How to Become a DevOps Engineer in 2025: A Proven Career Roadmap

DevOps engineer roles just need more talent, with job growth estimated at over 20% per decade. The DevOps market will reach an impressive $10.3 billion by the end of 2023.

You’re making a smart choice by considering this booming field. DevOps engineers earn an average salary between $120,000 and $140,000 annually. Top professionals make over $160,000. The job outlook for related roles shows a growth rate of 17% between 2023 and 2033 — much faster than average.

Money isn’t everything here. A striking 99% of organizations say DevOps has positively affected their operations. LinkedIn currently lists over 118,000 openings. Your timing couldn’t be better.

This piece walks you through the exact steps to become a DevOps engineer in 2025. You’ll learn everything in skills, certifications, and practical strategies that will help you break into this rewarding career. Let’s start this trip today.

What is a DevOps Engineer in 2025?

A DevOps engineer combines development and operations skills to create a more efficient software delivery process. The role has changed substantially from its origins by 2025 and now stands central to modern tech companies’ operations.

Understanding the DevOps mindset

DevOps mindset breaks down barriers between teams. A DevOps engineer doesn’t just execute tasks – they champion a cultural change throughout an organization.

DevOps mindset prioritizes six key values:

1. Visibility – Everyone gets access to information through transparent pipelines and processes
2. Quality – Tools, training, and processes see continuous improvements
3. Speed – Development velocity increases for faster, more frequent releases
4. Resilience – Quick adaptation to changes through Agile practices
5. Collaboration – Cross-functional teams work naturally together
6. Continuous Improvement – Teams constantly look to improve every aspect of delivery

Industry experts say you can’t buy DevOps or become a DevOps organization overnight. Successful DevOps implementation needs a complete transformation of your organization’s culture.

DevOps engineers serve as both practitioners and evangelists for these principles. Looking beyond tools to focus on team interaction, communication, and problem-solving together becomes essential when embracing this mindset.

How DevOps is different from traditional IT roles

Traditional IT setups maintain complete separation between development and operations teams. DevOps brings these functions together and creates a unified approach to software delivery.

Conventional IT departments typically show:

• Teams hosted by specific activities (development, testing, support)
• Sequential development processes moving through different departments
• Emphasis on delivering “complete” releases that are as perfect as possible
• Siloed responsibilities with limited cross-team collaboration

DevOps creates a merged environment where teams unite around specific projects rather than specialized functions. Teams can develop faster and more agilely with frequent releases.

DevOps engineers know failures will happen and prefer them early on a smaller scale. This approach makes fixes more viable and limits potential damage. Companies using DevOps principles report 45% higher customer satisfaction, 43% higher employee productivity, and 38% lower IT-related costs.

Why DevOps is in high demand

DevOps engineers remain highly sought after for several compelling reasons. The financial incentives prove substantial – DevOps engineers earn average salaries between $105,000 and $114,000, with top professionals making over $160,000.

Job growth statistics show tremendous chances. The field grows at over 20% per decade, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 17% growth for DevOps-related roles from 2023 to 2033. LinkedIn alone lists over 118,000 DevOps positions currently.

DevOps engineers stay in high demand because they deliver clear business benefits:

• Increased deployment frequency and faster time-to-market
• Lower failure rates for new releases
• Shorter time between fixes
• Greater predictability, efficiency, and security

All the same, companies face significant challenges finding qualified DevOps professionals. A substantial skills shortage exists, and many organizations struggle to attract and retain top talent. This gap creates exceptional chances for those who develop the right skillset.

The DevOps industry projects 20% compound annual growth from 2023 to 2032. Your skills as a DevOps engineer will likely stay highly marketable for years as more organizations recognize DevOps practices’ value.

Step 1: Learn the Core Concepts of DevOps

You need to understand the basic concepts that shape DevOps before starting your journey as a DevOps engineer. These core principles will build the foundation of your DevOps career path.

