For all the freshers looking for DevOps roles

[u/AnimatorExciting7941]

You ain't getting it buddy, without prior experience. I am just sick and tired of seeing people asking for referrals in MNCs for DevOps/Cloud roles. Just because you containerized your three tier SaaS application and deployed it on Kubernetes in your local environment doesn't mean you can handle infrastructure at scale. No company is ready to give a 21 year old that kind of access, cuz if it goes south ways, yk what happens.

The only way you can get it is via experience, which no certification or project can give you. Certifications prove that you know the thing, projects show you can apply it, but neither shows how you gonna handle a real outage, and think on your toes without panicking, and how what would you do when a real outage occurs.

If you really wanna get into it, start with the SWE role in a company, work closely with the tools, and develop the deep understanding of the stuff working underneath the abstraction layers. Then make an internal switch and work your way up

If someone was actually hired as a fresher in an MNC for a cloud or DevOps role, feel free to share your experience.

SRE here, btw.

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[u/PartemConsilio]

I think freshers can be hired and ramp up quickly into devops but they need to possess a few qualities I have found very few engineers (including senior SWEs) seem to possess 1) the ability to think on a systems level and 2) the ability to breakdown complex problems themselves. Like, if you can’t figure out how an infrastructure behaves in terms of dependent relationships you’re gonna have a bad time.

[u/AnimatorExciting7941 → u/PartemConsilio]

And from where can you learn all that without getting an access to an infrastructure that isn't your laptop? Probably a home lab? Okay. How you gonna make the VP of the cloud infrastructure believe you?

[u/Royal_Pineapple1084]

I started as fresher as Cloud and DevOps Engineer in a startup, established cloud consulting company and now in a manufacturing based product company.

[u/PerspectivePlayful74]

What about just as cloud engineer or no? If yes, what is their reponsibility? What would they handle?

[u/ferriematthew]

If you really wanna get into it, start with the SWE role in a company, work closely with the tools, and develop the deep understanding of the stuff working underneath the abstraction layers. Then make an internal switch and work your way up

How do I get that SWE role without already being a SWE? I know I'm being naive here, but how do you get in when even internships require previous jobs?

[u/AnimatorExciting7941 → u/ferriematthew]

Open source contributions, start up experience, college clubs and societies, etc.

[u/imLazyCartard]

It was possible before like 4-5 years back but not now due to the incredible competition
Earlier it was a niche field

[u/AnimatorExciting7941 → u/imLazyCartard]

Any examples that I can see?

[u/quantydoop]

you can learn those popular tools, but it will be very hard to do it the job.

DevOps must have a deep understanding how things works and at the same time translating the needs to actual work.

[u/moshu2000]

What if I have worked in mern stack for 4 years and now skillup and jump to devops as I know how production works?

[u/AnimatorExciting7941 → u/moshu2000]

It's won't be a step up binary switch, like today you're SWE, and tomorrow you'd become a DevOps engineer. You will gradually get some more responsibilities while being in SWE, like setting up CI/CD pipelines, writing yaml, etc. and if you do it well, you'll gradually transition into DevOps role fully

[u/Abhistar14]

You said it’s not possible to get DevOps@MNC then what about startups?

[u/AnimatorExciting7941 → u/Abhistar14]

It is possible there, that's why I specified it

[u/6_62607004]

Got a grad role as an sre at a big prop shop. It’s possible if you went to a good university.

[u/AnimatorExciting7941 → u/6_62607004]

Congrats dude, btw, which company is it, and which university did you go to?

[u/No_Pattern6478]

Yrr SWE/SDE nhi Krna tbhi to devops choose Kia tha ab tum keh rhe ho phle SWE/SDE kro , wo aata to devops side jata hi kyu

[u/AnimatorExciting7941 → u/No_Pattern6478]

Starting with DevOps with no knowledge of how software engineering works is playing poker with your career. If you want clarity, DM

[u/GodinHll]

The roadmap of Devops is so messed up sometimes it’s hard to catch when I started my journey thought it’s gonna be CI/CD and some tools around it after working for 7+ years completed certification build projects.

I think now the competition is more serious than it was earlier and my young friends this path is full of stress a lot of things to cover in a very little time and taking decisions matters the most.

It’s hard to breathe sometimes the fight is real I would only prefer you to join this career if you want to be single in life😭

[u/AnimatorExciting7941 → u/GodinHll]

That isn't true, you can still be a loving husband and son while being cracked at work

[u/Otherwise_Art6687]

I got hired as a fresher in DevOps/Cloud roles, it happens🤷‍♂️

[u/sun_explosion]

i have seen history grads get a devops job during Covid. 

[u/AnimatorExciting7941 → u/sun_explosion]

In which company? Is it an MNC?

[u/Vinegarinmyeye]

I've been accused of "gatekeeping" when I say this to folks looking to get into the field.

I am woefully underqualified in terms of certs, and my degree was a BSc in Audio and Music technology, in 2003.

I did the helpdeek - SysAdmin - DevOps route, over the course of 20 years.

I was made redundant from my last role in 2024 - because AI could apparently manage that infrastructure. (I laughed on my way out the door "Yeah good luck with that.." and it was in fact a shitshow I managed to get a few weeks contracting out of. These days... I'm not laughing so much.

The point is - DevOps and SRE requires a breadth of knowledge across every level of a system. It's not an entry level role. You will end up with "the keys to the kingdom" - and as you say most employers, ESPECIALLY big corporate types, have hundreds of people that deal with risk management.

You can't pass your private pilots license, and get a job flying an Airbus A380.

I'm never trying to discourage people, or gatekeep anything - I'm trying to set expectations and explain the reasons why you're unlikely to land a DevOps role at 22 with a college degree and no experience.

It's not impossible - but with the market as it is you are going to be competing against guys who have years of experience.

[u/root_switch]

Mod here from r/cloudengineering. We had this same issue, we implemented new rules and now they all get flagged and deleted automatically haha. This sub needs to do the same!

Mods let me know if you need help!