A classical singer and software developer – Anadi’s AWS Academy story

Editor’s note: This is article two of a four-part series that highlights Amazon Web Services (AWS) Education Program graduates. In our first post, we discussed our commitment to expanding access to cloud skills training. In this post, we put the spotlight on Anadi Sharma, who launched a promising career in tech with a little help from AWS Academy. 

In case you missed it, yesterday was the fourth annual International Day of Education (IDOE). Here at AWS, we’re celebrating IDOE by highlighting three incredible AWS Education Program graduates who have harnessed the transformational power of education to launch technical careers. First up is Anadi Sharma, who realized the value of learning cloud skills to accompany her coding skills, setting herself apart from others in the programming field.

Meet Anadi

Anadi is a 21-year-old AWS Academy graduate who currently lives in Hyderabad, Telangana, which is a large city located in the northern part of South India. Anadi was first introduced to AWS Academy courses when she was earning her bachelor of technology degree from the Meerut Institute of Engineering and Technology at Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam Technical University.

AWS Academy provides thousands of higher education institutions with free, ready-to-teach cloud computing curriculums developed and maintained by the experts at AWS. Educators receive complimentary professional development and mentorship opportunities to enhance their own research capacity and industry knowledge. Students acquire the AWS Cloud skills they need to pursue industry-recognized AWS Certifications and in-demand IT careers.

Anadi, who is also a professionally trained classical singer, was a Java programming major and interviewing for internships with several companies. Throughout the interview process, one thing became clear— programming skills alone wouldn’t land Anadi a role with the type of company she wanted. “When I started interviewing, I received feedback that my coding skills weren’t enough for me to get a corporate-level role. The big organizations made it clear that they expected me to also know cloud technology in depth,” Anadi recalls.

With this feedback in mind, Anadi was determined to learn more about the cloud. She explored several online training options and eventually used AWS free-tier to tinker in her spare time. Anadi recalls feeling excited to start her AWS Cloud journey. “Working in the AWS Cloud is love for me. I took advantage of all that was offered to me and was able to grasp the content thoroughly,” Anadi gushes. “Working in the AWS Cloud is the best part of my day.”

Anadi finds AWS Academy

The more Anadi learned, the more her cloud curiosity grew. After researching additional training opportunities, Anadi enrolled in an AWS Academy cloud computing course offered at her college.

Throughout her coursework, Anadi immersed herself in all that AWS Academy had to offer. This included working on hands-on labs to gain practical, real-world experience and completing multiple cloud projects to build her portfolio. Soon she had a library of badges and projects that helped her gain attention from recruiters. AWS Academy is “the best program I have found,” Anadi shares. “The most rewarding part was the content that was readily available to me in one place.”

Anadi launches a promising career in tech

Anadi was hooked on AWS and began exploring other opportunities outside her AWS Academy coursework. She completed training using AWS Educate, which offers no-cost access to hundreds of hours of self-paced training and resources curated specifically for new-to-the-cloud learners. She also accessed free content authored by a worldwide group of AWS experts in the AWS Heroes Content Library and participated in social learning events called hackathons.

Through her hard work and determination, Anadi earned several industry-recognized credentials, including her AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate certification, a credential that helps organizations identify and develop talent with critical skills for implementing cloud initiatives.

Employers took notice of Anadi when she used social media platforms to share multiple badges that validated her cloud skills. “The certifications and badges offered by AWS help us showcase our achievements,” Anadi says. Before she knew it, Anadi was swarmed with interest from recruiters and received 17 job offers!

Anadi eventually accepted a role as an associate software developer with Hitachi Vantara. After a year in her new role, she has some advice for anyone that’s looking to replicate her success. “I’d say the best part of enrolling in an AWS Academy course at my college is that it provided me the best platform to prepare projects related to AWS. So, I want to say to all the folks out there, if you have the opportunity to take an AWS Academy course at your college or university, do so. And take advantage of the hands-on projects that support the learning along the way. These small projects will definitely help you out in the future in order to gain command over the content.”

Closing Thoughts

Anadi’s inspiring passion to expand her cloud knowledge through cloud skills training opened several new doors to a variety of job opportunities. Her commitment to education put her in the driver seat of her career. Considering a cloud career? Learn more about AWS Academy and the colleges or universities that are an AWS Academy member institution.

AWS Academy is one of several AWS Education Programs. In this series, we’ll continue to highlight our other programs and share learner stories along the way. Stay tuned!