Junior DevOps skills checklist: hired in order
Updated
Learn in the order teams need: Linux, networking, Git, CI, containers, then incidents and on-call.
Junior roadmaps fail by ordering tools before judgment. Teams hire juniors who can operate basics safely and learn fast, not juniors who watched an orchestrator course. This checklist orders skills the way teams feel gaps.
Foundations, then judgment, then depth
Operate basics safely. Linux services, permissions, shell, DNS, HTTP, TLS, Git. Each with a homelab proof: a running service you own.
Ship and watch. One gated pipeline, one monitored service, one backup with a tested restore. The three artifacts every team asks about.
Practice judgment. Incidents narrated in four beats, a go/no-go call explained, one on-call week survived with notes. Then specialize: orchestrators, cloud or security.
Worked example: a fictional six months
The context below is fictional. Fictional learner Elif (fictional) spends two months on basics with a homelab service, two months on pipeline plus monitoring plus backups, two months breaking things quarterly and writing incidents up. Month six: the checklist is all checked with artifacts, and interviews discuss her write-ups.
Checklist: the actual checklist
- Linux service owned: unit file, restart policy, reboot test.
- Pipeline gating a real repo.
- Monitored service with runbook-linked alerts.
- Tested restore from your own backup.
- Three written incidents in four beats.
- One specialization started, basics intact.
Related reading
- The course order: DevOps Foundations.
- Prove it at home: Homelab projects.
Straight answers
Frequently asked questions
Kubernetes first?
No. Orchestrators multiply whatever habits you have; learn the habits on single machines first.
How do I prove each skill?
One homelab artifact per skill: a gated repo, a monitored service, a written incident. Claims without artifacts are wishes.
How long does this take?
Months of steady practice, not days of tutorials. The checklist measures done, not watched.