DevOps Engineer Path
Cloud infrastructure, IaC, and container orchestration
The core credential stack for DevOps and platform engineering roles. Cloud knowledge + Infrastructure as Code + Kubernetes is the combination appearing most in DevOps job postings at mid-to-senior level.
- Total Cost
- $860–$1,200
- all materials included
- Timeline
- 12–20 months
- at 1–2 hrs/day
- Exam Fees Only
- $765
- required certs
- Steps
- 3 certifications
- 3 required, 0 optional
The Path
AWS SAA-C03
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
The most sought-after cloud certification in the industry
$300
exam fee
Why at this step: DevOps requires a deep understanding of cloud infrastructure. The SAA teaches you VPCs, IAM, compute, storage, and networking — the substrate that every DevOps tool sits on. Without this, Terraform and Kubernetes concepts don't fully make sense.
Terraform
HashiCorp Terraform Associate
The standard infrastructure-as-code certification for cloud engineers
$70
exam fee
Why at this step: Infrastructure as Code is the core DevOps skill. Terraform Associate proves you can provision and manage cloud resources programmatically — it's now expected in most DevOps and platform engineering roles.
CKA
Certified Kubernetes Administrator
The gold-standard hands-on credential for Kubernetes cluster admins
$395
exam fee
Why at this step: Kubernetes is the dominant container orchestration platform. The CKA is a performance-based exam — you actually manage a live cluster under exam conditions. Strong signal for employers hiring for modern cloud-native platforms.
Where to Specialize Next
After completing this path, these are the most popular specializations.