Employers

Cloud engineers work for cloud service providers and companies and other organizations that hire cloud services firms to create, develop, and manage their cloud systems. Major cloud service providers include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Salesforce.com, Google, Oracle, IBM, SAP, VMware, Rackspace, Adobe, CenturyLink, Workday, Infor, Intuit, Epicor, ServiceNow, OpenText, and Cisco. Some engineers work as self-employed consultants and offer their services to cloud service providers and companies and other organizations that use cloud services.

Starting Out

Some information technology professionals pursue careers in cloud engineering after working in traditional IT roles such as systems engineer, network engineer, database administrator, or information security specialist. Others enter the field directly after college graduation.

Many new college graduates land their first jobs after participating in internships, Companies often use their experiential learning programs as “farm teams” and offer high-performing interns full-time positions at the completion of their internship. Job openings can also be learned about by participating in online and in-person networking events, attending career fairs, using the assistance of industry recruiters, and contacting potential employers directly about career opportunities.

Cloud engineers advance be earning pay raises and receiving promotions to managerial positions. At some employers, the position of cloud architect—who designs and implements cloud computing systems and plans the cloud strategy for his or her company or client—may be considered a promotion. But at other employers, engineers also perform these tasks, so the position of cloud architect may not exist. Highly skilled and experienced engineers can be promoted to the position of director of cloud computing or director of cloud architecture. Some engineers choose to launch their own consulting firms, while others become college educators.

Visit the following Web sites for job listings:

• https://www.roberthalf.com/jobs/cloud-engineer
• https://www.comptia.org/content/lp/ziprecruiter
• https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/search/?keywords=cloud%20engineer

Become active in your school computer club or local technology groups.

Read ACM Career News at https://www.acm.org/articles/careernews to learn about career trends and job-search strategies.