Become an AWS Cloud Engineer

No fluff. No outdated tutorials. No overpriced bootcamp or degree. This Career Path is your step-by-step roadmap to go from beginner (at any age!) to getting hired as a Cloud Engineer and Architect. This Career Path will guide you through a curated curriculum of courses, projects, workshops, articles, and action items to pass the key AWS certifications, learn the latest cloud technology, and build your portfolio.

Earn on average $134,783 per year

US salary data collected from Indeed, LinkedIn, and Web3.career 2025.

3 Months

Average time students take to complete this career path.

Rated 4.9 out of 5 on Trustpilot

Your career pathReviewsInstructorsFAQsPricing

Your career path

What You'll Learn

  • Learn all of the in-demand skills in the field of cloud computing
  • Pass the key AWS Certification Exams needed to become an expert
  • Learn multiple cloud strategies and be an asset to any company
  • Combine knowledge from different fields to become a well rounded Cloud Engineer and Architect for many years to come
  • How to develop a future-proof career in an in-demand field
  • Combine cloud infrastructure philosophies, practices, and tools that increase an organizations ability to deliver applications and services at a high velocity
Course
Beginner
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
8 Hours ·185 Lessons AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
Learn AWS from scratch, from an industry expert. You'll learn AWS fundamentals all the way to advanced cloud technologies, so that you'll be able to ace the certification exam and get hired as a Cloud Engineer!
Course DetailsTake the Course
Course
Intermediate
AWS Certified Solutions Architect
15 Hours ·297 Lessons AWS Certified Solutions Architect
Learn AWS from an industry expert. You'll learn AWS fundamentals all the way to advanced cloud technologies so that you'll be able to ace the solutions architect certification exam and get hired as a Cloud Architect!
Course DetailsTake the Course
Course
Intermediate
Build an End-to-End Web App from Scratch with AWS
1 Hours ·13 Lessons Build an End-to-End Web App from Scratch with AWS
Take your AWS skills to the next level and build a portfolio project! This project-based course will guide you through designing and building a web application using five different AWS services.
Course DetailsTake the Course
Course
Beginner
Career Advice: Interviews & Getting Hired
3 Hours ·50 Lessons Career Advice: Interviews & Getting Hired
This course teaches you to nail job interviews with prep tips, common questions, and smart answers—all to boost your chances of landing the job!
Course DetailsTake the Course
Action

Apply To 5 Jobs You Really Want

This time around, you have more knowledge and more practice. It's now time to take your job hunt seriously. Find 5 companies/jobs that you REALLY want to work for and make a serious effort applying to these jobs based on the tips you learned in the previous lessons. Don't take no for an answer and see if you can land an interview at one of these companies you chose. Once you have an interview lined up, move to the next section.

See whole career path

What ZTM students are saying

Our courses and community have helped 1,000s of Zero To Mastery students go from zero to getting hired to levelling up their skills and advancing their careers to new heights.

Rated 4.9 out of 5 on Trustpilot

    Meet your instructors

    Your Career Path instructors aren’t just experts with years of real-world professional experience. They have been in your shoes. They make learning fun. They make complex topics feel simple. They will motivate you. They will push you. And they go above and beyond to help you succeed.

    Amber Israelsen

    AWS & Cloud Instructor

    Patrik Szepesi

    Machine Learning and Generative AI Instructor

    Andrei Neagoie

    Lead Instructor

    Andrei Dumitrescu

    DevOps & LLMOps Instructor

    Still have questions?

    Who is this Cloud Engineer / Architect Career Path for?

    Anyone who wants a clear step-by-step guide to become a Cloud Engineer and Architect from scratch and actually get hired. Oh ya, and you don't want to waste your money on overpriced bootcamps and degrees.

    Also, let's be honest. Some of the topics can be a little dry. So, we're even going to have a bit of fun along the way. No way! Crazy right?!

    This Career Path is perfect for you if:

    • You're a complete beginner (of any age!) and want a full bootcamp experience without having to pay $1,000s
    • You don't want to waste your valuable time. You want to learn how to become a Cloud Engineer and have everything in one place
    • You want to build real-world projects that will push you, challenge you and make your portfolio and resume stand out
    • You don't want to learn and take this journey alone. You will learn alongside 100s of other students at your same level and 1,000s more that are just a few steps ahead of you
    • You can handle our amazing sense of humour (it's not spelled wrong, we're Canadian... see what we mean... you've been warned... sorry)

    And it's definitely for you if you're sick of:

    • Outdated coding tutorials
    • Free courses and tutorials that don't go beyond the basics
    • Learning topics and concepts that are mostly irrelevant in the real-world and don't even get asked in interviews
    • Courses with no community or support system
    • Tutorial hell
    • Feeling like you're going in circles with no clear path or end in sight

    Let's be 100% clear. You aren't going to do 100 cloud challenges or 50 cloud projects or learn topics that aren't going to get you hired or even be used in the real world. That's a waste of your time.

