Guide
The data center guide
A plain-language guide to how data centers get built, what every role does, what the work pays, and where it's happening. Written by Czarina Tabayoyong, a data center and AI infrastructure recruiter, from searches and public sources.
By Czarina Tabayoyong, Founder, Critical Path Hiring. Former Amazon, AWS and Google recruiter.
Last reviewed
Reviewed as terms, pay and markets change.
01 Start here
Start with the data center glossary
Data center work comes with its own vocabulary. The data center glossary defines 56 terms in plain English, with what each one means on the job. These eight come up first.
02 The build
How a data center gets built
01
Site and power
Land, utility interconnection and permits.
Site launch and team builds02
Design and preconstruction
MEP design and long-lead equipment orders.
Data center construction jobs03
Construction
The shell goes up first, then electrical and mechanical installation.
Data center construction jobs04
Commissioning, Levels 1 to 5
Testing every system, ending with all of them under load.
The commissioning hub05
Turnover
Handing the finished site to the operations team.
Turnover, defined06
Operations
Running the live site around the clock.
Critical facilities engineer
03 The jobs
The jobs
Five tracks cover most of the work. Each card opens the best starting guide for that track.
Track
Construction
Superintendents, project managers and the trades who build the site.
Track
Commissioning
The people who test every system before the site goes live.
Track
Critical facilities and operations
Engineers and technicians who keep a live site running.
Track
MEP
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing coordination from design to install.
Track
AI infrastructure
GPU cluster, network and HPC roles inside AI data centers.
Browse every job title or every role guide.
05 Markets
Where it's being built
06 Employers
For hiring teams
Staffing a build or a live site? Read how to hire data center talent, or book a hiring diagnostic.
08 Questions
Data center questions, answered
- What is a data center?
- A building that houses the servers, storage and networking equipment that run websites, cloud services and AI, plus the power and cooling systems that keep them running around the clock.
- How long does it take to build a data center?
- Plan on roughly 18 to 36 months from land to live. Power availability is usually the biggest variable, and large campuses come online in phases over several years.
- What jobs are there in data centers?
- Five main tracks: construction, commissioning, critical facilities and operations, MEP, and AI infrastructure. See the jobs section of this guide for where each track starts.
- Do you need a degree to work in a data center?
- Many technician and trades roles don't require one. Military, electrical, HVAC and IT backgrounds are common entry routes. Engineering and commissioning lead roles more often expect a degree or equivalent experience. See the careers in data centers guide for entry paths.
- What's the difference between a hyperscale and a colocation data center?
- A hyperscale site is built by one company for its own cloud or AI workloads. A colocation site rents space, power and cooling to many tenants.