From Junior to Senior: How to Fast-Track Your Promotion in DevOps
9 Actionable tips For Getting Promoted Faster
From Junior to Senior: How to Fast-Track Your Promotion in DevOps
Feeling stuck or uncertain in their career situations is a common experience for many DevOps professionals.
The DevOps domain is complicated, which makes it even harder to navigate your way thru it.
Promotion, though, it’s something, which doesn’t happen on its own, whatever level you are at.
The good news is — the next 9 tips might become handy for everyone, whether folks just starting a DevOps journey or experienced Pro’s seeking some actionable hints.
1. Align Your Work with the Business Goals
As a DevOps engineer, you will be delivering features used and felt by every part of the company.
There is no other technical position where your efforts will have such a significant impact on the business.
Here are a few tips:
Communicate with stakeholders: grab the goals from every team you collaborate with.
Review company strategy: this should usually be broadly available, grabbing company goals.
Check goals of your team: ideally it should be long-term goals and short-term goals, reflected with OKRs or SMART
Pay attention to what you do, and how much you contribute to those goals
Step-by-Step:
Log everything you do during a week or a month
Analyze your tasks in a tracking system
Log your work with tools like chatbots or terminal time/task trackers
Capture high-level in your BragDoc at the end of every day
Map your results into the goals of your team, stakeholder teams, and the entire org
Analyze your contribution
Think where you can shift your focus to the most impactful activities
Communicate this with your supervisor and fixate on an action plan
Let’s see how to implement that in practice …
2. Take Ownership of Your Work
Your work,
the way it is perceived by others
and, as a result, — your promotion,
is your own responsibility!
Take ownership of the end-to-end process:
Understand the entire software development lifecycle and take ownership of the entire process. This includes not just your own tasks, but also those of other team members and stakeholders.
Prioritize tasks effectively:
Use techniques like GTD or The Eisenhower Matrix.
Be results-driven:
Focus on delivering results rather than just completing tasks.
Figure out what kind of metrics different teams track
Make sure you have access to all of them and know how to read them.
Take ownership of the customer experience:
Understand the needs of your customers and take ownership of ensuring that they have a positive experience with your products and services.
Use your solutions yourself
Mimick deployments
Finally, identify outcomes and skills, required for promotion.
Discuss this with your supervisor, and make sure it’s reflected in your goals-setting system.
3. Develop a Deep Understanding of the Technology Stack in Your Org
Your progress will heavily depend on your awareness of the technological stack in your org.
Use Roadmaps:
Which DevOps RoadMap is the best for 2023?
I analysed dozens of resources I could find about DevOps roadmap in 2023 and here is a recapmedium.com
Typically generic roadmaps are extensive and may be redundant for a specific organization.
Especially for junior folks, good news — you don’t have to know everything at the first stage, just plan how to grow your expertise gradually in the most effective way.
Make a heatmap of the technologies used in your org
Typically it will be sections like:
Cloud provider
Infrastructure as Code
Software build and deployment tools
Monitoring tools
Scripting frameworks
In the perfect case all this information will be aggregated in documentation, but if that’s not the case — just capture it yourself. You will be able to publish this info as a doc later on.
Narrow your focus:
Try to draw a landscape of the technological stack used in the org using any diagramming software like Excalidraw, AsciFlo, Lucid, Miro, etc
Then make a heatmap of your own skills around those let’s say from 0 to 10
Prioritize what you are lacking the most and what can accelerate your work
Move gradually on each of those
Learn wisely, and make sure you augment your existing skillset, I call this skills stacking.
4. Learn from Experienced Team Members
If you are the smartest person in the room — you are in the wrong room!
Network within your organization:
Build relationships with colleagues across departments and teams to identify potential mentors.
Attend company events
participate in team-building activities
seek out opportunities to collaborate with others
Use techniques like Lean Coffee, Lighting Talks, and Small Talk
50 Questions You Should Ask During Small Talk
These simple and thought-provoking questions will help you excel during the awkward small talk momentsmedium.com
Look for senior team members:
Identify senior team members who have expertise in areas you want to develop, and approach them about potential mentorship opportunities.
5 Things Your Mentor Will Love You For
Anyone can ask for a mentor. It’s important to have someone that can help guide you in life, your career, and…medium.com
Join internal communities and groups:
Many organizations have internal communities or groups focused on specific areas of expertise. Join these groups and participate in their events and discussions to network with senior team members.
Attend training and development programs:
Look for training and development programs offered by your organization, Ask HR and your supervisor.
