Ask HN: DevOps Career Advice for an Oldy • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: DevOps Career Advice for an Oldy

#31

Post by throwaw0001 » Tue, Mar 05, 2019, 5:57 PM UTC

dev2ops wrote: post #22

Use your skills to your advantage. In an interview, don't settle for crappy coding challenges. Ask the company what version of linux they're running in their docker containers (and when it was updated/patched) If they can't even tell you, prove value by telling them why (security, perf) and how (either newer canonical images or custom) My point here is the game hasn't really changed, it's just gotten wrapped in two m…

Thanks!

What's tricky is combining what you've learned at home with what you didn't do in production at work. In finance, most places are only beginning to use cloud services and barely tickling Docker (at least unless you are in cutting edge groups). And yet hiring managers want to see 5 years of experience in AWS, Docker...

It's not an issue to learn it, I already have started.

Re: Ask HN: DevOps Career Advice for an Oldy

#32

Post by throwaw0001 » Tue, Mar 05, 2019, 5:57 PM UTC

illwrks wrote: post #7

Where are you based? If you're in the UK I know someone who might be good to chat with.

New York City, but thanks!

Re: Ask HN: DevOps Career Advice for an Oldy

#33

Post by abrongersma » Tue, Mar 05, 2019, 6:02 PM UTC

throwaw0001 wrote: post #30

abrongersma wrote: post #15

My path started as Systems Admin -> DevOps/SRE -> Management. Double down on your programming skills, cloud management and brush up on the infrastructure components. Your age / experience should actually add to your value. Subnetting, firewalls, routing, security baselines are things that are often overlooked by new people starting DevOps roles. This option also lends to doing consulting and contracting. You day job…

I was thinking about going back to management. Do you find roles through old-fashioned recruiters or business networks?

I found my last two management roles through the local tech community. Meetups, panels and conferences have done wonders for getting connected. Word of mouth has gone a really long way.

Re: Ask HN: DevOps Career Advice for an Oldy

#34

Post by syndacks » Tue, Mar 05, 2019, 6:06 PM UTC

aiisahik wrote: post #25

Your question is how can you continue to be compensated highly in this fast changing industry that already compensates very well. It's a tough question and I don't think anyone has a magic bullet for you. Here's some general tips from the business side: - When you are struggling to compete, differentiate yourself and find a smaller, more specialized audience. Don't attempt to compete head on unless you believe you ha…

I'm sure your previous lawyer skills were looked upon favorably by companies you've been hired by? I'm curious -- do companies think they're getting a "two for one" e.g. a developer who knows some law if/when they need to ask someone in-house a quick question? Do you market that ability during interviews, or do you explicitly say you're not looking to offer legal advice?

FWIW I'm a self-taught developer who used to teach HS math before making the switch. I've found that both of my developer offers were partially to heavily influenced by my previous career. One company is ed-tech (heavily influenced) the other not so much, but enough of a ed-focused mission that they found those previous skills of mine useful.

I share this because I think previous experience is one of the differentiating factors for folks looking to land their first developer role, and should be something they consider how to best leverage when looking for opportunities (which is somewhat off-topic from OPs question).

Re: Ask HN: DevOps Career Advice for an Oldy

#35

Post by toomuchtodo » Tue, Mar 05, 2019, 6:23 PM UTC

pisteoff wrote: post #28

dajohnson89 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that is depressing. early 40s isn't even that old. are your salary demands outrageous, or do you just think it's outright ageism?

I make at least 30% less than any systems related industry job out there, so no I don't think my salary demands are outrageous. I think it's a combination of ageism, having a family - hence not being willing to put in insane hours, and the idea that someone coming from the public sector cannot succeed anywhere else.

Consider throwing your extra time into a side project. You'll come out ahead regardless. You'll get a nice chunk of passive income, you'll replace your day gig income and have a lot more flexibility, or you could turn it into a demo to show during interviews.

Re: Ask HN: DevOps Career Advice for an Oldy

#36

Post by ojhughes » Tue, Mar 05, 2019, 6:26 PM UTC

If it were me, I would bite the bullet and learn the new tech. In this game you gotta keep moving forward. If you can afford a temporary pay cut this should hopefully be temporary until you get some new skills under your belt.

Re: Ask HN: DevOps Career Advice for an Oldy

#37

Post by randodevopsdude » Tue, Mar 05, 2019, 6:41 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #12

garg wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What type of security job did you switch to? Are you auditing code for security flaws? Are you creating organizational security policies? Is it a management position?

Email in profile, happy to answer your questions.

I sent you an email as well. Interested in the same type of switch. Thanks for posting.

Re: Ask HN: DevOps Career Advice for an Oldy

#38

Post by tomcam » Tue, Mar 05, 2019, 6:44 PM UTC

I would like to coach you at no charge. Contact info in my profile.

Re: Ask HN: DevOps Career Advice for an Oldy

#39

Post by corymacd » Tue, Mar 05, 2019, 6:46 PM UTC

throwaw0001 wrote: post #27

jrowley wrote: post #3

I have a few questions to ask you, which will hopefully help you find a more satisfying answer to your conundrum. 1) What is motivating this change? Are you currently unemployed, looking for new work or rather concerned about ensuring your employability over time? Are you looking to earn a higher salary? 2) In an ideal world, would you want to learn this new technology or would you rather stick with building your exi…

Makes sense! 1 - Contract is ending soon and I'm scouring for a new one or FTE role while wading through strange interviews and lots of recruiters. This sort of gives me a sense. 2 - Outside of work is fine! I already spend 3-4 hours a week on personal tech reading. The issue is, you can read Docker all you want - companies want to see it in production. What do they ask? "How many years of experience do you have in p…

"in production" can mean different things to different people and it's about marketing yourself. Build a side project, find the cheapest method to running kunbernetes, run it there for a while. Try to itterate. Do the CI/CD thing. If it's publicly accessible, it's in production. Check out k3s for a minimal experience.

Re: Ask HN: DevOps Career Advice for an Oldy

#40

Post by throwawaymlc » Tue, Mar 05, 2019, 6:50 PM UTC

Also mid-late 30s, work in finance / NYC, hit a bit of a plateau salary + skills-wise that I am trying to work through, also hoping to avoid management, here are my thoughts.

* Staying focused on long-lived, core technologies, C++/Java/Python. I'm not too interested in chasing AWS/docker/Kubernetes or anything with a half-life approaching that of a js framework.

* Need to add new skills. For me, coming up to speed with kdb+/q. I realize that while I have gained breadth / experience with my skills, it had been too long since I have added an entire new "bullet point" / category to my resume.