The 5 Career Mistakes I See Junior DevOps Engineers Make

Hello 👋

Welcome to another week — and another opportunity to grow into a strong, confident DevOps, Infrastructure, or Platform Engineer.

Today’s issue is brought to you by The Engineering Ladder — where we share practical, career-shaping lessons in DevOps and Software Engineering to help you level up with clarity and direction.

💡 PS: Before we dive into today’s topic, I want to quickly share something important with you…

If you’ve been following The Engineering Ladder, you already know one thing I believe deeply:

👉 Real tech careers are built on evidence, not just interest.

That belief is exactly why we built CloudOps Academy.

CloudOps Academy is a hands-on training program for DevOps Engineers, Infrastructure Engineers, and Platform Engineers who want more than theory.
We focus on helping engineers build real systems, understand how production environments work, and gain the confidence to perform in real roles — not just pass interviews.

At CloudOps Academy, you don’t just “learn tools.”
You learn how to:
✅ Design and operate real cloud infrastructure
✅ Work with Docker, CI/CD, monitoring, and automation the way teams do in production
✅ Think like a reliability-focused engineer, not just a script writer
✅ Build projects you can confidently explain in interviews
✅ Grow from uncertainty to clarity with structured guidance and mentorship

Our goal is simple:
to help you become job-ready, confident, and credible as an engineer.

If you’re serious about building a strong DevOps or Cloud career — and you want guidance from engineers who are actively working in the field — we’d love to talk.

📞 Phone: +237 653 583 000
📧 Email: [email protected]

No pressure.
Just clarity on whether CloudOps Academy is the right next step for you.

Now, let’s get into today’s lesson 👇

Over the past few years, mentoring junior DevOps engineers and working closely with people early in their careers, I’ve noticed something interesting.

Most people don’t struggle because they’re not smart.
They struggle because they repeat the same mistakes — quietly, consistently.

And the painful part?
These mistakes don’t show up immediately.
They show up months or years later, when progress feels slow and confidence starts to fade.

Here are the five most common ones I see.

1️⃣ Chasing tools instead of fundamentals

Many juniors jump straight into Kubernetes, Terraform, or the latest cloud service.

But when something breaks, they freeze.

Why?
Because fundamentals were skipped.

Linux basics.
Networking.
How systems talk to each other.

Tools change.
Fundamentals compound.

2️⃣ Building labs, not real systems

Labs feel productive.
Real systems feel uncomfortable.

The problem is that interviews and real jobs don’t ask:

They ask:

Engineers who grow faster build things that can fail — then fix them.

3️⃣ Not documenting their work

This one is silent but deadly.

So many engineers do good work… then forget it.

No notes.
No metrics.
No stories.

Later, during interviews or reviews, they struggle to explain what they’ve done.

If it’s not documented, it didn’t happen.

4️⃣ Waiting to feel “ready”

Confidence doesn’t come before action.
It comes from action.

Many juniors wait for:

• the perfect course

• the perfect roadmap

• the perfect moment

Meanwhile, opportunities pass quietly.

You don’t need to be perfect to start.
You need to start to improve.

5️⃣ Avoiding communication

DevOps is not a solo role.

If you can’t explain:

• why something failed

• what you’re fixing

• what the impact is

You’ll struggle — even if your technical skills are strong.

Clear communication builds trust.
Trust accelerates careers.

This Week’s Takeaway

If you’re early in your DevOps journey:

• Go deep on fundamentals
• Build messy, real projects
• Write down what you learn
• Speak up, even when unsure
• Don’t wait for permission to grow

Avoiding these mistakes early can save you years.

Final Thoughts

Every senior engineer you admire once made these mistakes.
The difference is that they learned — and adjusted.

Growth in DevOps isn’t about being perfect.
It’s about being intentional.