Development vs Operations: Bridging the gap

Software development and IT operations used to work separately with different goals. The development team created new features. The operations team kept systems stable and running.

This separation caused several problems:

• Slow software delivery cycles
• Frequent miscommunication between teams
• Delayed deployment of code
• Problems with finding and fixing issues

DevOps came about to fix these challenges by creating an organizational and cultural transformation that breaks down walls between these teams.

The DevOps model eliminates team isolation. Development and operations teams combine into one unit where engineers handle the complete application lifecycle. Teams can deliver software faster with better quality and reliability.

DevOps creates a culture where everyone shares responsibility. Teams that use DevOps practices take ownership of both development and operations aspects of the software.

DevOps lifecycle explained

The DevOps lifecycle covers everything from writing the first line of code to deployment and beyond. A solid grasp of this lifecycle helps teams use DevOps practices successfully.

The DevOps lifecycle has eight key phases:

1. Plan: Use project management strategies that match business goals and help teams work better together.
2. Develop: Build strong code infrastructure with agile processes and keep code in version-controlled environments.
3. Build: Add automated testing to keep software stable and get code ready for deployment using infrastructure as code techniques.
4. Test: Run full testing scenarios and involve security teams to check for vulnerabilities.
5. Release: Make deployment processes smoother for quick, reliable software delivery.
6. Deploy: Move code to production environments automatically with minimal downtime.
7. Monitor: Use complete monitoring tools to check application performance and user experience.
8. Feedback & Improve: Learn from all teams and keep making processes better to improve efficiency.

Each phase builds on the previous one in a continuous improvement loop. DevOps engineers can deliver software faster while keeping quality standards high.

Popular DevOps methodologies

Several key methods power successful DevOps. Your career growth depends on becoming skilled at these approaches.

Continuous Integration (CI) combines code changes into a shared repository regularly. Developers can merge code changes often, and automated tests verify each change. CI helps teams spot problems early and fix them quickly to deliver new features faster.

Continuous Delivery (CD) works with CI to automate infrastructure setup and application releases. Code that passes CI tests gets prepared for release automatically. Your repository stays ready for deployment.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) lets DevOps engineers write infrastructure as programs to create consistent, repeatable environments. IaC helps you set up and manage computing resources that adapt to frequent changes.

Agile Development takes small, repeated steps to speed up project delivery. DevOps builds on agile principles by focusing on teamwork, automation, quick feedback, and constant improvement.

Shift Left Testing brings security and testing earlier in development. Teams can develop faster and write better code by catching issues before they reach production.

Continuous Monitoring shows how applications perform in real-time. Teams can spot issues quickly and get immediate feedback for improvements.

Your success as a DevOps engineer depends on using these methods in your daily work. These practices will help you automate processes, improve teamwork, and deliver better software faster.

Step 2: Build Your Technical Foundation

A solid technical foundation is vital for anyone who wants to become a devops engineer. Let’s focus on the simple technical skills that are the foundations of devops practices.

Linux and networking basics

Linux serves as the primary operating system for most devops tools and cloud environments. You’ll need to feel comfortable with Linux fundamentals, including file systems, permissions, and command-line utilities.

Start by learning these simple Linux commands:

• File management: ls, cd, pwd, mkdir, rm, cp, mv, and touch
• System monitoring: ps, top, free, and df
• Network management: ip, ping, netstat, traceroute, and curl

The Linux file system hierarchy uses a single-rooted, inverted tree-like structure with the root directory represented by a forward slash (/). This structure helps you direct and organize files efficiently.

Your devops career path needs strong networking knowledge. You should learn concepts like IP addressing, subnetting, DNS, and routing. These skills help you configure and troubleshoot connections between different systems and services.

Secure systems need proper user and permission management in Linux. Commands like chmod, chown, and understanding file permissions (read, write, execute) for users, groups, and others will become your daily tools.

