to the SA role.
It's certainly more focused on implemetation as you describe here, with a lot of customer focused work as well. It's probably still not the ideal role in my head (mostly due to bandwidth and getting pulled back for a lot of firefighting), but it's certainly a stepping stone.

[indianapapi]

Great video. It means something different for each company and each type of company. If you work for a software sales or development sales company, the job is much more sales, writing proposals, quotas, etc. If you are part of the app dev team and working for a company where your job is more internal, then it is more what people think it is. Where you are designing cloud solutions for your company's developers to build their solutions on.

[carolw]

As a solution engineer from other field trying to land a job related to cloud, this is a very good video for me to understand some misunderstanding. I face a lot of situation you mentioned there and I have that aha moment. Thank you very much!

[LeanMachineFitnessTV]

Great video 😊 I’ve been working as 2nd line helpdesk engineer role for 2 years now and we are heavily cloud based. My goal was to go for the solutions architect cert with Microsoft but after hearing it’s more of a sales role was slightly put off. I want to work more on building solutions than selling them to clients. I have my exams booked already so will still get the the certs but will have to job specific when looking for my next role.

[KenSherman]

AWSome😏😉 you got an interview from 1 of my original faves Gwen AND even A. Brown! It's the 1st time I've even seen his face.

[damonaniton]

When I have suggested that SA is not an entry level role people looked at me like I had 7 heads..

When I suggest to people that the cloud is nothing more than a virtual DC and that people still need those ancillary skills that an actual "architect" would have you would have thought I said a 4 letter word. As if I had not been in the industry for going on 25 years.

[jasminefernandez]

Thank you for the transparency and realistic explanation. I ran into SA on TikTok yesterday and have been doing my research so far but one has been this honest till I ran into your video. I do want to get my certification and learn coding. I just want to step into it realistically. Thank you again!

[leeparker]

I think cloud dev-ops engineer is the way to go if people want to aim for a role thats in demand and pays well.