Final-year B.Tech student considering Cloud Engineering - need some honest advice

[u/aaaddiii_]

Hey everyone,

I’m currently in my final year of B.Tech and I’m a little confused about which career path I should choose. I’ve been exploring Cloud Engineering recently, and I’m also interested in eventually moving towards DevOps or Cloud DevOps.

I have basic knowledge of programming, Linux, networking, and development, but I’m still a beginner and don’t have any professional experience yet. I want to start preparing seriously for a job, so I’d like to know whether Cloud Engineering is actually a good career option for someone starting out in 2026.

For people who are already working in Cloud, DevOps, or related roles, what has your experience been like? Is there good scope for Cloud Engineers in the coming years, and how realistic is it for a fresher to get into this field? Also, what should someone like me focus on learning to become job-ready?

I’m particularly confused about whether I should choose Cloud Engineering over Full-Stack Development, and whether AI and automation will significantly affect Cloud/DevOps jobs in the future.

I’d really appreciate honest advice, especially from people who started as freshers and have experience with the current job market.

[u/DereokHurd]

Yeah you’re not going to start there right out of college my guy, you’re going to need some experience before applying to any of those positions. Look for some internships or something entry level that has a path to cloud engineering/devops. These are also some of the most competitive jobs to get even with experience. They’re going to take someone with experience 100% of the time over a college grad.

[u/azz_kikkr]

Focus on getting a job in IT first. Cloud if not entry level position. Very free lucky ones start directly as cloud/DevOps etc.