Seek out feedback:
Ask for feedback from senior team members on your work, and use this as an opportunity to build relationships and identify potential mentorship opportunities.
5. Emphasise Collaboration and Communication Skills
Effective collaboration can’t be stressed enough
here is my top list for it:
9 Practical Steps To Improve DevOps Collaboration
From Silos To Synergy in 9 Simple Stepsmedium.com
For effective communication you can use these:
Establish clear communication mediums, and do not misuse them
— Face-to-face communication
— Video calls
— Chat
— e-mailDevelop strong documentation practices: create documentation that clearly outlines the project requirements, goals, and progress. This helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page and can prevent miscommunication.
Be proactive in providing updates: be proactive in providing updates to team members and stakeholders. This can include sharing progress reports, timelines, and other relevant information.
Practice active listening: actively listen to team members and stakeholders to understand their perspectives and concerns. This can help to identify areas where communication may be breaking down and can prevent misunderstandings.
Use visual aids: use visual aids such as diagrams, flowcharts, and other graphical representations to convey complex information. This can help to simplify communication and ensure that everyone understands the concepts being discussed.
6. Focus on Automation and Scripting Skills
Practice coding regularly:
The best way to improve your automation and scripting skills is to practice coding regularly. This can involve writing code for personal projects or contributing to open-source projects.
Learn new programming languages:
DevOps engineers should be familiar with multiple programming languages. Python, Go, Rust, TypeScript, and plain old Shell seem to be the most popular currently. Learning new programming languages can broaden your skill set and make you more valuable to potential employers.
Attend training sessions and conferences:
Attending training sessions and conferences can provide opportunities to learn from experts in the field and stay up to date with the latest automation and scripting trends.
Work on real-world projects:
Working on real-world projects can help to improve your automation and scripting skills by providing hands-on experience with practical applications.
Collaborate with others:
Collaboration can help to improve your automation and scripting skills by exposing you to different approaches and techniques. Consider working on group projects or participating in online communities to collaborate with others in the field.
8. Stay Up to Date with Industry Trends and Technologies
Constant learning is vital for DevOps professionals.
Set up your own information consumption system — it should be convenient and natural.
Attend industry conferences and events:
Attending industry conferences and events is a great way to stay up to date with the latest trends and technologies. It provides opportunities to network with experts in the field and learn from keynote speakers and panelists.
Follow industry publications and blogs:
Subscribe to industry publications and blogs to stay informed about the latest trends and technologies. This can include online blogs, newsletters, and podcasts.
Join industry associations and groups:
Joining industry associations and groups can provide access to resources and information about the latest trends and technologies. It also provides opportunities to network with other professionals in the field.
Participate in online communities:
Participating in online communities, such as forums and social media groups, can provide access to discussions about the latest trends and technologies. It also provides opportunities to ask questions and share knowledge with other professionals.
Take online courses and tutorials:
Taking online courses and tutorials can provide opportunities to learn about the latest trends and technologies on your own time. It can also provide opportunities to gain certifications in specific areas of expertise.
9. Take on Challenging Projects and Responsibilities
Talk to your manager:
Schedule a meeting with your manager to discuss your career aspirations and identify challenging projects or responsibilities that align with your goals.
Attend industry events:
Attend industry conferences, meetups, and other events to network with other professionals and learn about new technologies and techniques.
Seek out new opportunities:
Look for new projects or initiatives within your organization that align with your skills and interests. This can help you find new challenges and responsibilities.
Volunteer for cross-functional projects:
Volunteer to work on cross-functional projects that involve teams from different departments or business units. This can help you learn new skills and expand your knowledge.
Build relationships with colleagues:
Build relationships with colleagues in other departments or teams to learn about upcoming projects or initiatives that may offer new challenges.
Pursue certifications:
Pursue certifications in areas that interest you, such as cloud computing or automation. This can help you gain new skills and knowledge that you can apply to challenging projects.
Offer to lead a project:
Offer to take the lead on a project or initiative that aligns with your skills and interests. This can help you develop leadership skills and gain new experiences.
Take on stretch assignments:
Take on stretch assignments that push you beyond your current capabilities. This can help you develop new skills and expand your knowledge.
Keep an open mind:
Be open to new ideas and approaches, even if they are outside of your comfort zone. This can help you find new and challenging projects and responsibilities.
Conclusion
Making an internal career change is sometimes easier than changing jobs and companies at the same time. It might be just a matter of designing it properly.
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