Overview
For those students already using cloud native technologies and want to initiate and foster a community on their college campus, we have created the Cloud Native Student Toolkit. This toolkit is for students of any discipline, who already have knowledge of cloud native technologies and want to run events (workshops, talks, show and tells etc.) to help their peers learn more and join the cloud native community. We hope this program will help students learn about cloud native and consider it as an attractive career pathway.
What is the benefit to my community?
By building a cloud native community on your campus, you help your fellow students gain access to industry events, like KubeCon, utilize a variety of training resources, prepare for paid open source mentorship programs, and even find jobs after graduation.
FAQ
Who is this toolkit intended for?
This toolkit is for any student looking to get into the cloud native industry whether they are currently enrolled at a university, attending a boot camp program, are part of a retraining program, or self learning on their own.
I love this toolkit, but don’t know where to start building my community.
Many campuses have existing student organizations focused on computer science where you may find interested members. Many tech companies also run campus ambassador programs, like Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors or Github Campus Experts, that you can join or work with to build communities on your campus. You may also want to connect with your careers center as these skills can lead to job opportunities.
Who can I reach out to for help?
CNCF has Ambassadors all around the world with experience organizing local cloud native communities. If you have questions about the program or this toolkit, please contact [email protected]. You can also contact us in the CNCF slack #students channel for more information.
I have an idea for how to make this better. What do I do?
Please submit an issue or pull request to the GitHub repo or reach out to [email protected].
Getting started:
The path ahead
- Learn the why driving cloud native and making it so impactful
- Attend the world’s largest open source conference, KubeCon + CloudNativeCon
- Get introduced to the technical concepts behind cloud native through free training courses
- Start contributing to open source projects
- Earn your Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate Certification
- Create a local community
- Apply for paid open source mentorship programs
- Give back to your community and become a Campus Captain
- Dive deeper into technical concepts to prepare for certification exams
- Get certified for cloud native technologies
- Find a job after graduation
1. Why
Students joining the cloud native community are setting themselves up for an interesting and potentially lucrative career path. If you don’t know what cloud native computing is, check out these resources.
2. Attend KubeCon + CloudNativeCon and Kubernetes Community Days
Students can apply to attend KubeCon + CloudNativeCon and be a part of the largest open source conference in the world. Any student can have a free virtual ticket. You can find the application for North America and Europe. In addition, students can also apply for a diversity or need based scholarship to attend in person. The conference is held three times a year throughout North America, Europe, and China. Look out for the student track for each one.
Closer to home, Kubernetes Community Days offer a great way to get involved in your local cloud native community and meet companies in your area for mentoring, internships, and/or jobs. Most offer free tickets for students.
3. Free Training courses
The Linux Foundation has many free training courses to help prepare you for your journey through cloud native. A few recommended courses are:
Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure Technologies
Introduction to DevOps and Site Reliability Engineering
Introduction to Service Mesh with Linkerd
4. Start contributing to open source projects
Contributing to open source has many benefits from boosting career prospects to making new friends. CNCF has 100s of projects that you can contribute to and there are many places to get started. Good resources are the Kubernetes contributor site and the CNCF contributor site. Documentation, contributor experience, and project onboarding are all great places to get started. If English is not your first language, translation is always needed too!
5. Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate Certification
Kuberentes and Cloud Native Associate Certification is a multiple-choice certification exam testing entry-level knowledge and skills in Kubernetes and the wider cloud native ecosystem. This exam is intended to demonstrate this knowledge, including how to deploy an application using basic kubectl commands, the architecture of Kubernetes (containers, pods, nodes, clusters), understanding the cloud native landscape and projects (storage, networking, GitOps, service mesh), and understanding the principles of cloud native security. CNCF developed the KCNA to help bring more entry-level talent, like student, into the cloud native community.
6. Creating a local community and joining the global student community
Students can create local chapters on Cloud Native Community Groups to help organize their local group. You can apply to host a group here and CNCF has many best practices that you can follow. It is also important to reach out to and work with other student groups in your area like the computer science club or tech companies campus ambassador programs, like Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors or Github Campus Experts. Many communities working together makes them all stronger. You can also join the global student community and leverage their community and events for students in your area. Check out the program ideas for examples of what to do with your local community.
7. Paid mentorship programs
CNCF participates in a variety of paid mentoring programs to encourage students to consider open source as a career path. CNCF is a great place to spend a semester learning, coding, participating, contributing, and getting paid. You can learn more about which applications are currently open by visiting the mentoring repo.
8. Campus Captains
More info coming soon
9. In depth training courses
Once students have gotten their feet wet with cloud native technologies, CNCF also provides a variety of more in depth training courses including:
Kubernetes Security Essentials
Monitoring Systems and Services with Prometheus
Managing Kubernetes Applications with Helm
Cloud Native Logging with Fluentd
Introduction to Kubernetes on Edge
10. Getting Certified
CNCF has three different certifications for people who want to show their experience working with cloud native technologies. These certifications can even lead to job opportunities after graduation. They are:
Certified Kubernetes Administrator
Certified Kubernetes Application Developer
Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist
11. Finding a job
CNCF has hundreds of members many of whom are looking to hire people with experience in cloud native technologies. CNCF also has a job board of companies currently hiring.
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