Jokes aside, any software engineer would be wise to get one or two cloud certs. Certifications are big in the IT realm (e.g. A+), and while they've historically been a joke in the SWE realm, virtually all SWE job postings I see these days want the candidate to have AWS or Azure experience, and a cert proves that. Yeah the AWS Cloud Practitioner cert is easy, but something like Azure's AZ-204 takes MANY hours of studying/real-world experience to earn.

... you mean any new software engineer that is starting out in the industry where everyone is fighting for that first role or second role.

For me personally, I have been in the industry forever. My battle scars are my certifications.

No, I mean anyone. Again, I’m pretty anti-cert, but I make an exception for cloud