I'm a fresher currently training in non-functional engineering and would appreciate advice from people working in DevOps or SRE. So far, I've been learning JMeter, NeoLoad, LoadRunner, Dynatrace fundamentals, distributed tracing, and soon Grafana. My first project will probably involve more scripting and test execution than monitoring or observability.nnAlongside the training, I've started learning CentOS and Linux because they seem essential for infrastructure and reliability work. My long-term goal is to transition into SRE or DevOps, but I'm unsure whether my current plan is focused enough.nnFor anyone who started in performance testing or NFE: Is this a useful foundation for SRE or DevOps? Which skills should I prioritize during my first one or two years? Should I specialize further in performance engineering, or focus more on Linux, networking, monitoring, observability, automation, and cloud? I'd also appreciate advice about early-career mistakes worth avoiding.
2 Answers
Performance testing can be a strong foundation because you already learn how systems behave under load, which is something many people in infrastructure roles only encounter later. It becomes especially valuable when you understand how to design environments, investigate bottlenecks, and connect test results to real infrastructure behavior.nnFor the next year or two, build solid Linux and networking fundamentals, then become comfortable with monitoring and observability. Learn enough programming to communicate with developers and write automation, tooling, and useful monitoring scripts. Cloud is worth learning, but it will be easier once Linux and basic systems concepts feel natural.nnThe main mistake to avoid is trying to learn every tool at once. Go deep enough in one area to build a strong foundation, then add related skills gradually. Also, don’t let uncertainty about the job market stop you from developing practical skills; changing market conditions affect many technology roles.
Your current experience is not random—it gives you a useful view of client-server behavior, response times, bottlenecks, and system behavior under different workloads. To make the transition toward SRE or DevOps, connect that knowledge to the rest of the stack. Practice Linux administration, networking basics, scripting, log analysis, metrics, tracing, alerting, and incident investigation.nnYou don’t need to abandon performance engineering. Keep getting good at it, especially automation and interpreting results, while steadily adding observability and infrastructure skills. A focused progression is usually better than studying several unrelated technologies at the same time.
That makes sense. I’m going to focus first on becoming strong at the scripting required for my work, then build up my Linux and monitoring knowledge before moving more seriously into cloud. My performance training has already helped me understand how different loads behave and how requests are processed by a server.