Your Cloud questions, answered
Is it hard to find Cloud talent right now?
Yes. Whilst many organisations were already moving to cloud computing, the past few years have accelerated everyone’s journey. This means demand for Cloud professionals – in all sectors and industries – is high. Very high and that’s where we come in.
How much should I pay a Cloud professional?
PERMANENT
As a general rule, an annual salary for Cloud Engineers would typically be around 60 000€, but can vary depending on the specific role and experience level.
A senior Cloud Engineer could command a salary as high as 70 000€, and Cloud Architect salaries could go all the way up to 85 000€ for those with extensive skills and experience.
CONTRACTING
Engineers specialising in Cloud can expect 500€ to 600€ per day depending on their seniority, location and the specifics of the project.
Aside from a good salary, how can I attract Cloud professionals?
Of course, to attract the best talent, your salaries or day rates should be benchmarked. However, Cloud training and upskilling opportunities will also be a draw, especially for engineers or more technical roles.
If you’re hiring for a specific project, stress its scale and potential impact: highlight that it’s an exciting opportunity for an ambitious professional looking to play a pivotal role. This will be especially attractive to Project Managers or Business Analysts.
What should I look for in a Cloud professional when hiring?
When it comes to more junior professionals, a university degree in Computer Science, IT or similar is a nice to have. However, AWS, Azure or public cloud skills, plus a few years of first-hand experience working in Cloud Computing, are more important.
Equally, when looking for great DevOps engineers whose code will help your business release products and software effectively and efficiently, ensure they come from a developer background (either proprietary or open source), with an in-depth and provable understanding of developer practices.
But soft skills are what really separates cloud and DevOps professionals who will really take your business to new heights: the ability to manage technical teams, but also to communicate challenges and solutions to senior stakeholders in both technical and non-technical disciplines.
How can I assess Cloud professionals to make sure I hire the right person?
Technical qualifications and skills can easily be conveyed on a CV. However, soft skills are best assessed during an interview. Make it conversational, and ask about challenges they have overcome, solutions they have implemented and how these experiences may be transferable to your organisation.
Ask if they are committed to learning about the latest Cloud developments and how they do this, to discover if they have a ‘growth mindset’. But try not make your interview process too long.
Establish if they have the right soft skills and if they are a good fit quickly. Cloud professionals are highly sought after, and you don’t want to miss out, do you?