Embarking on a Transformative Journey: From the Stage to the Cloud

Pascal completed an AWS bootcamp with us and then successfully started as a Junior Consultant at eBiz Consulting GmbH. Here he tells us how he made the transition from actor to cloud engineer.

“I was born and raised in Ulm, Germany. At the time of my career change, I had already been living in Mainz for a few years and working as a freelance actor, mainly on stage, with some voiceover work here and there and a few TV shoots. My dream vision was always that when I grew old as an actor, I would never have to stop working, like many of my colleagues who were still on stage at 70+. However, the contract situation left a lot to be desired and I longed for a little more stability. The constant existential fears were wearing me down.

Why I decided in favour of the AWS re/Start Bootcamp

So, a friend motivated me to attend a bootcamp to get my career change going and recommended the training institute “neue fische GmbH”. (Thanks Martin!) When browsing through the curriculum, the first course that caught my eye was Web Development. Data Analyst was not suitable for lateral entrants. But then I quickly decided in favour of the Cloud Developer Bootcamp, which is mainly based on the AWS re/Start course. Not only because it matched my interests, but also because it is something that is in demand on the labour market, with promising and stable future prospects. After consulting with my incredibly supportive counsellor from the employment agency (thank you Ms Fortmann!), my path into the world of IT was paved with an education voucher.

Between stage and bootcamp

And the bootcamp already revealed a significant advantage of the industry: it took place remotely so that I could fulfill my last commitments on stage at the same time as the course started. In the meantime, it also became clear that my wife and I were expecting a child. All the more reason to gain more security and stability in life. In preparation for the course, I ventured into coding for the first time.

Despite my affinity for IT, not just as an end user, my knowledge was exhausted within a few days and the AWS re/Start course really took off. A broad spectrum of knowledge relevant to cloud concepts was imparted in a compact and condensed form within a very short space of time, sometimes pushing me beyond my limits. But thanks to the good structure of the course, I stayed on track and due to the varied subject area, it never became monotonous. Our head coach always skilfully intercepted any frustration that arose and always managed to rekindle my motivation. (Thanks Dominic! And also, thanks to my beloved wife!) I liked the interactive quizzes and especially the hands-on labs, which helped enormously to apply what I had learnt and make it tangible. Alongside the AWS Skill Builder, the AWS re/Start course laid a fundamental foundation for my certification as a Certified AWS Cloud Practitioner, which I successfully achieved at the end of the three-month course. In short, the AWS re/Start course was intensive, challenging, and comprehensive. If I hadn't retrained, I might have continued on my unsteady path as a freelance theatre actor, constantly confronted with existential fears and the constant worry of not being able to feed my family.

And what happened after graduation

I wasn't able to put my fears aside immediately after finishing the bootcamp.
Although I received help and useful resources for the application process from the neue fische team, it ran at full speed for almost two months and at times made me doubt whether the shortage of skilled labour was really that great. But then I came into contact with a medium-sized company that was very promising. In the second round of the application process, I was given conceptual and practical tasks, which I was able to master thanks to my training. However, I was particularly convincing with my great willingness to continue to familiarise myself with the subject matter with motivation. On the day my daughter was born, I was offered a permanent position at eBiz Consulting GmbH in Frankfurt. Originally a Microsoft partner, the cloud services company now wants to become an AWS partner as part of the expansion of its AWS expertise. And of course, I fit in perfectly with an annual salary that is almost twice as high as my previous salary as a theatre actor.

My first job as a Junior Consultant

Since the beginning of February, I've been working as a Junior Consultant in a full-time position, mainly from home, in an incredibly amicable and family-friendly team. Thanks to the great flexibility of the working hours, my two new roles of Junior Consultant and family father can be optimally combined. Despite the good foundation of the AWS re/Start course, I now realise that the learning has only just begun. I can apply what I already know and further fuel my thirst for knowledge through the myriad of peripheral technical topics. And that's actually the part I like best about my new job at the moment. I've also been assigned a personal mentor who puts me on the right track within the company and gives me excellent support with all my technical questions and concerns. (Thank you, Nikolai!) My company supports its employees with one certification per year. So maybe I'll soon continue with the Certified AWS Solution Architect.”

What Pascal's new employer says

"At eBiz Consulting GmbH, we are proud to have talents like Pascal on our team. By moving from acting to our AWS Competence Centre, he has brought a unique perspective and fresh approach to our projects that has helped us deliver innovative solutions for our clients."