Version control with Git and GitHub

Version control systems track code changes over time and help teams collaborate. Git has become the most popular distributed version control system, accessible to more people for both open source and commercial software development.

Git helps you:

• See the entire timeline of changes and decisions
• Work with teams across different time zones
• Remove communication barriers between teams

Learn these simple Git commands to use it well:

• git init: Initializes a new repository
• git clone: Creates a local copy of an existing repository
• git add: Stages changes for commit
• git commit: Takes a snapshot of staged changes
• git push: Updates remote repositories with local changes

GitHub makes Git better by offering a platform to host repositories and tools that improve collaboration. Teams can work together efficiently with complete project transparency.

Understanding Git’s collaborative models—shared repository or fork and pull—helps you combine smoothly with development teams and contribute to projects effectively.

Scripting with Python or Bash

Coding and scripting are essential to devops practices. You need to become skilled at scripting languages to automate routine tasks and create simplified processes.

Python brings great value to devops engineers. A recent JetBrains survey shows 38% of Python usage in DevOps, automation, and system administration. Its clear syntax and extensive library support make it perfect for various automation tasks.

Python helps devops engineers with:

• Making API calls during deployments
• Reading CSV files to extract specific data
• Creating custom modules for automation tools
• Developing AWS Lambda functions

Bash scripting excels at system-level operations and helps write automation scripts for administrative tasks. Shell scripting remains important for quick tasks and integration with other devops tools, even with specialized automation tools available.

Many devops engineers use both languages—Bash for system operations and Python for complex automation needs. This combined approach lets you handle more challenges in your devops experience.

These technical skills create a strong foundation for your career as a devops engineer. They serve as building blocks for advanced devops practices we’ll explore next.

Step 3: Master DevOps Tools and Automation

Becoming skilled at automation tools will advance your devops engineer experience. You need to learn specific technologies that power modern devops environments after building your foundation.

CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins or GitHub Actions

Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) are the foundations of optimized software delivery. These pipelines automate building, testing, and deployment stages to shorten the development cycle.

Jenkins is an outstanding open-source automation server that optimizes your software development process. It automates tasks like building, testing, and deploying code changes to help your software reach users quickly and reliably. Over 200 plugins give Jenkins flexibility to adapt to various technologies and development environments.

Jenkins works best when you:

• Create a Jenkinsfile that defines your build/test/deploy pipeline
• Store this file with your code in source control
• Treat your pipeline as code that teams can version and review

GitHub Actions provides a different approach, particularly if GitHub hosts your repositories. This native CI/CD tool makes automation simple by removing the need for webhooks, hardware purchases, and server maintenance. Your repository just needs a configuration file to work right away.

Infrastructure as Code with Terraform and Ansible

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) changes how teams manage infrastructure through code instead of manual processes. This method brings consistency, repeatability, and version control to infrastructure management.

Terraform stands out at provisioning infrastructure across multiple platforms. This IaC tool lets you:

• Define desired infrastructure as code
• Automate creation and configuration of cloud resources
• Keep environments consistent

Terraform’s value comes from making infrastructure operations consistent, version-controlled, and automated. This reduces manual errors and optimizes devops workflows.

Ansible works well with Terraform by handling configuration management and automation. The tool excels because it’s:

• Agentless – no software installation needed on target machines
• Multi-platform – works with Windows, Linux, and cloud environments
• Simple – uses human-readable YAML format

Teams often start with manual tasks before adding automation to optimize and reduce errors. These tools support devops principles by handling repetitive tasks and reducing deployment pipeline risks.

Containerization with Docker and Kubernetes

Docker has changed application development by packaging applications and dependencies into standalone containers. This technology fixes the “it works on my machine” issue by keeping application behavior consistent across environments.

