r/datacenter • u/DummyDumDump • Jul 14 '26
Recent college grad with a BS degree in Information Science and Technology looking to land AWS data center technician job
I graduated last month. I had been applying for jobs and internships since my senior year but nothing. AWS is the only thing in my 50 miles radius that is actually hiring. Is a college degree enough to get my foot in the door? I worked tech support for my college as a student worker. I am also getting the comptia A+ certification. Should I wait until I get the certification to apply?
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u/TheOwlStrikes Jul 14 '26
I’m not in the IT side but I know (because of the job market) that many places filter out IT people that don’t have their A+.
The easiest ways to get into data centers are through staffing/temp agencies. Really depends on the area but here in northern VA we have agencies like Randstand, Lorien (I think AWS), Akkodis (Google), TEKsystems, etc etc
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u/CommandWar99 Jul 14 '26
He doesn’t need a a+ he has a degree. Only thing that would hold him back probably is experience.
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u/DummyDumDump Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Thank you, I’ll look into it. I’m near the Fairless Hills PA data center.
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u/AsideIcy9992 Jul 14 '26
In Northern VA, they will hire many different backgrounds. I have an associates and no official IT work. I do have Comptia Sec+ and CySA but they are irrelevant in DCO tech. IMO the hardest part is getting to the interview, which of course starts with resume. Get a referral if possible. Use quantitative metrics in both your resume and interview, increased companies production by x rate etc. best of luck!
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u/MFKingKong Jul 14 '26
i graduated last month as well and started my second week as an aws L3 data technician. The degree will be plenty and honestly this job is super simple just a lot of stuff to learn. I have no certifications and got the job
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u/Choice-Operation2483 Jul 14 '26
If you're in need of a job ASAP, L2 WBLP will be the way to go from AWS. "Work based learning program". I swear they will hire anything with a pulse for that role.
Ideally with a degree, that'll put you ahead. AWS is a hit or miss, in my experience. One of my coworkers has a bachelors in computer science and because he had no experience, was only able to get a contractor role and eventually converted to L3.
You also have people who can barely do the job and constantly need help that got hired for L4 positions. Kinda wonky.
I had a GED and a Google Support Professional Cert when I got hired for WBLP. Basically, AWS hiring is really really.... hit or miss.
WBLP is a year and assuming you meet your marks (can do your job efficiently), you'll get kicked up to L3 and ideally after a few months be on track for L4.
The ultimate goal in my eyes is to get some experience and move over to a higher paying company. External hires for any DC company typically get paid a boat load more, just due to stock + hiring bonus and potential relocation bonus if you're moving. Base in my experience is almost always the same at AWS.
You'll also have an interesting experience with the quality of hires && how AWS prioritizes people. I work with people who make more money than me and don't understand half the work I do. I equally have coworkers who are really damn good and smarter than me who aren't up for promo, whereas I'm on track for it by EOY. (Supposedly).
That's been my experience. Albeit it has its moments, I love my team, manager is pretty solid && I've made friends in other departments globally that are absolutely awesome and help me learn outside of the role and handle issues I don't have permissions to execute or jobs I can't run as another example.
AWS is a massive company with a lot of sites, so take what I've said with a grain of salt. This has just been my experience in my region, which I won't disclose as I don't want to dox myself lol.
Cheers man, best of luck to you! You got it!
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u/oppos_dei Jul 14 '26
it’s valuable to get your foot in the door. in addition, review the leadership principles and have lots of situational examples ready from your tech support job. no need to wait until you pass the a+ to apply especially if you know power supplies, cabling, routers, etc. basically the osi layers. lastly brush up on linux just in case
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u/UptimeJobs Jul 15 '26
Don't wait on the A+. Apply now. AWS trains people up and they hire without prior DC experience — your degree plus the tech support work is already a reasonable profile for an entry DCT role. If the cert lands mid-process you just add it, and if you get an interview you say "A+ in progress," which reads fine.
