As a Fullstack Developer with two years of experience in the MERN stack, I have recently moved to a full-time position after freelancing. I'm curious about the potential career benefits of branching into DevOps. Would it open up better job opportunities for me, and if so, what steps should I take to make this transition?
2 Answers
Jumping into DevOps can definitely add more skills to your toolkit! Since you're already a Fullstack Dev, you'll have a good base to build on. A suggested path would be to start with Docker, then move onto Kubernetes, and pick a cloud service like AWS (which has a lot of job openings) or Azure. Next, look into using Terraform or Pulumi for infrastructure as code, and don’t forget about CI/CD pipelines! Finally, having some monitoring tools like Prometheus/Grafana will help you keep an eye on everything. You already know the app side, so this will just add more layers (along with challenges!).
Ultimately, it really depends on if you’d enjoy building automation and managing platforms over just developing apps. The job market is super competitive, and many companies are looking for candidates with experience. For example, we are hiring a Senior Platform Engineer, but it’s tough to find folks who are ready without substantial experience. It’s not impossible to make the switch; just prepare for some challenges at the start.
I get that! I really enjoy tackling app development challenges. Just feeling a bit lost on how to move up from my current job, especially since I don’t have a fancy degree. Any tips on getting referrals?
Great roadmap, thanks for sharing! It makes me want to dive into this too!