DevOps Roadmap: How to become a DevOps Engineer

Last updated by Rishabh Dev Choudhary on Aug 30, 2024 at 05:48 PM | Reading time: 8 minutes

DevOps is an integral part of every tech company these days. It has evolved over the years, resulting in a transformational role full of possibilities and opportunities. DevOps integrates IT professionals and software developers in a way that results in a more efficient workflow.

Top tech companies, including FAANG companies, pay high salaries and offer several perks and benefits to their DevOps engineers, which is why this field is very popular among software engineers and developers right now.

In this article, we explain how you can become a DevOps Engineer, their roles and responsibilities, qualifications, and skills required.

What is DevOps?

DevOps is where software development meets IT operations. DevOps engineers are masters at ensuring continuous delivery of high-quality software and shortening the systems development cycle. DevOps goes hand-in-hand with Agile development.

DevOps can be visualized as a workflow that emphasizes communication between IT professionals and software engineers in a production environment. DevOps focuses on automating infrastructure changes and software deployment.

Continuous deployment is at the core of all DevOps functions, continuously integrating development and operations into a streamlined process.

This way, turnover time is reduced, and companies can rapidly deliver software updates and security measures internally and externally.

Also read: Software Testing MCQs With Answers[prepared by Site Reliability Engineer at Google]

What does a DevOps Engineer do?

DevOps engineers apply their technical expertise to create cloud-based solutions at scale. They also guide customers through transformational business solutions by combining philosophies, tools, and practices, that deliver end-to-end applications and infrastructure solutions.

DevOps engineers are expected to have technical depth and hands-on implementation experience with tools and practices in the DevOps toolchain. A DevOps Engineer should be able to design and code modules for applications, infrastructure, and processes.

DevOps engineers are also responsible for developing operations that efficiently balance service reliability and delivery speed. They must be skilled at using cloud platforms to deploy and monitor services, build software delivery pipelines, and manage incidents.

Senior DevOps engineers are expected to take on more responsibility. They are also expected to work independently with minimal supervision.

DevOps Engineer: Key Responsibilities

Image Credits: Flickr (Aurelia)

Here are some key roles and responsibilities of a DevOps Engineer:

Working with partners, customer technical leads, and client executives to manage and deliver implementations of DevOps solutions.
Working with product and engineering teams to package best practices and lessons learned into thought methodologies, leadership, and published assets.
Interacting with partners and technical stakeholders to manage project scope, deliverables, priorities, risks/issues, and timelines.
Advocating for customers' needs to overcome adoption blockers and drive the development of new features based on field experience.
Proposing solution architectures and managing deployment of distributed virtualized infrastructure solutions following customer requirements and implementation best practices.

Types of DevOps Engineers

Based on their function and skills, DevOps engineers can be categorized as:

DevOps Evangelists: They are responsible for the implementation of end-to-end DevOps strategies in product development.
Release Manager: They are responsible for integrating new and updated features in the current architecture.
Automation Expert: They are also responsible for analyzing, designing, and implementing continuous deployment strategies.
Software Developer/ Tester: This role includes conventional programmers and coding engineers and involves unit testing, deployment, and continuous monitoring.
Security Engineer and Quality Assurance Specialist: They test product functionality and ensure that security features are integrated into the product development cycle.

How to Become a DevOps Engineer

With a world of DevOps opportunities now in front of you, you must be wondering, how do I become a DevOps engineer? It’s quite simple.

Most big tech companies, like Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google, prefer hiring candidates with tertiary educational qualifications in computer science with relevant industry experience.

DevOps roles are usually senior positions that must be backed with extensive Development or Operations experience.

To become a DevOps engineer, you must:

Have an educational qualification in computer science focused on software development or an equivalent discipline.
Have a strong knowledge base of cloud computing technologies such as Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Terraform.
Possess strong coding skills relevant to your industry.

How Long Does it Take to Become a DevOps Engineer?

Most FAANG companies look to hire DevOps professionals who have spent a considerable amount of time in either Development or Operations or both.

For instance:

To become an AWS DevOps engineer, you need to have 5 years of experience as a technical specialist and 2 years of experience in programming.
To become a DevOps engineer at Google, you need to have sufficient experience working with external partners/customers, automating infrastructure provisioning, continuous integration and delivery, and standard IT security practices.

Qualifications Required for DevOps Engineering Jobs

The qualifications required by FAANG and other Tier-1 tech companies for the role of DevOps engineer are:

A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Mathematics, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
Experience in designing, constructing, and deploying scalable solution architectures
Experience in writing software in Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, C++, or similar
Experience in communicating technical concepts

DevOps Engineer: Skills

The approaches and skills required to become a DevOps engineer are:

