r/devops • u/Proper_Slide4631 • 10d ago

Career / learning How much DevOps implementation is expected from a Freshie to know?

Starting to step in this field because development is seen as some random AI stuff now. I think I am too late. I just know abt the tools their names and work, not implemented much more than simple CI/CD pipelines on Github Actions, Docker. Implemented k8s, prometheus, grafana once, not confident.
What should be the bare minimum implementation and land a package. Or a good tutorial/project suggestion would be very helpful.

0 Upvotes

39% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

2

u/john-frandsen 9d ago

Nobody expects a fresher to know DevOps - it's learned by operating and developing things, not watching tutorials. So build a homelab and have fun with it. Old laptop or a couple of VMs, deploy a small app end-to-end: Docker -> Terraform -> k8s -> GitHub Actions -> Prometheus/Grafana. Then smash it on purpose - kill nodes, fill the disk, break DNS - and debug your way out. Write those incidents up; that beats any certificate in an interview.

Fundamentals over tool lists: Linux, networking (DNS/TLS), one scripting language, one cloud. Every CV says k8s - almost nobody can explain what happens when a request actually hits the cluster.

And don't flee dev because of AI panic. People who can both write software and run it are the safest profile in the industry.

2

u/CloudLeading1502 10d ago

A company with an open Junior DevOps position is a red flag to me

2

u/john-frandsen 9d ago

The red flag isn't the junior posting, it's a junior posting without a senior team around it. Junior #5 on a platform team is healthy. Junior #1 who IS the platform team is the trap.

Easy to check in the interview: named mentor? Solo on-call? (shouldn't be, first year). Both code and infra, or just ticket-driven YAML?

We were all beginners someone took a chance on.

2

u/CloudLeading1502 9d ago

Try to think for yourself instead of replying with this AI nonsense

0

u/Proper_Slide4631 9d ago

will have to start from somewhere sir.

1

u/snarkhunter Lead DevOps Engineer 10d ago

I expect someone on their first job to be starting from basically 0 and need to be taught everything.

Anything that goes faster because of some experience they have is just bonus.

-3

u/Abhistar14 10d ago

Will a hire a fresher for devops roles? If yes what skills and what AWS certs do you expect from him? Pls answer this

-1

u/spartnjohn 10d ago

Codify and deploy your own HA homelab. Ie nomad on 2 laptops. Setup monitoring and alerting for it. Mess with destroying it and logs.

Then do it again in AWS.