    The sooner you get hired, the sooner you'll be learning more than you can from any course. That's our goal.

    Why become a Cloud Engineer / Architect?

    Everyone has their own reason(s) as to why they want to become a Cloud Engineer and Architect. But here are a few of the best reasons:

    1. Lots of jobs available. As we're writing this, there are over 300,000 job postings available in the United States for those with AWS skills.
    2. High demand = High salary. The average annual salary for a Cloud Engineer is over $120,000, while the average annual salary for a Cloud Architect is over $200,000. This amount can also be much higher at major tech companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and others.
    3. No degree required. You can definitely get hired as a Cloud Engineer or Cloud Architect at the company of your dreams without having any college degree.
    4. Work remotely. Many cloud jobs are remote (I mean, you're working on cloud computing after all, right?). Work from the comfort of your own home, a coffee shop, or even while traveling the world. Some roles even allow you to work on your own schedule.
    5. It's fun. And rewarding. You get to have a real-world impact. The work you're doing on a daily basis can have a huge impact on hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people.

    How long does it take to become a Cloud Engineer / Architect (and complete this Career Path)?

    Everyone is different. So it's hard to give a specific amount of time. The two biggest variables are the number of hours per week you're dedicating to completing the steps in the Career Path and your current experience level.

    Don't hold us to it but here's a rough guideline based on feedback we've received from past ZTM students on how long it takes to become a Cloud Engineer and Architect:

    1. 20-40 hours a week = 4-6 months. Students who have started from scratch as complete beginners (no matter their age!) and spend a few hours per day.
    2. 40-80 hours a week = 2-3 months. Students who are able to learn basically full-time and/or already have some experience (ex: CS students / Coding Bootcamp grads).
    3. 0-10 hours a week = 7-12+ months. Students from all experience levels but are only able to dedicate a few hours a week.

    What’s the ZTM Discord community and how can it help me?

    The ZTM Discord is our exclusive online community for ZTM students, alumni, TAs and instructors.

    How it helps you, short version: Increase the chances that ZTM students achieve their current goals and help them continue to grow throughout their career.

    Longer version: Learning alone is hard. We've all been there. We've all tried to learn new skills and struggled. It can be frustrating, daunting, and just plain challenging, especially if you're trying to change careers.

    We feel strongly that the Zero To Mastery Discord community is an essential part of the learning experience and greatly increases the chances for students to achieve their goals.

    It's crazy to think that Colleges and Coding Bootcamps charge you tens of thousands of dollars to provide you with this type of experience. It doesn't have to be that way!

    In fact, ~20% of ZTM students are also enrolled at a College or in-person Coding Bootcamp but feel like they just aren't getting all of the skills and support they need. But with ZTM, they do.

    Within the Zero To Mastery Discord community, you can:

    • Connect with other Developers, Engineers, Data Scientists, Designers
    • Form study groups and complete ZTM Career Paths and Courses together
    • Ask questions and get advice from other people at your same level as well as more experienced professionals
    • Get feedback on projects
    • Meet other students around the world (and likely even someone from your hometown!)
    • Learn how to answer questions and help other students which will accelerate your own learning
    • Get help from others with questions and exercises
    • Work on coding challenges and real-world open-source projects with other students

    It’s pretty awesome to see many ZTM alumni also active every single day, continuing to engage with the community, give back, and level up their own skills and career.

    Are there any prerequisites for this Career Path?

    A computer (Windows/Mac/Linux) and access to the internet. That's it! No previous experience is needed.

    If you haven't already, take our tech career path quiz. We'll give you our recommendation for which path is the best fit for you.

    How is a Career Path different from a course?

    Career Paths are like a full College curriculum. Our Career Paths give you the exact courses, workshops, challenges, articles and actions to take to go from absolute beginner to getting hired.

    Career Paths start with ensuring you know the foundations from scratch. But they go far beyond by teaching you advanced topics and non-technical skills that are essential for your career but aren't taught in Computer Science Degrees or Coding Bootcamps.

    Courses are more focused. Different courses have different goals. Some courses are a great fit for experienced Developers, Engineers and Programmers who want to level-up their skills in a specific topic or framework. Other courses cover a wider range of topics teaching the foundations and fundamentals for beginners.

    Can I change my Career Path?

    Yes. You can change your Career Path anytime. As a member of Zero To Mastery, you have unlimited access to all ZTM courses, workshops, challenges, articles and other materials needed to complete any of the ZTM Career Paths.

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