Career guide

DevOps Engineer career guide

Automate how software is built, tested, deployed and run.

What does a devops engineer do?

A DevOps engineer builds the automation and platforms that let teams ship software quickly and safely: CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, containers and monitoring.

The role combines systems knowledge (Linux, networking) with coding and a strong focus on reliability. Many DevOps engineers come from system administration or software development.

Typical responsibilities

Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines
Manage infrastructure as code
Run containerised workloads on Kubernetes
Set up monitoring, logging and alerting
Respond to incidents and improve reliability
Automate repetitive operational work

Skills you need

Technical skills

Linux administration and shell scripting
Networking basics (DNS, HTTP, load balancing)
CI/CD pipeline design
Containers with Docker
Kubernetes
Infrastructure as code (Terraform)
Monitoring and observability
A scripting language such as Python

Soft skills

Calm incident handling
Automation mindset
Collaboration with developers
Documentation

Tools and technologies

Linux
Git
Jenkins, GitHub Actions or GitLab CI
Docker
Kubernetes
Terraform
Ansible
Prometheus and Grafana
AWS, Azure or Google Cloud

Certifications

HashiCorp Certified: Terraform AssociateBeginner
HashiCorp
Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)Intermediate
CNCF / The Linux Foundation
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – ProfessionalAdvanced
AWS
Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400)Advanced
Microsoft

Certifications are optional for most roles; skills and projects matter more. Providers retire and rename exams regularly, so check the provider's website before you register. Last reviewed October 2026.

DevOps Engineer salary

We only publish salary ranges based on verified data, and we don't have a reliable source for this role yet. Meanwhile, if you have an offer or a target CTC, work out what you would actually take home.

In-hand salary calculator Salary hike calculator

Career path

Step 1
Junior DevOps or Systems Engineer
Step 2
DevOps Engineer
Step 3
Senior DevOps or Site Reliability Engineer
Step 4
Platform Lead
Step 5
Head of Platform or Infrastructure

Titles and the time between steps vary by company and individual.

Your first 90 days of learning

First 30 days

Linux, networking and Git

Get comfortable with the Linux command line and shell scripts
Learn DNS, HTTP, ports and load balancing basics
Set up a Git repository with a simple CI pipeline

Days 31-60

Containers and infrastructure as code

Containerise an application with Docker
Deploy it to a local Kubernetes cluster
Provision cloud infrastructure with Terraform

Days 61-90

Observability and portfolio

Add monitoring and alerting with Prometheus and Grafana
Build a full pipeline: commit, test, build, deploy
Write a short incident post-mortem for a simulated outage

Interview preparation

Common topics to prepare for devops engineer interviews. These are preparation areas, not questions from a specific company's interview.

Designing a CI/CD pipeline
Docker vs virtual machines
Kubernetes basics: pods, deployments, services
Terraform state and modules
Troubleshooting a slow or failing service
Linux and networking fundamentals

Company interview guides Take the aptitude assessment Practice questions

Resume guidance

Describe what you automated and the effect, accurately
Name the tools in each pipeline or platform you worked on
Show reliability work: monitoring, incident response, uptime
Link infrastructure-as-code examples if you can

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