Starting note.
This entry is a part of my The Cloud Resume Challenge series, where I write my weekly reflections as I attempt to complete the Challenge.
- Intro to The Challenge (this entry)
...more to come! Keep your eyes peeled 👀
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Wrap-up
How it all started.
One day, I was browsing and watching cloud and DevOps-related videos on YouTube and, by the Almighty Algorithm's grace, stumbled upon Gwyneth's (better known as GPS) video titled <Get a Cloud job with this book\>. As someone trying to break into the tech industry, the title immediately piqued my interest, and I clicked on her video to learn more about this magical spell book.
I was sold after watching her video and purchased this book. At the time of purchase, I used GPS's code, so I got a 10% off! 🥳 I got all the books in the three different editions - AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud (GCP). I must note that this is an e-book, and no hard copies are currently on sale. You can get it here if you're interested in purchasing them (not sponsored or affiliated).
The Challenge itself is free, and the book is more of a guide to get you started and help to arrow you to the correct path.
What is it exactly?
It is a hands-on project that consists of a 16-step challenge created by this man - Forrest Brazeal - that is supposed to help you jumpstart your journey in cloud technology (and more!) and possibly get you hired after completing the Challenge.
You will not be guided step-by-step. You are supposed to find out how to do certain things by yourself and struggle while trying to get everything to work. Forrest pointed out that, from his experience, this is the best method to learn.
Fun fact - what surprised Forrest the most was the number of current working engineers who gave this challenge a shot. The number from his Discord shows that "almost 40% of challengers are coming into this with more than three years of professional IT experience." That number alone tells you something - this Challenge is worth a try.
So rest assured, by the end of the Challenge, you will gain a thorough understanding of the cloud and have a project you can present as your talking point to your potential employers.
How long does it take to complete?
Forrest mentioned in his book that "your individual mileage may vary" and "the challenge is not a race". There is no time limit, and you're not racing with anyone, so go at your own pace to complete the Challenge. What's important is that you struggle and learn - a lesson nobody can teach or take away from you.
For those who prefer to have a timeline to stick to, Forrest chunks the 16 steps into six weeks, with 50-70 projected hours in total.
Week 1: Certification prep
Study and prep for your choice of cloud provider foundational exam.
Week 2: Front-end (FE) challenge
Put up your resume online. To do this, you'll need to know how to write HTML & CSS code (it doesn't have to be fancy) and how to deploy the website so that it is publicly accessible.
Week 3: Back-end (BE) API
You'll need to learn Git as source control and create a repo online to deposit your codes. Create a visitor counter on your website and save it to the database.
Week 4: FE & BE integration
Display your visitor counter on your website. Run some tests on your codes.
Week 5: Automation / Continuous Integration (CI)
Automate your infrastructure with infrastructure-as-code (IaC).
Week 6: Blog about your journey and celebrate!
Sit and pass your cloud provider foundational exam. Write a blog about the Challenge and celebrate your victory!
As you can see, these chunks are definitely not easy for someone without any IT or tech background to complete. Just writing them already stressed me - I'm scratching myself non-stop now - I can't imagine actually going through it!
Nevertheless, it would be even more impressive if one managed to. I bet it would feel like you're flying on cloud nine (pun intended) 😊☁️
My approach.
I'm on my journey to become a DevOps Engineer, and the cloud is one of the significant aspects of DevOps.
I will be taking the Microsoft Azure path, as I have completed the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals prior. I may attempt the AWS path once I'm done with Azure, as I'm currently prepping for its Cloud Practitioner certification at the time of this writing. It would be fun to discover how similar or different each cloud provider is.
Since I've passed the AZ-900 exam, I'll attempt to complete the challenge in five weeks instead of the initial recommended six. I will also be using GitHub as my online code repository. At the end of the challenge, I will also be penning down my final thoughts after completing it.
That's all for this post.
It's been my pleasure to introduce this Challenge, and I hope I have enticed you to attempt it with me if you haven't already.
If you do join or are already in the midst of this Challenge, please let me know in the comments or on any of my socials. Links to all of my socials can be found at the top of this page.
Thank you for reading!