How To Start A DevOps Career Even Without Prior Experience In Technology

DAREY.IO
6 min readJul 30, 2020

If you already heard about DevOps, you probably know already that It means wearing the hat of different engineers in the world of technology. You probably also know that it pays a lot. So, I won’t go into details of all the monetary rewards here.

Becoming a DevOps engineer is definitely not a walk in the park. But I want to share with you how it can actually be an enjoyable ride, even without prior tech experience or qualification. So let's begin with a bit of understanding about DevOps

What Does DevOps Mean To You?

DevOps is a lot of things to a lot of people. Individuals and Organisations define it in different ways based on their needs, and how they make use of DevOps. A general rule of thumb when trying to understand DevOps is that it is a practice that incorporates IT operations and software development to increase the quality and hasten delivery lifecycle of software products.

Nowadays, it is rare to come across engineering job postings on job sites, LinkedIn or corporate websites without DevOps being included as either a prerequisite or nice-to-have; this reinforces DevOps’ importance in this day and age. 2020 is the year where the way we work and operate has witnessed technical and operational paradigm shifts. Covid-19 needs no introduction. It has changed our world in more ways than one. Enterprises have had to take their operations online, professionals have lost their jobs, and young graduates across the globe cannot get employed due to the current economic climate brought upon us by Covid-19.

DevOps has grown in popularity among software teams of all sizes because it’s now understood that everyone involved in the development of products must work together, and failure to do so means that we’ll create unnecessary barriers, as well as decrease efficiency.

The idea of DevOps is relatively straight-forward, and anyone can become a competent DevOps engineer/architect within a few months. I know the DevOps gurus out there reading this right now will already start panicking with that statement. But, hey, hang on to your hats because, in the next few minutes, I’d introduce you to an amazing solution that just makes that happen as I have said. You will learn how you can pivot and succeed in the new normal. Without much ado, let’s get into it.

DevOps And The New Normal

It came as no surprise when organizations of all sizes worldwide took their operations virtual in the space of a few days due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The need to deliver software products & services speedily while also maintaining reliability and quality is vital.

Prior to 2020, DevOps was one of the most sought-after skills, and companies were in a bidding frenzy trying to gain access to the best talent as demand far outweighed supply. One might think that due to the recent economic downturn and subsequent layoffs around the world, the demand for DevOps experts must have dropped as well, but surprisingly, this is very far from reality.

According to a Q2 2020 report from Mckinsey Digital on digital recovery during this pandemic, a few of the core principles that CEOs and organizations must keep in mind when making decisions include speed and flexibility. The benefits that companies around the world stand to gain through DevOps is astounding; these include the use of what is known as Continuous Integration, Continous Delivery or Deployment (CI/CD). The Methodology that focuses on helping teams deploy “production-ready” code faster and reliably.

With a tactical approach to DevOps, there’s nothing stopping organizations from thriving during and after Covid-19. Now more than ever, companies understand the need to implement actionable DevOps strategies that’ll help break down hindrances between IT and business; doing this will ensure efficiency, productivity, and, most crucial security during this extended period of remote working.

Covid-19 has forced everyone to “rethink” the idea of work, and the new normal we’re living through might be here to stay.

How Can I Get Started then?

For those interested in exploring DevOps as a profession, it’s more accessible and more straightforward than most people think. With 4 extremely important elements;

  1. Dedicated time to practice new technologies
  2. Quality e-learning materials
  3. Dedicated mentorship from an expert
  4. Access To Real-World Projects

The first element is totally within your control. It’s entirely up to you to decide how much of your time you intend to devote to learning.

The second element is the easiest because it is just at your fingertips. With a lot of contribution from amazing professionals around the globe, access to quality e-learning materials is definitely not a problem. With websites such as Udemy, Linux Academy, and Pluralsight, all of which host very good contents around the many DevOps technologies such as Linux, Virtualization/Containerisation, CI/CD, Cloud etc. You can easily tick off Number 1 and 2

Number 3 however, is the most important element, but also, the most difficult to achieve. If you have a mentor that is dedicated to helping you navigate the route to a DevOps career, then you are absolutely a lucky one, I must say.

Unfortunately, even your mentor cannot help, if Number 4 gets missed out. If you are not privy to how enterprise-level solutions are deployed, it becomes very hard to impress employers that you are a good fit for a DevOps position. If you find yourself in this situation, then I guess it's about time I introduce you to www.darey.io

DAREY.IO DevOps MENTORSHIP BOOTCAMP

DAREY.IO is a platform that solves the “I don’t have work experience” Problem. By connecting its users to companies for internship opportunities, and at the same time providing intensive mentorship by leveraging e-learning and implementing real-world projects.

Whether you are a university graduate trying to find your feet, or a frustrated individual looking for a career change, you certainly do not have a problem navigating into DevOps because with a Bootcamp program from darey.io, you certainly have all it takes to succeed.

It’s essential to keep in mind that a career move into DevOps means different things to different people, for some of us it’s a means for us to quit our jobs and move on to something we feel passionate about, for others, it’s a way to get back into the job market, meanwhile for millions of people around the world it’s a legitimate means for them to take care of their loved ones. Whatever reason it may be for you, you can achieve it by enrolling onto www.darey.io

The DevOps mentorship program from Darey.io goes over everything there is to know when it comes to DevOps, the courses and projects that’ll be touched on, range from Linux administration through to cloud computing (AWS, GCP, Azure, or Digital Ocean), Kubernetes, Docker, Jenkins, istio, telemetry, and much more.

THE DAREY.IO DIFFERENCE

There are numerous solutions out there that can also lead you to become a DevOps professional. Some are longer, some are shorter, and a few are theoretical, while others are more practical. You might be wondering which one is the best pathway for you. While deciding, you should remember these factors; current job, age, technical proficiency, family realities, and more.

For example, it’ll be easy for young college students to simply take DevOps classes next semester, while for the rest of us, going back to school might not be feasible due to job restrictions, health restrictions, family, and more. What you want is a learning medium that works around your schedule and considers your reality, and this is where darey.io virtual DevOps Internship/Mentorship Bootcamp comes into the equation.

The best part of this is, you get paired with real companies and implement real-world use cases that have been carefully designed for you to get your hands dirty on tech.

To crack through an interview, there are so many things you will need to get sorted. One of them is being able to show your past projects. With DAREY.IO, you get to keep track of all your work on GitHub, and you can make references to them, and potentially also get references from the company you were paired with.

Another thing to consider is how you prepare for the interview and succeed at it. This platform prepares you in such a way that boosts your confidence level to the max. Not only will professionals work with you to prepare your resume, but you will also be scheduled on a mock interview session with professionals that literally gives you an experience you will meet in the real world. You will get solid feedback, and watch the interview recording over and over again to reinforce the training you get during the course of the interview.

In a nutshell, If you are definitely serious about a move into the world of DevOps, definitely give www.darey.io a visit

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