I've just started my first DevOps-related role as a new graduate, and my first real ticket was overwhelming. Even after reading the architecture documentation, I only understand part of how the systems fit together. I'm still unsure why certain ports were chosen, how the services communicate, how the infrastructure is connected, and how monitoring should be implemented.
My probation period is two months, and I'm worried I won't pass. The role is remote, the team is small, and the senior engineers don't seem interested in hand-holding. I'm trying to ask for access, contact the right people, and figure out onboarding processes on my own, but I often don't even know what I'm missing until I discover it by accident.
I have very little development experience. Before this, I was working in a hotel and aiming for a systems administration career. I've never built an API or a complete application, so I'm struggling to understand how all the components communicate. I spent most of a day documenting the architecture and writing down questions, but I still feel like I only understand about 45% of it.
Several people vouched for me, which makes the pressure and guilt worse. I don't want to quit, but I'm genuinely afraid I won't meet expectations. How should I approach the next two months, ask useful questions, and learn enough to have a realistic chance of succeeding?
5 Answers
Use documentation, search tools, and approved AI tools to explain unfamiliar concepts in smaller pieces, but be extremely careful with confidential code, credentials, diagrams, and infrastructure details. Don’t paste sensitive company information into an external service unless your employer explicitly allows it. AI can help explain general ideas or sanitized snippets, but you should still verify everything before acting on it.
You were hired as a new graduate, so they already knew you wouldn’t have years of production experience. Nobody expects you to understand the entire environment immediately. Focus on the specific task in front of you instead of trying to learn the whole architecture at once. Learn one small piece, complete one small task, and build from there. What looks like unreadable infrastructure now will gradually become familiar.
A lack of onboarding is partly a team problem. A junior hire should receive enough context, access, and knowledge transfer to become productive. If you’ve just started and are having to discover every required account and permission yourself, bring that up clearly with your manager. Ask for a short onboarding plan, a list of systems you need access to, and a person who can answer questions or pair with you periodically. You can be proactive without being expected to guess everything.
The best questions are the ones that show what you’ve already tried. Before asking, spend a reasonable amount of time reading the documentation, checking the code or configuration, and writing down your current understanding. Then say something like, “I traced this service through these files and believe it communicates with the database through this component. I’m stuck on why this port is exposed—is my understanding correct?” That makes it easier for a senior engineer to help without having to start from zero.
Also keep notes so you don’t ask the same question repeatedly. Showing that you’re learning and retaining information is often more important than knowing the answer immediately.
Don’t pretend to understand something when you don’t. In infrastructure work, making an unverified change can be much worse than admitting you need time. It’s fine to say, “I don’t know this yet; I’ll investigate for an hour and come back with what I find.” Keep a written plan before making changes, preserve command history, and ask for review before anything risky. Your goal during probation is to demonstrate steady learning, careful work, communication, and problem-solving—not instant mastery.
I’ve started documenting the architecture and writing down questions, so I’ll focus on turning those into smaller, specific investigations instead of trying to understand everything at once.
At the same time, keep taking initiative. If the seniors are busy, make a concise list of blockers and ask who owns each one rather than waiting indefinitely. Escalating missing onboarding support is reasonable, especially during probation.