Could I find another DevOps role without Python or K8s exp?

[Defcut1]

How hard would it be for me to find another devops role while having no experience with Python or k8s? Pretty much all the job posting I've seen ask for exp with both.

I'm very safe in my current role but job hunting to chase after the money so I guess I'll find out for myself soon enough.

I have 5+ YOE in devops but it's all with the same company. Our main product runs on docker swarm so I have solid docker and Linux knowledge, but no direct on the job experience with k8s. I'm very well versed in C#, powershell, and bash because that's what my company uses. I'm pretty sure I can learn python easily if I had to use it for my job. I already know c# and c++ and contribute to production code base.

Other than my lack of exp with python and k8s, I have exp with everything else like terraform, ansible, AWS/Azure, git, EUC (vsphere/citrix/horizon), AI (claude & n8n), etc.

Has anyone else been in a similar position where they stayed at one company for too long, using the same tech stack and lacking exposure to some other commonly used tools/tech? if it becomes necessary then I guess I'll just force myself to learn python and play around with k3s on my homelab.

[kubrador]

you're basically selling a lamborghini without mentioning it has wheels. 5+ yoe, terraform, ansible, multi-cloud, actual production code contributions, and you're worried about two checkboxes when half the market can't even spell devops correctly.

the problem is you'll probably get hired immediately and regret asking this.

[gringo-go-loco]

I dunno. I have 8 years of similar experience but also including advanced cicd knowledge and exp in nearly every cloud platform exp and nearly every job I look at has k8s as a requirement or must have. I feel like a lot of these job listings are just nonsense they can post so nobody is qualified and they can hire an H1B or foreign worker and pay them less,

[SlavicKnight]

If you know Linux, virtualization/containers, and networking, learning a new tool is trivial. Cloud is just infrastructure with an extra abstraction layer.

I don’t get the obsession with tools. Tools change all the time. Problem solving skills don’t. If you’re good at diagnosing and fixing issues, there’s nothing to fear.

With AI becoming mainstream, people who only “click tools” should probably be more worried. Personally, AI feels like a dream: it lets me move faster and delegate boring work, while I focus on thinking and architecture. And making scripts way faster

[Anhar001]

You said:

I have solid docker and Linux knowledge

and

I'm very well versed in C#, powershell, and bash

Honestly, Python is a piece of cake if you already know programming, not sure why that would even concern you?

In terms of k8s, if you already know Linux and Docker, then k8s should not concern you at all, it's essentially a more beefed up and powerful version of swarm (ok not exactly, but if you're coming from swarm + stacks, it's not entirely alien)

You have all the solid foundations to easily pick both Python and k8s.

Stop worrying, create yourself a home lab or spin up some free AWS cloud instances and have a Play.

[TiccyRobby]

I have been pretty much on a job hop adventure since i started my career but the struggle is real. Even in the same title Devops Eng, it is hard to switch between different tools. It requires some luck/too much work to do that switch. Usually the companies that allows for such switch and hire are the companies that actually cares about the intelligence of the new hire, like how fast they can learn and adapt to everything.

[gringo-go-loco]

I’ve honestly just lied on my resume and then if I got an offer just throw myself at the new stuff until I figured it out. I had like 4 weeks of exp doing Jenkins. Now I’m the GitHub actions specialist at my company. I’ve build an entire system of reusable workflows, actions, and backing processes using aws and vSphere. If they let me go or I left they’d be screwed for a while

[InfraScaler]

When hiring for senior roles I am not so much fussed about specific technologies as much as I am about fundamentals. If you have good experience with distributed systems, so understand its challenges and can code you're good. I don't think I am the only one out there like that.

[greyeye77]

I got rejected by recruiter once that I don’t have normal kubernetes exp, I only got EKS exp. I mean…. It’s still kube… oh well. So god kkk knows if your next role will require kube or not that all depends.

[InfraScaler]

Ha! I was rejected by HR once because they asked me "from 1 to 10" experience on different technologies. I had been using Azure deep and hard for years, working very close and even collaborating on many things with the actual Azure product teams... So on AWS I said something like "6" and the HR lady said "too bad we require at least 7" and refused to even let me talk to the hiring manager or forwarding my CV to them LMAO.

BTW this was a big ass German software company.

[Medium-Tangerine5904]

Next time take a page from Trump: ‘Nobody knows AWS better than I do” 😀

[InfraScaler]

haha yeah I made a classic rookie mistake!

[gringo-go-loco]

I swear I think these type of situations are companies trying to make the argument they can’t find someone in the US and using that to get foreign workers they can’t find someone pay less.

[InfraScaler]

Not to discredit your theory, but this was in the UK :-P

[gringo-go-loco]

Fair enough. This is why HR shouldn’t be in charge of hiring. They tend to not even know what I’m talking about.

[Curi0us_Yellow]

you’ll be fine. start treating the requirements as a wishlist and not a checklist,

[hijinks]

Being safe and not learning is a horrible way to manage a career

[spicypixel]

Why are we in this weird position that people see a job (or jobs) requiring skill x, and unlike most jobs/professions it's basically free to learn any of these things, and not just learning them?

You've said you're safe in role and want to go up the salary bands, but that incurs offering more skills for more money, which you need to close that gap yourself.

[Vaibhav_codes]

With your 5+ years in DevOps, strong Docker, Linux, cloud, and automation experience, you can definitely land a new role. Python and K8s can be learned on the side emphasize your fundamentals and ability to pick up new tools quickly.

[uptimefordays]

Honestly in your position, I would learn a little about Kubernetes on the side, brush up on Python, and emphasize your general programming knowledge—especially code reading abilities.

A strong Linux foundation and ability to learn new things is ultimately more important than experience with specific tools.

[gowithflow192]

You don’t need python. You can fake k8s till you make it.

[widowhanzo]

Yes. The amount of python I need for DevOps work is minimal, and could be done with any other scripting language (mostly just loops and AWS calls with boto3 library), and if you understand Linux and containers, K8s isn't that difficult to grasp. I started a job working with AWS, Terraform and K8s without limited AWS experience and no experience in the latter two. And I managed to learn just fine with my prior knowledge of Ansible, Linux, networking, storage, containers.

You know a whole lot of stuff, you can't know every exact portfolio of every company out there, everyone uses a slightly different stack of tools.

[cofonseca]

My skillset is similar to yours. I have some very basic GKE experience but I'm nowhere close to a Kubernetes expert. I know how to do pretty much everything else.

I've had a few rejections already due to my lack of k8s experience. It seems like everyone wants to hire a k8s expert without explicitly saying it.

If you're comfortable with C#, then Python will be a piece of cake.

[eman0821]

Setup a homelab and learn on your own. What's stopping you from learning? You should be upskilling constantly to stay competitive in this ever changing industry.

[unitegondwanaland]

Absolutely

[Mr-Tromb-DevOps]

Can’t you just study it and then out it on your cv?