AWS Cloud Support Associate Internship

I interned at Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a Cloud Support Associate (CSA). I was thrilled to be a part of AWS, one of the big 3 cloud providers. I met many great people, interns, mentors, and managers. I learned A TON; there are over 200+ services! The main concentration of the training is their core services. Some core services are EC2, EBS, S3, IAM, VPC, RDS, and ELB, with security, networking, and linux topics. The learning was like they say, “drinking from a fire hose.” It covers fundamentals, architectures, and how the services connect. There was so much material to go through, and I learned beyond what AWS certifications cover. My favorite part of the internship was the troubleshooting section, which is the primary goal of the CSA role—supporting customers with any issues they may have.

Troubleshooting was my favorite part, as my background is being a vehicle mechanic. I would troubleshoot vehicles frequently, so I came in with a troubleshooting mindset. I learned several tools and developed the ability to troubleshoot cloud services and find solutions. I spent a lot of time with hands-on practice. Provisioning services, connecting the services, and troubleshooting their internal labs for the new hires. This ability and mindset made me proficient in finding a solution to various issues.

While I did well in troubleshooting and understanding concepts, it was some intern’s first exposure to such technologies. They only used things with a graphical user interface (GUI). Commandline interfaces (CLI) were new, using secure shell (SSH) to connect to remote machines, networking, and linux. People have different majors, experiences, or career changes, so it is understandable. We noticed some of our peers needing help with some concepts and topics. Every week, my team and I would host a session to help with labs or understanding AWS services. Additionally, I would have one-on-ones to help with things like linux, networking, and IAM.

Become the change you want to see.

During my military service, I developed a unique skill set that I didn’t think were helpful. Being patient, understanding, and an excellent person to work with. These were handy when I was on one-on-ones and helping them with concepts.

Some remarks I received from my peers:
“I was nervous asking for help, but you are a really nice person.”
“You are good at teaching.”
“I enjoyed working with you.”

I even got a shoutout on Linkedin from someone I helped:
special shoutout I am always happy to help.

As a CSA intern, we spent the last week replying to questions on AWS re:Post, providing technical guidance to customer issues with AWS services. We were assigned groups to work on questions. The goal was to get a feel for assisting customers and collaborating. My group answered 3 questions, and I answered 1 independently.

I enjoyed my internship at AWS. I met great people, learned a lot, and got some certifications!