How students can become a cloud or DevOps engineer, including the skills, tools, and certifications that matter.
Cloud and DevOps engineers build and manage the infrastructure that modern software runs on. A cloud engineer works with cloud platforms to set up and maintain servers, storage, and services, while a DevOps engineer focuses on the tools and automation that let teams build, test, and release software quickly and reliably. The roles overlap a lot, and both are in strong demand because almost every company now runs on cloud infrastructure.
The foundations are practical rather than purely academic. You need a good understanding of operating systems, especially Linux, networking basics, and at least one scripting or programming language such as Python. On top of that, you learn a major cloud platform, most commonly AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, and the tools of the trade including containers like Docker, orchestration with Kubernetes, infrastructure as code, version control with Git, and continuous integration and deployment pipelines. That sounds like a lot, so build it in layers rather than all at once, starting with Linux, networking, and one cloud platform.
Many people enter from a computer science or IT degree, but plenty come through self study, since this field strongly rewards demonstrated ability. Cloud certifications from the major providers are genuinely valued here, more than in some other tech fields, because they prove platform knowledge, so an entry level cloud certification is a reasonable goal. Even more important is hands on practice, so build small projects, deploy something real, set up a pipeline, and break and fix things, because that practical experience is what employers look for. The field evolves quickly, so continuous learning is part of the job, and the pay and opportunities are excellent.
Example: A student learns Linux and networking basics, picks AWS, earns an entry level cloud certification, and deploys a small personal project with Docker and a deployment pipeline to show real hands on skill.
One practical tip: Build layer by layer, starting with Linux, networking, and one cloud platform. Then practise on real projects, because hands on deployment experience beats collecting certificates alone.