I'm gearing up to start applying for a Junior DevOps role, and I've got quite a portfolio put together. Here's what I've done so far: I've created a terraform-based natless EKS cluster with an ALB ingress, and I've implemented Kyverno admission policies using a KMS key signature along with an attestation for the images. I've also built a GitLab pipeline that signs images with Cosign and attests them with Trivy, pushing them to my private ECR. Additionally, I've developed an EKS monitoring stack using kube-prometheus. I've even put together a custom runtime in Go that includes OCI image extraction and custom networking to support multiple containers with NAT and port forwarding. Right now, I'm working on an eBPF firewall and plan to start applying for jobs once that's done. I'm a bit unsure about the typical skill level for junior applicants and if my experience is sufficient to secure a global remote position as I originally aimed for a career in cybersecurity. I'd love to hear from anyone in the industry about what the junior skill level generally looks like and whether my background is competitive enough.
4 Answers
When I'm screening for a junior DevOps role, I'm looking for candidates who have some sort of related experience, either in development or IT. It's really challenging to break into DevOps right away without some background. During interviews, I ask lots of technical questions but more importantly, I look for a willingness to learn. To be honest, "junior" and "DevOps" don’t always go together; it’s rare to find someone at that level. Usually, they have a couple of years of industry experience already. But I'd definitely consider your portfolio when discussing your qualifications.
From what I’ve seen, you're well ahead of where many juniors typically start. Just focus on understanding what's needed for different projects and try to avoid over-engineering as that just comes with experience. Good luck out there!
Your skills sound solid for a junior position! Don't forget to polish your soft skills, as interviewers will ask themselves if they'd enjoy working with you and if they can easily communicate with you. For remote jobs, communication is essential. Also, make sure you have a basic understanding of things like CI/CD, coding, and observability. You're likely to encounter Bash scripts a lot, so definitely get familiar with commands like `set -euo pipefail`.
Thanks for the advice! I realize I need to work more on my soft skills—those always seem to be my weak spot.
You're way ahead of the curve! Just get some real-world experience and you'll be fine. Best of luck to you!
Thank you so much for the encouragement! ❤️
At least it's not the usual 7+ years of experience they ask for! Based on my portfolio, do you think I’m interview-worthy even without previous IT experience?