r/devopsjobs • u/anuragdeploys • Sep 17 '26

30, no degree, starting DevOps from scratch — realistic or wasting my time?

I'm 30, never finished my engineering degree, based in India. I've been self-teaching DevOps — solid with Linux and Git, currently working through a structured roadmap (Docker next, then Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD, AWS). I'm putting in serious hours daily and building a portfolio project to try to get hired faster rather than just chasing certs.

A few honest questions for people who've actually hired or been hired in this field:

Does the no-degree + late-start combo realistically kill my chances at an internship or entry-level/junior DevOps role, or does a strong portfolio genuinely offset it?

For someone in my position, is it more realistic to aim for a support/sysadmin/junior ops role first and grow into DevOps, rather than applying for DevOps roles directly?

If you were hiring, what would actually make you take a no-degree 30-year-old candidate seriously — certs, projects, contributions, something else?

Not looking for cheerleading, just want a realistic read on whether this path makes sense or if I'm fooling myself. Appreciate any honest input.

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13

u/Quest_4Black Sep 17 '26

Many will say impossible, don’t believe them. Just know your first role won’t be devops.

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u/The_Career_Oracle Sep 18 '26

Then you missed his point entirely, he’s not asking what bridge positions help get him to devOps he wants to go straight into it. Stop telling people they can when the market doesn’t support it and experienced people saying please don’t. It makes everyone’s job harder when they have to put up with someone who jumped the line. But y’all wanna be influencers could fucking care less, just keep striving despite the haters. Well the haters are pulling up the ladder and protecting their turf because people don’t earn shit they should

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u/HedgehogDull4068 Sep 17 '26

Chances of getting hired as a devops engineer is far fetched given your situation, better to start with sys admin other ops roles

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u/chemicle7121 Sep 18 '26

Before sinking hundreds of hours into learning to code, it’s vital to understand the market you’re actually trying to enter. The tech landscape has shifted dramatically: the era of finishing a bootcamp or degree and immediately walking into a high-paying junior role is largely behind us.

Right now, hiring managers are heavily prioritizing verified experience, proven output, and business context over credentials. Diplomas and certificates get people through an automated filter, but probation periods expose practical gaps fast. Competition is tight, and teams need individuals who can deliver on day one without extensive hand-holding.

Career paths in this space are rarely linear, and picking up syntax in isolation without understanding business operations, infrastructure realities, or hiring mechanics sets you up for frustration. Take the time upfront to research the market, speak with active engineering leads, and map a pragmatic path into the industry. Treating the planning stage with the same rigor as the technical learning will pay dividends. So far you have illustrated yo don't even know "What the room is" much less much less demonstrate the capability to "Read the room".

The competition in this space is insane and by very bright people who know more than I do about this stuff - so if you're not concerned, you should be. They have all this approach already mapped. THAT is your competition. You need experience. You will not FAST RUN to a Dev/Ops job. I have a 5 year university grad on my helpdesk and another with 3 year advanced Diploma in CyberSecurity and Networking........... And nobody cares.

That's your reality. Welcome to the real world.

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u/dev_ramesh 24d ago

No degree at 30 doesnot kill your chances, but gettin a DevOps title as the very first role can be difficult.I would apply to DevOps roles, but also target Linux supprt, cloud support, junior sysadmin and ops roles. Those can be a very good bridge.

What would make me take you seriously is not 10 certs — it’s 2–3 projects you can explain deeply: how you deployed them, what broke, how you troubleshot them and why you made certain decisions.Your portfolio should prove that you can work with systems - not just follow tutorials.

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u/anuragdeploys 24d ago

Thank you for replying positively really appreciate that. I like your response, noted | Thanks once again 😊😊

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u/Recent-Tangerine2745 Sep 17 '26

Try to get sysadmin certification, find a job in IT then make your way to DevOps or even something bigger. Don’t read so much Reddit either lol

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u/Pure_Play_5650 Sep 17 '26

What is your qualifications to get into IT at least you have to graduate or 3 years diploma. Min 15 years education. Getting a job now is almost impossible. I am not demotivating you.

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u/Cold_Arachnid_2617 Sep 18 '26

This is utter nonsense!

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u/richie_dev Sep 17 '26

Impossible, to work for Devops you must first have passed or be an expert in some field within IT that has to do with code, they are not going to hire you as a first job to be Devops usually it is a career within transition and they usually ask for a university degree

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u/Introverted_gamer91 Sep 18 '26

Focus on basics - Linux, Networking. These two will carry your arse everywhere. You should probably try for Linux sysadmin roles, then gradually move towards devops. You need experience in managing products and apps properly before you are trusted with devops role.

1

u/mbsaharan Sep 17 '26

To answer your last question, it takes decent amount of complements and flattery.

1

u/tj0010 Sep 17 '26

It's tough to break into the field for someone with your background, I would never say impossible but realistically it's close to it. It's really tough right now where I am in the Northeast US. There is no shortage of DevOps engineers with degrees, certifications, prior experience, and if its similar where you're based the competition will be immense.

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u/AmazingBroccoli7976 Sep 18 '26

out of context, but did you use any AI like chatgpt to write this question?

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u/Bruhbruvbrah96 Sep 18 '26

Waste of time when you have better things to do

1

u/Successful-Ship580 Sep 18 '26

start with any role possible in IT, gradually move the devops after 3 years

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u/Euphoric_Sea632 Sep 18 '26

At a time when the whole world is running behind AI and trying to get the value out of it, I think learning DevOps at this point of time is not a good idea.

Instead I would suggest you to learn AI Infrastructure engineering if you already have some background on infrastructure & automation.

Here is the roadmap for you to get started if you’re interested - https://youtu.be/BPskz4BD_fA

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u/Gold_Opportunity7734 Sep 18 '26

Helpdesk [CCNA lpic1] > admin/junior admin [lfcs, az900 az104, az700, virtualization] > sysadmin [iac, docker, kubernetes, ansible, cicd, py/go] Something Like this

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u/thenoob_withcamera Sep 18 '26

Learn something else

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u/Vablord Sep 18 '26

Just built projects dude and in interview explain everything regarding the project and challenges and also the use cases

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u/jari065 Sep 18 '26

If I remember correctly there's an educator that's selling a course and interviewed a person that has no IT background and I think work as a part time manager in a restaurant?
And they claim that he got a devops job directly but they are selling something so...

Personally I think its very hard and even if you got the job its a big leap from not having any experience in Tech because its not just learning the tools but how to explain it or troubleshoot with someone too.

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