6 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting My DevOps Career Roadmap!!

6 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting My DevOps Career Roadmap

If you're looking to build a future in tech, you’ve probably stumbled upon the term DevOps more than once. And rightly so—a DevOps career roadmap is one of the smartest and most impactful paths in the IT industry today. From startups deploying code 100 times a day to enterprise giants automating infrastructure across the globe, DevOps is the beating heart of modern software delivery.

The global DevOps market is projected to reach $25.5 billion by 2028 (Allied Market Research), and skilled DevOps engineers are among the highest-paid professionals in IT. But what does the journey really look like? And what do you actually need to know?

I’ve been down this road, and if I could go back in time, I’d tap myself on the shoulder and share these six lessons that would’ve made the ride smoother. So, if you're mapping out your DevOps career roadmap, read on—you’re about to save yourself months of confusion.

1. DevOps Is a Culture—Not Just a Job Title

When I first heard of DevOps, I assumed it was just another IT role, like sysadmin or developer. But DevOps is much deeper—it's a culture of collaboration between development and operations teams. It’s about breaking silos, fostering continuous feedback, and improving how software gets delivered.

💡 Key DevOps Concepts You Should Learn:

- CI/CD (Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery)

- Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

- Automation and orchestration

- Monitoring and observability

- Agile and Lean principles

> “DevOps is not a goal, but a never-ending process of continual improvement.” — Jez Humble

📘 Must-Read:

- [The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim](https://itrevolution.com/the-phoenix-project/)

- [What is DevOps? – Microsoft Azure](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/cloud-computing-dictionary/what-is-devops/)

- Top 100+ DevOps Interview Questions for all Levels

2. Start With the Fundamentals—Linux, Git, and Scripting

I wish I knew earlier that you don’t need to master every DevOps tool right away. Start by building a strong foundation with:

- Linux/Unix– Everything in DevOps eventually runs on some flavor of Linux.

- Git – You must understand version control and branching strategies.

- Shell scripting or Python – Automation starts here.

Once you're solid with these, tools like Docker, Jenkins, and Kubernetes will make much more sense.

✅ Learning Platforms:

- [Linux Fundamentals – Google Cloud Training](https://cloud.google.com/training/courses/linux)

- [GitHub Docs](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started)

3. Cloud Is the DevOps Playground—Especially Google Cloud

Cloud computing is essential in any DevOps role. While AWS and Azure dominate the enterprise scene, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is built for DevOps with native integrations for automation, CI/CD, observability, and container orchestration.

🔥 GCP Tools to Explore:

- Cloud Build (CI/CD pipeline)

- Cloud Deploy

- Artifact Registry

- Cloud Monitoring

- GKE (Google Kubernetes Engine)

You don’t need to master all of them today, but familiarity with Google Cloud DevOps practices can fast-track your credibility.

📚 Check Out:

- [DevOps on Google Cloud Overview](https://cloud.google.com/solutions/devops)

4. Learn Containers and Kubernetes Early On

It took me a while to embrace containers. But in DevOps, Docker and Kubernetes are non-negotiable. Containers allow developers to package their apps consistently across environments, and Kubernetes helps you manage those containers at scale.

Kubernetes (or K8s) is the industry standard now—and Google invented it, which means GCP provides one of the best learning ecosystems around it.

📦 Learning Guide:

- [Kubernetes Basics – GCP Docs](https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/concepts/kubernetes-engine-overview)

- [Docker for Beginners](https://docs.docker.com/get-started/)

5. Certifications Can Actually Make a Big Difference

Some folks will tell you not to bother with certifications. But when you’re just starting your DevOps career roadmap, they’re a fantastic way to structure your learning *and* make your resume stand out.

Top DevOps-related certs worth pursuing:

- Google Cloud – Professional DevOps Engineer

- CKA – Certified Kubernetes Administrator

- HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate

- AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional

6. Soft Skills Are What Make You a Great DevOps Engineer

DevOps isn't just about tools and code—it's about communication, empathy, and problem-solving. You’ll constantly work with developers, testers, business analysts, and cloud architects. Being able to understand their challenges and align goals is what sets you apart from other engineers.

And yes—document your work. Write readme files, diagrams, postmortems. Future-you will thank you, and your team will too.

> “Automation is good, so long as you know exactly where to put the machine.” — Eliyahu Goldratt

🎯 Join Communities:

- [DevOps Subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/devops/)

- [Google Cloud Community](https://www.googlecloudcommunity.com/)

- [DevOps Chat on Discord](https://devopschat.co/)

Wrapping Up: Build a DevOps Career That Lasts

Starting your DevOps career roadmap might feel overwhelming at first, but take it one tool, one principle, and one problem at a time. You don’t need to master every platform right away—focus on strong fundamentals, embrace cloud platforms like Google Cloud, and never stop learning.

Whether you're writing Terraform scripts, managing CI/CD pipelines, or containerizing legacy apps, you’re building the pipelines of the future. That’s something to be proud of.

Helpful References

- [Google Cloud DevOps Engineer Path](https://cloud.google.com/learn/certification/devops-engineer)

- [Google Cloud Architecture Framework](https://cloud.google.com/architecture/framework)

Would you like me to create a personalized DevOps study plan or roadmap infographic to help guide your path? Let me know—I've got your back!