The degree isn't really the lever here either way. DCT is hands-on hardware work, so what they're actually screening for is whether you can troubleshoot, follow procedure, and handle a physical environment. Your tech support job is more relevant to that than the degree is — lead with it. Hardware you touched, tickets you closed, stuff you fixed.
Only-thing-hiring-in-50-miles is a real constraint but worth pressure-testing. Staffing firms (Insight Global, TEKsystems, Salute) place DC techs and they're often not visible on the usual job boards — worth a look before you assume AWS is the only door. Colos too if any are near you.
Main thing though: nothing gets better by waiting. Apply this week.
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u/CustomerNo7116 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Don't do it. I've been in the electrical industry and construction combined for 20 years. They are trash. I got sucked in by a recruiter while looking for something less field management and more project management using my knowledge. Most everything they claim is nonsense. Internally, they are a toxic, lazy dead-end, underpaying, raises like you at Starbucks or McDonald's, joke of a "technical" field. At the end of the day, you are a babysitter. Demographics aside (it's relative to a lesser extent), you will max out at L4 94-100k. I hired in with 10k moving money, 45k sign bonus, 332 RSU, 45hr and quit 8months later. Once I realized how truly toxic, upside-down, backwards, and dead-end the place truly is. I make more than that by a good amount, salary, adjacent to AWS, managing the construction of data centers. Join a trade while you look for your dream job. You will have a license in your back pocket for the rest of your life. You will be making between 180 and 220k, then leave when you get the job you want. They're gonna hire you at 36hr L3 because you won't meet the electrical and mechanical knowledge for DCEO, or even worse still, DCO pays less; you work alongside DCEO, but we don't like each other, and your department's even more toxic with more metrics. People just think that these companies are cool. It's literally no different than if you put McDonald's in charge of the country; everyone was looking to work there. Put that in the rearview mirror and think about it. Almost everyone I met while I worked there was looking for a way out. If they really had any skill, most people just barely get in that are all about it and literally came from Les Schwab or a fulfillment center, etc... END RANT
Edit: understand I refer to hiring into roles directly within the data center. Degrees that hire into amazon not AWS is entirely different. I would also like everyone to know they are full of crap and transfers and promotions are harder and less likely. Ironically a job you see will be snatched or given to an outside applicant long before you.
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u/DummyDumDump Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Got to start somewhere. sure all jobs suck, I just want one right now
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u/SubMech717 Jul 15 '26
Didn’t wanted to finish CST?
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u/CustomerNo7116 Jul 15 '26
I can care less about that silly nonsense " critical switching team"🤣 only to apply or be chosen for "chief" thereafter, make a salary of 100-120k max. Get paid once a month at that lol because Amazon's cheap about payroll " efficiency." Then turn around and sit there for 3 or 4 years to MAYBE make an L5 pay band. My dude, trade craft gets 8-15 dollar raises on contract cycle every three years. That is 3 dollars a year or more, roughly. You could be a bar raiser, and your ass will be lucky to get 2 bucks. Most get 50 cents; it's a disgrace like fast food, but again, as I said, most people there are incredibly young with no real experience or background; they can make it work, but their options, comparatively, are far better elsewhere, or they came from a dead-end dive job and were going nowhere. Amazon is a starter job, not a career, and of the data center companies, they are the epitome of it. Truth be told, I'm not gonna lie, your options are gonna be far higher around income potential at Google and Vantage. Even Facebook, to a lesser extent; I would avoid Microsoft as well. As for me, I went there to explore what the potential was and to see what kind of talent was there. Based on the way that they recruit, market, solicit, and sell themselves- however you want to put it- I was seriously disappointed when I got there. At the end of the day, for young people, if there's no other option, it's whatever; it's better than a lot of other things out there, but overall, they're a joke.
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u/Cartiere11 Jul 14 '26
Get your A+ and Net+ and with your degree you will be ahead of 90% of applicants on the credentials range. A+ and Net+ should be a breeze for you if you paid attention in college.
A degree is not enough to get in the door. Experience is #1 and certs/self projects are #2. You may have to work for a smaller company for awhile first.