I was invited to speak at UNC Charlotte recently to the computer science programs, and I approached the session, Cracking the Cloud, with a very specific goal: to give students a realistic, actionable way to stand out in a job market that’s becoming more competitive every year. Companies are slowing early-career hiring. AI is reshaping workflows. Expectations for junior talent are rising, not shrinking. Students can sense this shift, but many don’t know what to do with that reality. That’s where the conversation begins.

The message I shared with them is simple: even as the job market tightens, students today have an unprecedented advantage that previous generations didn’t — they can build real, meaningful things from their dorm rooms. Modern cloud platforms have removed the resource barriers that once kept students from gaining hands-on experience. They don’t need servers, budget approvals, or someone in authority to greenlight their ideas. With nothing more than a laptop and the AWS Free Tier, they can deploy applications, experiment with architectures, analyze data, and work with AI. The tools that used to be locked behind enterprise doors are now available to anyone willing to try.

This democratization of technology matters because it gives students something incredibly valuable: the ability to build experience before they have experience. When the market tightens, that distinction becomes decisive. Employers want graduates who can contribute, who understand how modern systems work, and who have touched real tools — not just read about them in a textbook. Students who start building early walk into interviews with confidence and momentum. Students who wait often find themselves starting from behind.

That’s why I encourage students to pursue an early cloud certification. It’s not about collecting badges. It’s about giving them a foundation that unlocks everything else. A certification gets them past HR filters, but more importantly, it teaches them the vocabulary and mental models they need to become actual builders. Once they have that baseline, the cloud stops feeling abstract. They can dive in, deploy something real, break things, fix them, and learn through doing. That’s where real growth happens.

To help them get started, I shared a simple 30-60-90 plan:

In the first 30 days, learn the fundamentals. The AWS Cloud Practitioner exam is a gentle entry point that teaches students how the cloud works and how the pieces fit together.

By 60 days, build something small. A website, an API, a basic data pipeline — anything that forces them to make architectural decisions and use real services.

By 90 days, connect with people. Attend meetups, talk with alumni, share what they built, and start forming the relationships that will carry them into internships and full-time roles.

This plan works because it’s simple, it’s doable, and it converts uncertainty into direction. Students don’t need to wait for permission. They just need a starting point.

What Comes Next

The response to the talk made one thing clear: students are hungry for guidance, community, and hands-on support. So naturally, I bought CrackingTheCloud.com, and I intend to do something meaningful with it. The vision is bigger than a single event or a single presentation. I want to build a space — both digital and physical — where early-career engineers can learn from industry, explore real tools, and develop confidence long before graduation.

Over the coming months, I plan to start hosting meetups in Charlotte and Richmond, bringing together students, engineers, hiring managers, and community leaders. The goal isn’t to create another generic networking group. It’s to create an environment where students can ask real questions, see real demos, get unfiltered career advice, and make connections that matter. When students can sit across from practitioners, hear how the industry works, and get direct feedback on their projects, the gap between classroom theory and real-world engineering gets much smaller.

And this matters — not just for students, but for the entire ecosystem. When we invest in early talent, we improve the pipeline for every company in the region. We reduce onboarding burden. We strengthen local tech communities. And we help students step into the industry with confidence, clarity, and purpose. The cloud may have democratized the tools, but it’s up to us to democratize the guidance.

Cracking the Cloud started as a talk, but it won’t end there. There’s a real opportunity to build something lasting — a community that helps students navigate a challenging market, access modern tools, and become the kind of builders the industry needs. And if the energy from UNC Charlotte is any indication, this is only the beginning.