Welcome to the Internship
Welcome to the Cloud Engineering Internship. Over 12 weeks you will go from cloud basics to designing and provisioning a production-style AWS architecture using Terraform — entirely from code. This handbook is your day-to-day reference.
A Note on How This Program is Structured
This internship is self-paced, and that is intentional.
Stratpoint's active projects are enterprise and high-profile in nature. The confidentiality requirements, client expectations, and production stakes involved mean that placing interns directly on live client work would not be fair to you, your team, or the client. This is not a reflection of your capability — it is simply the reality of how professional-grade projects operate.
What we have built instead is a program that prepares you for exactly that environment. You will work with the same tools, the same standards, and the same workflows used on real projects. More importantly, you will develop the habits that make someone genuinely ready for one.
Beyond the technical skills, this program is designed to build:
- Self-discipline — no one will chase you for your output. You manage your own time and your own progress.
- Independence — you will get stuck. The expectation is that you try first, try hard, and ask for help at the right moment — not immediately, and not never.
- Resourcefulness — the answer is almost always in the documentation, the error message, or a well-formed search. Learning to find it yourself is part of the training.
- Communication and professional conduct — through daily standups, activity presentations, and working alongside co-interns, mentors, and managers, you will practise how professionals collaborate, give feedback, and carry themselves at work.
We want you to leave this program not just with technical skills, but with the working habits and professional confidence to thrive on a real team.
Welcome aboard.
Classroom Links
| Module | StratU Classroom Link | Credentials |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud Basics Immersion | classroom.stratpoint.com/course/view.php?id=372 | ACG credentials from L&D Manager (VPN required when using ACG) |
| Terraform 101 Immersion | classroom.stratpoint.com/course/view.php?id=373 | Udemy credentials from HR L&D |
| Cloud Native Immersion | classroom.stratpoint.com/course/view.php?id=380 | KodeKloud account — sign up with your Stratpoint email |
What the 12 Weeks Look Like
| Week | Focus | You Deliver |
|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | Required setup | Working local environment: AWS CLI, Terraform CLI, Git, VS Code, AWS sandbox, GitLab |
| 1 | Cloud Basics — CloudFormation | AWS resources created and deployed using CloudFormation templates |
| 2 | Terraform 101 — First Deploy + Variables | Two individual Terraform activities completed and presented |
| 3 | Terraform 101 — Modules | Reusable Terraform modules created and presented |
| 4 | Capstone Kickoff | Architecture plan, GitLab repo, and initial Terraform structure ready |
| 5 | Capstone Milestone 1: Networking | VPC, subnets, Internet Gateway, route tables, security groups provisioned |
| 6 | Capstone Milestone 2: Compute | Jump host, launch template, Auto Scaling Group, Application Load Balancer provisioned |
| 7 | Capstone Milestone 3: Data & Storage | RDS Multi-AZ and private S3 bucket with lifecycle management provisioned |
| 8 | Capstone Finalization | Testing, cleanup, architecture diagram, documentation, capstone presentation |
| 9–11 | Project Immersion + Cloud Native DevOps | Docker, Kubernetes, GitLab CI/CD learning activities + project observation notes |
| 12 | Final Wrap-up | Final reflection, learning summary, mentor feedback, evaluation |
What This Internship Will and Will Not Cover
| Covered | Not Covered |
|---|---|
| AWS fundamentals — VPC, EC2, RDS, S3, IAM, ALB, ASG | Full AWS certification review program |
| Infrastructure as Code with Terraform | Deep cybersecurity or penetration testing |
| CloudFormation templates | Production operations ownership by interns |
| Basic Cloud Native DevOps — Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD | Deep Kubernetes administration |
| GitLab for source control and collaboration | Deep application development |
| Cost-aware and secure infrastructure design | Project-specific onboarding or live client access |
Pro Tip
Terraform is the most important skill this internship builds. Spend extra time on it in Weeks 2–3.
Cost awareness matters throughout. Always destroy unused resources after each activity.
You will not understand everything on Day 1 — that is normal. Focus on running commands, then understanding why.