The tech industry has discovered that DevOps is one of the most wanted career paths, and for a good reason – it’s level of combined effectiveness when it comes to collaboration, process streamlining and accelerated software development. DevOps also bodes well for those students going from the workforce into this new career path or professionals flipping careers into this emerging career path.
What is DevOps?
DevOps is the approach towards software development and IT operations that makes delivery faster and more efficient in terms of the delivery of software products. The methodology lets developers, testers, and system administrators, among others, collaborate so that the code deployed is quick, unreliable and proven safe.
The aim of DevOps is to fill the gap between development and operations with the following aim: to create a seamless pipeline so as to have continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) and faster feedback loops.
Necessary Skills for DevOps
To be successful with DevOps, students or career changers have to acquire a whole lot of technical and soft skills.
Below are the core skills you’ll need to get started:
Technical Skills Required:
Linux and System Administration: One must know Linux, system administration and shell scripting from the start to manage server infrastructure.
Programming: Automation using Python, Ruby or bash languages is done if you are proficient in these languages.
Cloud Platforms: The more familiarity you have with cloud computing platforms like AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, the more likely you will be to start your DevOps pipelines in cloud environments, mainly cloud-based environments.
Version Control: To track changes in code and collaborate with teams, you need to know how to work with Git and GitHub.
Containerisation and Orchestration: Docker Kubernetes are the tools that containerise and keep microservices in a cheque, which is an integral part of modern DevOps.
CI/CD Pipelines: Jenkins, GitLab CI, and CircleCI are master tools for automating continuous integration and delivering pipelines.
Soft Skills Required:
Collaboration: Collaboration between teams in DevOps is very important. What is required for this role is good communication and team collaboration skills.
Problem Solving: A DevOps person has to be able to troubleshoot extremely fast so that a problem is solved and processes are increased, as in DevOps’ case.
Adaptability: DevOps is fluid, and experts have to be up-to-date with the best tools and trends.
Career Paths in DevOps
DevOps has plenty of roles that a professional can go for and has high demand in the market.
Below are some common roles within DevOps:
DevOps Engineer: Their job is to manage infrastructure, automate things, and keep CI/CD pipelines running. Strong scripting skills, cloud platforms and automation tools are required to be a part of this role.
Site Reliability Engineer (SRE): The aim of an SRE is to use the reliability and availability of services. Often partnering very closely with developers to make sure applications are scalable, reliable and efficient.
Release Manager: The release managers deploy software to production. Their task is to help with the transitions from development, testing, and production environments.
Automation Engineer: Automation Engineers are responsible for automating repeatable tasks like testing deployment or configuration management. They use tools such as Ansible, Puppet, and Chef to reduce operational work through virtualisation.
Cloud Engineer: Cloud engineers specialise in designing, managing, and deploying cloud infrastructure. These guys have been using platforms like AWS, Azure or GCP to make sure that an application is working fine in the cloud.
Tips for Career Changers
Joining from another field into DevOps can be extremely intimidating. But it is possible if you are on the right path.
Here are some tips for career changers:
Leverage transferable skills: If you are an individual with a history of activities in software development, system administration, or IT operations, you’ll find many aspects of your background translate very easily into DevOps. Use some of these areas in your previous experience as strengths.
Build a portfolio: Start working on small projects – that could be setting up a CI/CD pipeline or automating a process with scripts. Share that work on GitHub or your blog in order to make your skills visible to any potential employer.
Network with DevOps professionals: Join online forums, attend DevOps meetups, or connect with professionals in the field. Networking is really important for gaining insight into the industry while maybe discovering potential employment opportunities.
Conclusion
Indeed, building a career as a DevOps practitioner can be a good career enrichment experience for both students and career changers. In place with successful consideration of being technically competent and having a soft set of skills, certification and knowledge of varied career paths, a successful career in the rapidly expanding field of DevOps might be accommodated. The London School of Emerging Technology (LSET) understands the importance of DevOps and its future. That is why they have created their DevOps course for students and career changers, which can help them to be on the right path of DevOps and help them achieve their career goals. This Halloween, students will get a 10% discount on the existing 20% discount on Upfront payment on all LSET Courses. The offer will be valid till 31st of October.