Programming: DevOps engineers must be proficient in at least one programming or scripting languagesuch as Python, Ruby, Perl, Java, JavaScript, Go, and C++.
Programming knowledge helps DevOps engineers debug codes, integrate database changes, and automate and deploy processes. It also helps in ensuring proper continuous integration/continuous delivery process.
Automation: Configuration, deployment, source code management— all these processes need to be automated. DevOps tools such as Git, Chef, Docker, Puppet, and Ansible help automate and monitor processes.
Cloud services: DevOps engineers should handle cloud service models, cloud formation and architecture, deployment models, and cloud computing.
Operating systems: You must have a general understanding of Linux and other operating system concepts such as process management, threads and concurrency, I/O management, and memory management.
Software configuration and deployment: Knowledge of Docker and Puppet for configuration and deployment of applications in a production environment is desirable.
Infrastructure as code: In this practice, DevOps engineers use configuration files for IT infrastructure management. Some commonly used infrastructure as code tools are Saltstack, Terraform, and Azure Resource Manager.
CI/CD pipelines: Continuous integration/continuous delivery pipelines involve continuous integration of code into a common repository. It reduces costs and ensures a smooth workflow. Some of the most common CI/CD tools are GitLab, Jenkins, and CircleCI.
Networking and security: You must also possess a working knowledge of networking concepts to ensure the security of the production environment at all stages of the product cycle.

According to experts, FAANG companies expect DevOps engineers to be skilled in:

AWS
Google Cloud Platform
Python
Kubernetes
Terraform

5 Tools and Technologies a DevOps Engineer Should Know

Following are the key tools and technologies that every DevOps Engineer should learn and know:

Jenkins: It is one of the leading open-source automation servers that helps in building code, testing and deploying it across several platforms.
Kubernetes: It is a container orchestration platform that helps manage and scale containerized applications. It offers several useful features like automatic scaling, load balancing, and more.
Docker: It is a containerization platform that helps package applications and dependencies into lightweight containers. These ensure consistency and portability, thereby simplifying the movement of applications across development, testing, and production environments.
Git and Git-based tools: It includes the likes of GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab, and more. These platforms provide collaborative solutions for source code management, change tracking, and more in the software development lifecycle.
Ansible: It is an open-source automation tool used for configuration management, application deployment, and more. It helps make defining automation tasks simple and easier.

What is the average salary of a DevOps Engineer?

According to Levels.fyi, the compensation package of a DevOps Engineer is quite attractive. The average base salary for a DevOps Engineer is $110,000 per year. The average bonus offered is $17,000 per annum.

It usually varies for engineers even in the same salary band. The average stock grant/profit-sharing offered to DevOps Engineers is $21,000.

The total average compensation of DevOps Engineers is $148,000 per year.

Best Industries for DevOps Jobs?

According to a Grand View Research report, the DevOps market size is estimated to reach $12.85 billion by 2025. The top industries hiring for DevOps roles are:

Technology
Banking
Insurance
Inventory Management
Healthcare
Hospitality

Most of these positions are predominantly in the North American region, with Silicon Valley claiming the largest share of DevOps job openings, followed by Indianapolis and Cleveland.

The top tech companies hiring for DevOps roles are Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, and Adobe.

How to Crack a DevOps Engineer Interview

A typical DevOps Engineer interview at FAANG+ companies includes:

1 round of phone screening
1 round based on coding assessments based on data structure and algorithms
2-3 rounds on core DevOps Engineering concepts
1 behavioral interview round
Learning the patterns of top-tier interviews can be hard. This is where our instructor pool comes in to give you an insider perspective. Following their expertise you can crack the toughest interviews. Our Site Reliability Interview Masterclass prepares you for these interviews. You can learn Container-Orchestration Systems, Configuration Management (Infrastructure as code), CI/CD. Monitoring, analyzing, and troubleshooting Systems.

FAQs: How to Become a DevOps Engineer

What are the best resources to learn DevOps for beginners?
Beginners can start with online platforms like Coursera, Udacity, and edX, which offer comprehensive courses on DevOps. Additionally, resources like the DevOps Handbook, blogs, and YouTube tutorials can provide valuable insights.

Do I need to learn multiple programming languages for a DevOps role?
While it’s beneficial to be familiar with multiple programming languages, proficiency in at least one is essential. Python, Java, and Go are popular choices in the DevOps community.

How important are soft skills in a DevOps role?
Soft skills are crucial for a DevOps engineer. Effective communication, collaboration, problem-solving, and adaptability are essential to manage cross-functional teams and ensure smooth project execution.

Is obtaining DevOps certifications necessary for getting a job?
Certifications are not mandatory but can significantly enhance your resume and demonstrate your commitment and expertise in DevOps practices. They can also help you stand out in the competitive job market.

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AUTHOR

Rishabh Dev Choudhary

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DevOps Roadmap: How to become a DevOps Engineer

Contents

Rishabh Dev Choudhary

Attend our Free Webinar on How to Nail Your Next Technical Interview

How to Nail your next Technical Interview

Worried About Failing Tech Interviews?

Tools to Enhance Full Stack Development with AI

The Future of Data Science: Emerging Trends and Opportunities

Data-Driven Decision Making: Your Roadmap to Business Success

The Business Impact of Machine Learning: Real-world Case Studies

What is OpenAI? Everything You Need to Know

Mock Interviews for Generative AI: Essential Practice to Land Top AI Roles

Top Python Scripting Interview Questions and Answers You Should Practice

Complex SQL Interview Questions for Interview Preparation

Zoox Software Engineer Interview Questions to Crack Your Tech Interview

Rubrik Interview Questions for Software Engineers

Top Advanced SQL Interview Questions and Answers

Twilio Interview Questions

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