I'm currently a working student on an SRE/platform team at a large company in Germany, and DevOps or platform engineering is the area of software I enjoy most. I like CI/CD, Terraform, cloud infrastructure, debugging deployment failures, investigating why systems break, automating repetitive work, and taking ownership beyond implementing CRUD endpoints. So far I've worked with Cloud Build, GitHub Actions, Terraform, Cloud Run, deployment alerts, state migrations, and various infrastructure issues. The more I learn, the more interested I become. The problem is that junior DevOps roles often ask for production Kubernetes experience, multiple cloud providers, Terraform, Ansible, networking, Linux, monitoring, security, CI/CD, and several years of professional experience. Other entry-level roles seem closer to ticket-based IT support. I'm not expecting to manage critical systems alone on day one—I want to learn from experienced engineers, gradually take on responsibility, and stay with a team long enough to become genuinely good at the work. My long-term goal is an SRE role focused on automation, reliability, monitoring, and reducing manual operations, similar to the approach described in the SRE book. For people working in DevOps, SRE, or platform engineering, how did you get your first proper role? Did you already know most of the tools, or did an employer give you room to learn?
5 Answers
Since you’re already working on an SRE or platform team, an internal conversion may be your strongest route. Ask about a full-time junior platform, cloud, reliability, or infrastructure engineering position and request work that aligns with that direction. Internal teams already know how you collaborate and can give you a safer progression than an external company hiring you into a critical role with no context.
You already have more relevant experience than many entry-level applicants. Terraform, CI/CD systems, Cloud Run, alerts, state migrations, and real infrastructure troubleshooting are not just tutorial exercises. Don’t reject yourself because a job description lists every possible tool or asks for two or three years of experience. Apply when you meet a reasonable portion of the requirements and explain what you actually built, fixed, and learned.
DevOps usually isn’t treated as a first job because it combines software development, systems, networking, cloud, and operations. Most people arrive through software engineering, system administration, build and release engineering, QA, or support. The title may be different at first, but you can deliberately take on automation, deployment, and infrastructure work until that becomes the main part of your role.
That makes sense. I’m not opposed to learning the operations side; I’m mainly trying to avoid a path that stays focused on ticket-based support instead of moving toward automation and engineering.
Another common route is software engineering first. Work on production services, deployments, observability, and operational issues, then move toward platform or SRE work after gaining experience. A SaaS company can be especially useful because the teams build and operate their own systems, making internal transfers into infrastructure or reliability roles more realistic.
There are companies that hire juniors directly into DevOps or SRE, but they tend to have enough scale and experienced staff to provide training and safeguards. In a small company where one person owns the entire platform, the role may effectively be mid-level even if the title says junior. Look for teams with mentoring, a manageable technology stack, and a clear onboarding plan rather than chasing listings that demand expertise in every cloud and tool.
The goal isn’t to master the entire ecosystem before applying. Strong fundamentals in Linux, networking, programming, version control, cloud concepts, and troubleshooting are more transferable than memorizing a long tool checklist.
Job descriptions are often wish lists, but you still need to show that you can investigate unfamiliar problems without constant hand-holding. Concrete examples and a small portfolio can help more than collecting every certification.