Devops engineers benefit from Docker through:

• Predictable build environments with consistent results
• Better application maintenance with containerization
• Easy testing through Docker Hub integration

Kubernetes extends Docker’s capabilities by orchestrating containerized applications. This open-source platform automates deployment, scaling, and application management. It groups containers into logical units for easier management and provides key features:

• Progressive rollout of changes with health monitoring
• Automatic rollback for issues
• Self-healing capabilities that restart crashed containers

Kubernetes boosts devops practices by providing a platform that automates key development, deployment, and maintenance tasks. This makes it valuable for devops career path growth.

Monitoring with Prometheus or ELK Stack

Application monitoring becomes crucial after deployment. Understanding monitoring tools completes your devops skills.

Prometheus excels at collecting, storing, and analyzing metrics from your application infrastructure. This open-source monitoring solution:

• Collects metrics data via HTTP endpoints
• Stores information in a time-series database
• Uses PromQL for powerful querying capabilities

The ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana) offers another approach to monitoring and analytics. It has become the most popular log management platform with millions of downloads.

Each part serves a specific purpose:

• Elasticsearch works as the search and analytics engine
• Logstash collects and transforms data from multiple sources
• Kibana creates visual dashboards from the data

These tools give you insight into your application’s health, performance, and security—key skills on any devops engineer roadmap.

Your marketability as a devops engineer grows by a lot when you master these automation tools. The next section explores how to verify these skills through certifications and projects.

Step 4: Get Certified and Build Projects

Certifications and hands-on projects prove your expertise and show your real-life capabilities to potential employers in the DevOps field.

Top DevOps engineer certifications to think over

Getting industry-recognized certifications can boost your salary and prove your expertise in specific DevOps areas. Employers frequently look for these respected certifications:

• AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional: Shows your skills in testing and deploying AWS applications and infrastructure. With over 3,000 AWS DevOps engineer jobs advertised in February 2025, this certification remains in high demand.
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA): Shows how well you manage and configure production-grade Kubernetes clusters. The certification covers troubleshooting, architecture, and configuration.
• Docker Certified Associate (DCA): Proves your expertise with Docker and containers. You’ll learn orchestration, image management, networking, and security.
• Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert: Demonstrates your skills in DevOps processes. The focus lies on working with people, processes, and technologies to deliver continuous business value.
• HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate: Shows you know how to implement and automate infrastructure using Terraform – a must-have skill for modern DevOps practices.

How to build a DevOps home lab

A personal DevOps home lab gives you hands-on experience without risks. Here’s what you need for a simple lab:

1. Core Infrastructure Setup: Set up Linux virtual machines, configure networks, and establish SSH access.
2. Essential Services: Set up Docker and host your own Git, CI/CD tools, and container registries.
3. Automation Implementation: Learn Ansible and Terraform to automate VM provisioning and system configurations.

Ready to Build Your DevOps Future? Your career needs a strong digital foundation. Mehnav creates fast, secure, and mobile-responsive websites that evolve with your needs. We help you build successful online presence for personal portfolios and tech businesses alike. Let Mehnav support your digital growth. 🚀 Get a Free Website Consultation Today

Showcasing your skills on GitHub

Your active GitHub profile should highlight your DevOps expertise effectively:

• Write detailed README files that explain each project
• Show how you solved real-life problems with DevOps tools
• Build projects at different skill levels—beginner, intermediate, and advanced
• Show your work with various technologies like cloud platforms, containerization, and CI/CD pipelines

The STAR Method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) helps you explain your problem-solving approach in interviews. A combination of practical GitHub projects and recognized certifications makes you more attractive to employers as you progress on your DevOps engineer roadmap.

Step 5: Land Your First DevOps Job

The DevOps engineer job market is thriving. Thousands of opportunities await qualified candidates. Let me help you prepare to land your first position in this exciting field.

Writing a DevOps engineer resume

Your DevOps resume should showcase both technical abilities and practical achievements. The top third of page one is vital—this prime section of your resume gets the most attention during the screening process. Place a signature achievements section here that highlights 3-4 of your biggest DevOps wins.

