How many certs do I need to get a cloud job?

How many certs do you need to get hired in cloud? In one sense, that's the wrong question to ask - hiring managers don't evaluate you solely based on certs, but on your hands-on experience and aptitude as well. In this episode of "Dear Gurus", AWS Serverless Hero and ACG Senior Manager Forrest Brazeal breaks down the ways certs can help or hurt you and the skill stack you need to stand out in the crowd and land that first job as a highly-paid cloud engineer.

*Correction* The AZ103 cert mentioned at 4:54 was retired in August and it's now AZ104.

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0:00 Intro
1:16 Reasons why certs do and do not provide value
3:01 Why consulting shops love certs
4:30 First step to getting a cloud job
6:44 Ehen to stop getting certs
7:23 Cloud Guru Challenge
7:55 Outro

[efrain]

I have a cloud job and I can attest this approach. It is exactly the path that I followed, 3 years into my cloud job I am now looking to get one of the specialty. Hands on > Certs!

[stuartperry-hughes]

"You don't need a certification, just experience!"
"Can I come and work for you to gain experience?"
"No"

[TheNirvanaInside]

Agree with 1-2 certs + hands on projects

[blessedday]

It's almost like you understand everything that I've been trying to express to my family and friends when they ask me "what are you doing?". Especially the part where you mentioned about getting a cert then PAUSING to work on projects that give you some real gritty experience. That experience is so valuable. It's what makes the difference between a player who buys a lvl 60 cap warlock in World of Warcraft vs a player who decides to grind their way up manually to lvl 60. These experiences teach us how to learn new tricks and adds to our story. I'm so glad that you shared this video because it is encouraging for people. That PAUSE part can be confusing to people on the outside. SO it is good to see that you explained the method to the madness that people on the outside just wouldn't understand. To them you might be seen as somebody 'wasting their time' when in reality that time is being well spent on actual experience gains. Thank yoU!

[teneightynine]

This was really valuable feedback for me as I work on a career change from customer service to cloud engineering. Thank you!

[adamcloud]

VMware and Kubernetes certificates are extremely good certs to get. Very high demand for the foreseeable future!

[ITLIFER]

Fantastic advice. I've always said, certs by themselves don't get you jobs, but it definitely adds to your overall profile. When I hire, a cert generally indicates to me that this person has base level understanding of the topic. But then it's up to me as the hiring manager to figure out if the person his just paper smart or can actually do the work that I'll need of them. :)

[mobillionaire]

Thank you for this video. I left my career job, and want to get into cloud. This was very insightful as i start my journey into cloud!

[dragend]

This is an amazing Video- Going to Share on Linked in.
Thanks man!

[kathryndorner]

This is fantastic advice. Thank you! I have never seen this subject handled so succinctly before, with actual resources to access in order to accomplish the advice. Brilliant.

[tajchana]

Experience hands down 🙌, finding it difficult to transition from infrastructure to cloud. Keep up the great work.

[FIgirl]

Great information! I like how you clarified steps to take in between getting certs providing a simple clear path to follow. Thank you!

[arkticj]

Thanks to you am on my Devops certification thought that having an Azure and GCP would be great but I will focus on AWS CDA

[aliaydn]

This is one the best videos for beginners like me. I was not sure about how to move on after getting CCP. Thanks a lot!

[MrYogidoo]

The AZ-103: Microsoft Azure Administrator exam retired on August 31, 2020. A replacement exam, AZ-104, is available

[GBlunted]

This is some quality content right here! Feels well put together and very concise. I like! 👍🏽

[thisissooolegit]

This is exactly what I needed to know.

[mooni]

This is the first video that has answered my questions 100%!! Thank you!

[aireddy]

Yes, certs certainly open the door for interview but candidates need actual working environment experience!

[Corgitronics]

Excellent advice! With 30+ years of IT experience, 20 years of that as an independent consultant, I can't disagree with a single point.
One very, very important situation where certifications are critical is if a contract requires it. This happens some in private industry, but it is extremely common in federal contracts.
In the last decade, most of the federal contracts I have seen require certifications for developers, testers, project managers, business analysts, and especially architects. For any government contracts, the vendors making the bids will want to partner with people who have certifications and name them as key resources on the contracts.