Why 99% of Cloud Engineers FAIL (And How to Be in the Top 1%)

so there's a hidden reason why 99% of cloud Engineers fail and only 1% make it to the top it's not about technical skills or certifications it's a road map that I have cracked and I'm going to share with you today and if you're new to the channel in the last decade I've gone from an apprentice without any money to running my own successful Cloud business I've built a YouTube channel that's nearly 100,000 subscribers and I work for myself whenever I want and wherever I want sounds good right well it was only possible because I cracked this code and if you're watching this video chances are you're probably stuck in that 99% but don't worry because you've come to the right place because I'm going to reveal the key principles that separate the top 1% of cloud Engineers from the rest and if you stay until the end I'm going to give out a free action plan that you can use to day to start your journey before we get started check out my weekly Cloud newsletter where I share free resources tutorials boot camps and so much more helping you make your Cloud move right let's dive into it and I'll take you back to my early days exploring Cloud engineering and wanting to break into this industry you know eager to impress those around me I thought what would be a brilliant idea is I would go and collect every cloud certification known to man AWS comti you name it I was going to get it and for the next 6 months I studied for every exam I barely slept and I was guzzling down energy drinks and those late nights meant I also ignored everything else in my life finally after six gring months I had a wall full of shiny new certifications I started applying for some new roles because in my head I assumed that I was now more valuable I could solve more problems therefore I had to be paid more right but do you know what happened crickets rejection after rejection I couldn't land a single job let alone an interview and a funny story is that it didn't dawn upon me until an interviewer asked me straight up your certifications are great can you actually build anything that's when it hit me I had fallen into the certification trap the thing is and I know this might sting a bit if your neck deep inert prep right now certifications isn't enough I'm not saying they're useless they're not they show that you've got the basics down but it's just not enough so what do you do how do you stand out in a pool of Highly qualified Cloud Engineers how did I do it I got my hands dirty I started building things and look if you're in my cloud engineer Academy you know that this is one of the things that I drum home about the most and that's why it's the first thing that we're covering build build and then go and build some more and here is what what you need to do start by building a personal project portfolio start with something simple like a serverless web app or a multi-tier architecture on AWS then you want to start contributing to open-source projects find a cloud related project on GitHub and start making your own contributions to it you want to set up some home Labs use the free TS from cloud providers to experiment and learn then document your Learning Journey start a blog start writing on Twitter or LinkedIn and share what you are learning this reinforces your knowledge and builds your personal brand now remember certifications are a good starting point but the top 1% of cloud engineers build real life projects the second reason why 99% of cloud Engineers fail is because they lack great communication skills and to explain what I mean by that I want to discuss Warren Buffett yes the most successful in investor of all time now you might wonder what an investor has to do with Cloud engineering well Warren Buffett is known for his ability to explain complex Financial Concepts in simple yet relatable terms he once said that if he can't explain it to a six-year-old you don't understand it yourself and this skill has been crucial to his success it's allowed him to communicate his investment strategies to shareholders partners and the public in a way that builds trust and understanding and as Cloud Engineers we can learn a lot from Warren Buffett's approach now too often we hide behind technical terms we forget that our job isn't just to build Cloud Solutions but to explain their value to non-technical people the top 1% of cloud Engineers aren't just technically skilled they're also excellent communicators they can explain complex Cloud architectures to your quote unquote average person and relay the business value that it Brinks they can translate technical challenges into relatable analogies that anyone can understand here is how you can improve your communication skills firstly practice the eli5 the explain lyam 5 technique take a complex Cloud concept and explain it to a non-technical friend or family member then take part in some form of public speaking this will help you get comfortable presenting in front of others because in a tech World you'll be presenting to stakeholders I also recommend you start writing this forces you to articulate your thoughts clearly and concisely now remember the ability to translate complex topics into layman terms is what will Propel you into the top 1% of cloud Engineers my next reason why 99% of cloud Engineers fail is the comfort zone trap now do you remember Blockbuster maybe you're too young to remember this but they were a video rental giant that people like myself back in the day would pay a visit almost every Friday night you'd have so many choices for a movie but they are the perfect example of what happens to you when you get too comfortable so back in the 2000s Netflix actually approached Blockbuster with an offer to sell their company for $50 million Blockbuster CEO was sitting pretty comfortable with their brick and water stores and he recalls laughing amount out of the room they were the kings of the video rental business and they had successfully launched this model they were booming why would they change you can guess how this goes for 2010 Blockbuster files for bankruptcy and Netflix they were worth $9 billion at a time and today of course one of the biggest companies in the world see in our world Comfort is just as dangerous Amazon was just an online bookstore at one point they could have stayed comfortable and dominated that Niche but Jeff Bezos saw the future was in the cloud and in6 Amazon launched AWS and a lot of traditional it people laughed it off and it's the same attitude they had like Blockbuster did