Why the change?

Having previously worked as a vehicle mechanic for a number of years, I felt as though this was not my long term calling. Like a number of 'blue collared' workers before me whom have transitioned from other hands-on sectors such as construction, I felt a much needed change. In fact, the Cloud Resume Challenge (CRC) mentions a plumber coming from zero cloud computing experience, completing the challenge and becoming a full time cloud DevOps engineer.

I had always obtained an interest in IT, in particular the hardware side. Having enjoyed building, upgrading and troubleshooting PC builds; I felt as though I wanted to discover cloud computing, and pursue this further.

Beginnings

Initially my intent was to go down the IT recruitment role, so I began learning about the various areas of the tech sector. The area that interested me were the cloud roles. The more I delved into this area the greater my interest. I quickly came to the conclusion that I would rather work within this sector, rather than recruit for it. The question is how I would go about starting this journey.

Coincidently having a conversation with a work colleague, he mentioned being involved with Amazon Web Services (AWS) academy program. After hearing the details on said program I decided to sign up to a webinar. After hearing the details on said program I decided to sign up to a webinar.

The lead speaker of the webinar was very knowledgeable, having worked at Microsoft for years and now for AWS. I remember it was fascinating hearing about the intricates of the technology behind not just the cloud specific side, but also the way in which the internet and all devices communicated with each other and the infrastructure. After the webinar I decided this would certainly an avenue I wanted to pursue and signing up to the academy would be a great start.

The Learning Process

Commencing my first academy lessons in November of 2023, I was tought the fundamentals of the AWS cloud infrastructure and services. From virtual compute like EC2s to the global infrastructure such as Regions, Availability Zones and Datacentres. There was a huge amount to learn and having access to the AWS labs certainly helped. Over time I started using AWS's 'Cloud Quest' accessed through the Skill Builder, this is a type of game-as-you-learn tool. Giving you some real world scenarios and utilising the lab, but with some 'DIY' sections without the step-by-steps.

Over time I studied and passed my AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner. Nevertheless I needed something to prove my knowledge, one particular subject that kept coming up were projects. This I felt was key in showcasing to future employers and recruiters the skills you've learnt and what you can do. However, what types of projects to do was another matter. After scanning through various sources such as YouTube and some Discort groups, I discovered on the academy's sharepoint the CRC.
After reading through I knew this was precisely how I needed to test my current knowledge, but more importantly progess along the way and ultimately challenge myself.

The CRC Project Journey

Follow my journey throughout this project to see my advancements as well as set-backs, and how I overcame them.

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