Cloud computing is one of the hottest areas for technical talent looking for well-compensated roles right now.

The cloud market totaled $90.9 billion in 2021, growing 41.4% from $64.3 billion, according to Gartner. To keep up with this pace, cloud giants are willing to pay well for staff.

Cloud engineers can land salaries ranging from $76,690 to $246,000, according to US work-visa data from Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.

And as more organizations outsource their data-handling to AWS, Google, and Microsoft, business leaders are having to adapt "at a faster pace than they can staff," said Gartner analyst Lydia Leong.

Gartneralso found 64% of tech executives said a lack of available talent had hindered their transition to the cloud, above implementation costs (29%) and security risks (7%).

Cloud engineering is not only lucrative, but versatile. Many traditional engineering roles now involve working on big data, machine learning, and quantum computing, says Kevin Kelly, director of AWS Education Programs.

"The cloud is an enabler for all of those accelerating technologies that are becoming part of a lot of engineering disciplines," Kelly said.

Insider spoke to some of the biggest players in cloud sales to ask their biggest tips for bagging a high-paying job in cloud engineering.

While every engineering role requires a degree of expertise, Google Cloud VP Kripa Krishnan emphasized the variety of roles available.

"You can actually be an engineer working in software, hardware, infrastructure, networking, or machine learning," she said. "But you can also work in product, or user experience, or technical program management, or developer-relationships and then you build your skills as you go along."

Describing herself as "extremely involved" in the recruitment process, Krishnan said her 1,000-strong team recruited from a variety of academic backgrounds not just computer scientists and programmers, but also those with degrees in philosophy and literature.

"I was an arts major," she told Insider. "I spent a lot of time in music and theater, I directed a bunch of plays. I was in a band for a while. I did a bunch of random things."

After going back to school to study for a Masters in computer science, Krishnan soon landed a role as a technical program manager at Google. "If it weren't for my college advisors, who basically forced me into a cab to go to the interview, I don't think I would have tried."

Kevin Kelly, director of education programs at Amazon Web Services, recommended those seeking to pivot into cloud engineering try out some of the firm's online modules, such as AWS Educate, AWS Academy or AWS re/Start.

"I think a lot of employers are looking for people that are curious and willing to learn and understand in a high-tech environment that learning doesn't stop," said Kelly. "It really needs to be a lifelong process."

"Once you realize engineering is something you want to do, clearly there's some amount of skills gap," Krishnan agreed. "But you can do online courses like Coursera or open certs. But learning is the most important part."

"There are a few things I look for," Krishnan added. "Critical thinking and creativity, in particular, and whether someone's able to solve problems holistically.

"I look for persistence. To be cutting-edge and innovative, it's really important to find unconventional ways to get to the right outcomes; and we don't have the option of giving up when the going gets tough."

AWS' Kelly said many traditional engineering roles had been reworked to focus on problems in big data, machine learning, and quantum computing.

"The cloud is an enabler for all of those accelerating technologies that are becoming part of a lot of engineering disciplines," Kelly said.

For those learning on the job, Krishnan agreed: "The first thing to do is ask a lot of incessant questions. The hardest thing to do is get past imposter syndrome. But learning is the key, and being unafraid to ask what seem like basic questions is super, super important."

In fact, Krishnan told Insider the least experienced employees "actually have a more solid foothold later on."

"The more they ask and learn, the better position they are to build better concepts and products."

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How to Break Into Cloud Engineering, According to Amazon and Google - Business Insider