towards online streaming but Amazon ignored the critics they kept innovating they kept pushing the boundaries ec2 S3 Lambda Sage maker they've consistently stayed ahead of the curve and right now AWS is nearly a hundred billion Revenue stream for Amazon and to be part of the 1% of cloud Engineers you need to think like Amazon Netflix and not like blogbuster you don't get comfortable with one technology or service you're always learning always evolving and that's what separates the top 1% from the rest we're not afraid to be beginners again we can see change coming and we run towards it and not away from it it's the same for me I'm always spending time learning new skills Cloud engineering devops security AI so let me ask you this are you a Netflix or are you a blockbuster are you AWS or are you a company that's still insisting that a cloud is just a fat because here is the truth in Cloud engineering there's no such thing as making it the moment you think that you've arrived you've already fallen behind you need to keep progressing and innovating yourself so what new technology are you learning right now what's the next next big Trend that you're getting ahead of if you don't have an answer it's time to get uncomfortable because in this game Comfort is the enemy of success remember that every expert was once a beginner the top 1% they're just willing to be beginners more often than the rest so here is how to stay ahead of the curve firstly you want to set aside dedicated Learning Time aim for at least 3 to 4 hours a week to explore new technologies you want to follow a structure Ed learning path and my cloud engineering Academy is a great example of this and then you want experiment with different Cloud providers if you're an AWS expert try your hand at aure or Google Cloud because over the next 5 10 years we're going to see more multicloud strategies make sure you also join online communities like reddits engage in discussions and help solve problems because remember in the cloud world the only constant is change and you want to embrace it all right my next tip on how to be part of the 1% Cloud engineers and I'm going to get real with you guys you know somebody asked me if I really believe that I could make it here where I am right now and without hesitation I said yes I visioned this you don't become successful without consistent action every day over a long period of time yes you need luck and timing needs to be on your side but consistency puts these factors on your side I just kept plugging away but that doesn't mean I was always in this situation I've had many failed experiences Ventures and I'm not ashamed of them you see early on in my career I was like most of you I was in this meeting with the dev team the Ops guys and some frontend developers they were arguing about some issue each team blaming each other and me I was just lost sure I was learning about the cloud but I couldn't see how this all fit together and that's when I realized being a one-trick pony wasn't going to cut it not if I wanted to be in the top 1% so I did something crazy I decided to learn it all front end back end devops the whole lot and really research how these pieces actually fit in together when we're building on the cloud was it easy well no the idea that you can become an overnight success is a dream that people sell to you but it takes at least 3 four 5 years to cheap but you have to start somewhere I started with the front end learn enough HTML CSS and JavaScript to build a basic website I started to learn a little bit more about react cuz I've been building websit since I was 14 so I started to learn these Frameworks were there some teing problems yes there were but suddenly I understood what the frontend devs were actually talking about when they complained about low times or API responses because when I was building websites all those years ago as a freelancer 14-year-old I didn't know anything about apis or low times but only when I started putting in the time to really understand why this is important especially when we talk about millions of users in the cloud it really started to make sense and then I started learning about the backend I picked up a little bit python learned about Integrations databases and I remember the first time I built a full stack application and deployed it onto AWS it was like seeing the Matrix but it didn't stop there this was the key for me me in my cloud engineering journey I was always curious and eager to learn more like a sponge ready to take in more information I jumped into devops next learned about cicd infrastructures code monitoring it was like putting on glasses for the first time everything came into focus and you know what this full stack knowledge it changed everything this broader perspective it put me in the top 1% because whilst everyone else was starting to focus on specialization first I focus on generalizing I could talk to the frontend devs about optimizing asset delivery through cloudfront I could work with a backend team on scaling their apis with Lambda an API Gateway I could set up an entire cicd pipeline that took code from commit to production in front of customers this is why I tell my students inside of my cloud engineer Academy to always generalize first go broad then specialize where you enjoy most devops security data Ai and it wasn't about being an expert in everything it was about knowing enough to see how it all fit together and I knew deep down I always wanted to work for myself so this was the vehicle for me to achieve that and that's what led me to start my own cloud engineer Academy and my cloud security consultancy so here is my challenge to you stop thinking of yourself as just a CL Cloud engineer start thinking bigger learn some front end pick up some backend skills dive into devops and security I know it seems a little bit overwhelming just take your time will it be easy no will it be comfortable no but that is the point growth doesn't happen in your comfort zone this is your chance to level up to join the top 1% and here is what you can do study Cloud architecture patterns practice designing end to end Solutions start with a business problem and work your way through the entire stack learn about the AWS well architected framework this will give you a structured approach to evaluating architectures understand Cloud economics learn how to optimize cost without sacrificing performance or reliability so what's it going to be are you going to stay in your own bubble or are you ready to expand your horizons and see the big