To make your resume stand out:

• Include technical training and certifications
• Highlight specific projects that show your leadership
• Add quantifiable achievements that demonstrate business value
• Use clean formatting with clear section headers

Balance is essential when using keywords. Applicant Tracking Systems search for terms like “CI/CD,” “automation,” and “cloud computing,” but don’t overdo it. Your resume should tell a compelling story rather than just list keywords.

Where to find DevOps engineer jobs (including remote)

LinkedIn guides the way for DevOps job hunting, listing over 2,000 remote positions. Set up job alerts to stay informed about new openings.

Other valuable platforms include:

• Glassdoor
• Indeed
• Upwork
• TopTal

Entry-level roles are available—LinkedIn alone has posted 181 entry-level DevOps positions. Amazon, HP, Netflix, Adobe, and Accenture regularly hire DevOps talent.

Interview preparation tips

DevOps interviews test both technical knowledge and problem-solving abilities. The STAR Method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) helps you explain ground challenges you’ve solved effectively.

Be ready to discuss these topics in interviews:

• Your experience with specific DevOps tools
• How you’ve implemented automation
• Your approach to scaling pipelines
• Your knowledge of monitoring and analytics

Note that 58% of companies find it challenging to hire skilled DevOps professionals, while 48% struggle with retention. This creates excellent opportunities if you have the right qualifications.

Conclusion

A career in DevOps engineering promises exceptional growth potential and attractive salary packages. This roadmap shows you the key steps to become a successful DevOps engineer in 2025.

Your path starts with core DevOps concepts. You’ll learn to bridge development and operations teams, master the continuous lifecycle, and adopt methods that boost collaboration and automation. These basics will shape your entire career.

Technical skills come next. Linux, Git, and scripting languages create your foundation for advanced DevOps tools. You’ll need to become skilled at automation technologies like Jenkins, Terraform, Docker, and monitoring solutions to excel in this field.

Certifications and hands-on projects will boost your credibility substantially. AWS DevOps Engineer, Kubernetes Administrator, or Terraform Associate certifications confirm your expertise. Your GitHub projects demonstrate your problem-solving abilities on the ground.

Qualified DevOps professionals have plenty of job options. A well-crafted resume and solid interview prep help you stand above other candidates. Companies struggle to find skilled DevOps engineers, which creates a perfect chance for you.

Mehnav values strong foundations in both DevOps practices and digital presence. We build reliable infrastructure for software delivery, just as we create dependable websites that boost your professional growth.

The digital world keeps changing, so learning never stops. Stay curious and adopt new technologies while maintaining your steadfast dedication to improvement. Landing your first job isn’t the end – it’s just the start of your professional growth story.

This roadmap gives you clear direction to become a DevOps engineer. Take each step carefully, practice regularly, and build connections in the DevOps community. Soon enough, you’ll thrive in this rewarding and ever-changing field.

Key Takeaways

Master these essential steps to launch your DevOps engineering career and capitalize on the 20% job growth in this high-demand field:

• Build a strong technical foundation first: Master Linux commands, Git version control, and scripting with Python or Bash before advancing to complex DevOps tools.

• Focus on automation mastery: Learn CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins/GitHub Actions), Infrastructure as Code (Terraform/Ansible), and containerization (Docker/Kubernetes) to become job-ready.

• Validate skills through certifications and projects: Pursue AWS DevOps Engineer or Kubernetes Administrator certifications while building a compelling GitHub portfolio showcasing real-world solutions.

• Leverage the talent shortage: With 58% of companies struggling to find qualified DevOps engineers, your timing is perfect to enter this field earning $120,000-$160,000+ annually.

• Embrace the DevOps mindset: Success requires more than technical skills—adopt collaborative thinking, continuous improvement practices, and a culture-first approach to bridge development and operations teams.

The DevOps field offers exceptional career prospects with over 118,000 current job openings. By following this structured roadmap and focusing on hands-on experience, you’ll position yourself for success in one of tech’s fastest-growing disciplines.

FAQs