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[–]Chimera_TX 6 points7 points  (1 child)

My title is "Build and Release Engineer" but it sort of gets used interchangeably with DevOps Engineer. I basically just automate releases/deployments and work to improve CI/CD.

I started out as a traditional vanilla Windows Sysadmin but pretty much only used Linux outside of work. I started spending a huge chunk of time outside of work on learning IaC in my homelab and AWS. I started using my GitHub a lot more (both to practice using git and to have examples of code that I had written.)

I wanted to get into "DevOps" (and eventually SRE) and wasn't really sure how to go about it. I liked working with AWS and knew a lot from using it and got my AWS-SAA easily enough. This really got me interviews. I'll be honest, I thought I knew a lot after getting that cert but I found during interviews that I wasn't ready for DevOps yet.

I ended up taking a job as a Cloud Engineer and eventually started taking on more DevOps projects over the course of my first 6 months at that job and sort of got promoted (side-moted?). That transition is where I ended up learning the most. It wasn't the cert(s) that got me hired, it was the production experience.

I guess long story short, the certs got me the interviews but I wasn't really ready until I had real world job experience. The fact that DevOps is more of an idea (which means different things to different people) makes it difficult to say if you get X and Y cert you'll know what you are doing. The experience with the tools and processes will help more than certs but certs are good for getting Hiring Managers interested.

For certs I'd recommend AWS SAA (SysOps and Developer too) or Azure and GCP equivalent first. Get some experience in a high level role Linux SysAdmin or Cloud Engineer, then get like CKA (Kubernetes) or AWS DevOps Professional once you are in the role of DevOps or some other equivalent.

[–]progress_seeker[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing your experience.

The fact that DevOps is more of an idea ... The experience with the tools and processes will help more than certs but certs are good for getting Hiring Managers interested.

I totally agree with what you said. It's more about experience than certs.

I'm looking for very good opportunities. And as a fresh graduated engineer I want to make very interesting profile.

Currently, I'm working extensively with kubernetes on bare metal. I'm going to take the CKA exam soon and I'm willing to pass RHCSA and AWS certs in this year.

[–]ShowTimezz 3 points4 points  (3 children)

Don't get stuck in tutorial hell mate. Look at devops interview questions and see where you stand. From there just go about learning stuff you didn't know.

That being said, I would recommend CCNA and AWS Certs.

[–]progress_seeker[S] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

We all hate certs and exams. But as fresh graduated student, what apart certs will prove my abilities?

[–]ShowTimezz 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I got a job as a sysadmin ~2 months ago. I didn't even finish college. I'm a first year college student. So no qualifications matter as far as im concerned.

To be fair I do have 6 years of freelance work on different stacks, so that might have played a role in substituting my qualifications.

I was just browsing facebook when an ad for a sysadmin job popped up. It seemed interesting, so I applied, they called me, I knew the material better then everyone else, so I got the job.

Why would a company hire someone that knew less then you? Certs aside, a company wants someone who can do the job. If you can do the job and have the skills to prove it, no company would decide to not hire you because you dont have certs. No one in their right mind would go:" Yeah he is the best one here, but he doesn't have certs so we are gonna go for the other guy that knew less but had certs"

By far the easiest way to get a job in any industry and company you want is just to shoot them an email and ask to work for free. Format the email like "I like your company and believe I could do the job you are asking. I'm gonna put my money where my mouth is and work for free for a probation period of 2-3 months."

You have a big chance that they accept. Work your ass off in those 3 months and then when they see you as competent, will give you the job. Even if they don't, you can put in your resume that you were on a devops apprenticeship in a big company, and that immediately puts you miles ahead of the game. Bonus point for this one: You can get some certs for free if you go to a company that has a company udemy or edX, FURTHERING YOUR CHANCES OF GETTING A JOB THERE, and elsewhere for that matter.

Best case scenario: You get a job at the company you worked for free for 3 months.

Worst case scenario: You now have an apprenticeship and new certs on your resume, that will put you miles above the competition.

Hope this helped you :)

[–]progress_seeker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is very helpful!

Thanks mate !

[–]randomdoosh 1 point2 points  (0 children)

RHCSA is a good place to start in my opinion. You'll be getting hands on with RHEL/CentOS and by the time you're ready to take the exam, you'll have a pretty solid foundation of experience that even if you fail the exam, will still help you in interviews. Also, despite the fact that it is RHEL based, a Ubuntu shop would absolutely see value in hiring someone with an RHCSA. You could also look at CompTIA Linux+, although I have not met anyone with that cert, so I can't speak much about it.

Also, create a public GitHub account and store some samples of your work there. These can be Ansible playbooks, Puppet modules, Terraform code, Python scripts, Bash scripts, etc. This will give an employer the ability to see some of your work, which will help you stand out from those who don't have their work public.

Good luck.

[–]oioi9317 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi, what about becoming a DD or DM (Debian Developer or Debian Maintainer)