picture well my friend the choice is yours but I'm here to tell you this the view from up here running my own Academy and my own company is pretty damn sweet and look there's room for you too if you're willing to put in the work remember a great Cloud engineer doesn't just build they architect now moving on to my next point that is the Lone Wolf syndrome something that has become normalized among the online community the idea to become successful you have to grind countless hours on your own in your own room who needs sleep when you're building the future right that was me early in my career the Lone Wolf I thought I had it all figured out networking nope meetups waste of time now I can almost hear you thinking but soan I'm good at what I do isn't that just enough well let me stop you right there and tell you about someone who learned this lesson better than most Reed Hoffman the co-founder of LinkedIn now before LinkedIn Hoffman was a product manager at Apple and fitsu a very smart guy good at his job but he realized something crucial very early on in the tech world it's not just about what you know it's about who you know and I know it sounds cliche it's something that we've all heard before but stick with me right here Hoffman started building his Network intentionally he made a point to connect with at least one new person every day he attended events he reached out to people he admired he offered help without expecting anything in return and you know what when he eventually decided to start his own company he already had a robust Network to tap into for advice for talent for investment and that network was the foundation upon which he built LinkedIn a company that he sold for $26 billion well the lesson here was that your network is your net worth it's not just a catchy phrase It's the cold hard truth of our industry now I know networking doesn't come naturally to so many of us especially if you're an introvert but here is the thing you don't have to become some smooth talking extrovert to build a strong Network you just need to be intentional about it so let me break it down for you on how you can build a professional Network as a cloud engineer firstly you want to start online LinkedIn isn't just for job hunting share your thoughts comment on others post join relevant groups it's networking from the comfort of your own home start contributing to open-source projects this is a gold mine for introverts you can showcase your skills and connect with other developers and other Engineers all through your skill set you also want to help others see someone asking a question why don't you just answer it jump in offer value offering value is the best way to build connections and you want to be consistent because building a network isn't a one-time thing make it a habit to reach out to a one new person every single week because remember networking is about building genuine relationships and I'm not saying that you need to become some sort of networking Guru overnight you want to start small you want to set a goal to reach out to one new person this week then next week maybe attend a virtual Meetup small steps but whatever you do don't make the same mistake that many do don't wait until you're standing on the sidewalk with a box of your belongings because your boss has just fired you to realize the importance of building your own Professional Network because here is the reality of our industry opportunities don't just fall into your lap they come through people that dream job it might come from a connection that you've made at a virtual conference that game changing project it could stem from a conversation in your LinkedIn group your network is like a garden it needs constant care and attention but if you nurture it it will bear fruit when you need it so what's it going to be are you going to keep hiding behind your screen hoping your skills alone will carry it or are you ready to step out of your comfort zone and start building Network that can Skyrocket your career literally well of course again the choice is yours but I'll tell you this since I've started intentionally building my network doors have opened up that I never even knew existed it's how I found my first clients for my cloud security company and how I've built a thriving community in my cloud engineer Academy remember in the cloud everything is connected your career should be no different remember in the tech World opportunities often come through who you know and not what you know now I know we've covered a lot you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed maybe a little bit discouraged but here's the thing if you're feeling that way it means that you care it means that you want to be better and that already puts you ahead of most people remember every expert was once a beginner the top 1% aren't there because of their Geniuses or because they got lucky they're there because they've committed to Excellence day in and day out I've been where you are I've felt the frustration the self-doubt the overwhelm but I've also experienced the thrill of solving complex problems the satisfaction of seeing my skills grow and the pride of Building Systems that impact millions of users and let me tell you that it's worth it so my friend here is your action plan firstly choose one area from the ones that we've discussed to focus on this week then you want to set a specific measurable goal related to that area once you've done that you want to take action every day even if it's just 30 minutes and at the end of the week reflect on your progress and choose your next area of focus remember in the world of cloud engineering the only limit is your willingness to learn and to grow so are you ready to St being part of the 99% and join the top 1% of cloud Engineers well the choice is yours but whatever you decide keep pushing keep learning and never lose sight of where you want to be as always thank you so much for watching go check out my cloud engineer Academy sign out to my newsletter and do all of those amazing things and I'll see you guys on the next one

Channel: Tech With Soleyman

Views: 4,862

Keywords: how to become cloud engineer in 2023, how to get cloud engineer job, cloud engineer roadmap, how to become cloud engineer, how to become a cloud engineer, aws cloud engineer, cloud engineer, how to get ahead of software engineers, how to become aws engineer, how to become cloud expert, aws devops engineer, software engineer

Id: pgU8BIYwXV8

Length: 20min 33sec (1233 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 14 2024