"Tech Connects Podcast” Dice’s podcast, digs into the tech hiring, recruiting, and career topics that matter to you. Subscribe on ACast, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and more! 

The next episode of the Tech Connects podcast is here! Every month, we’ll have great guests who will share their expertise about the current state of the tech careers world, from the hottest tech skills to the state of the tech hiring market to what companies are doing to retain and attract top talent. 

Our next podcast guest is Kevin Kelly, Director of Cloud Career Training Programs at Amazon Web Services. Those programs include AWS Academy and AWS re/Start, which collaborate with higher education institutions, non-profits, and government organizations to assist students launching cloud careers. AWS re/Start is a part of Amazon’s commitment to provide 29 million people around the world with access to free cloud computing skills training by 2025. Let’s listen in as he walks through what you need to effectively learn and succeed in a cloud-centric world:

As you'll hear on the podcast, Kelly is on a mission to help close the cloud IT skills gap, which is growing year by year despite companies and schools dedicating enormous resources to training. He believes that, in order to become an effective cloud professional, it helps to have a working understanding of compute, storage, network, database, and security. With that foundation, you can launch a cloud career.

Learning-wise, things get a bit more complicated from there: for example, knowing the nuances of object storage and how it operates in the context of the cloud, or immutable storage if you’re building a cloud-based blockchain app of some kind. But don’t let the nuances and complications discourage you: thousands of people master cloud skills every year, and use those skills to secure high-paying, vital jobs.

The cloud will likely remain a growth industry for the foreseeable future. Whether they realize it or not, an incredible number of workers in virtually every industry rely on the cloud in some way. That’s helping drive the demand for those with cloud skills, and it means those who have cloud skills—and keep them up-to-date—will have lots of professional opportunities. If you can deploy, test, and maintain projects in the cloud, you’re valuable. Tune into the podcast episode for more tips!