Why Most Engineers Struggle in Their First DevOps Role

Hello “👋”

Welcome to another week, another opportunity to become a great DevOps and Software Engineer

Today’s issue is brought to you by TheEngineeringLadder→ A great resource for devops and software engineers. We break down career-changing lessons in DevOps and Software Engineering to help you level up fast.

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When most engineers land their first DevOps role, they’re excited — and rightfully so.

New title.
New tools.
New responsibilities.

But after a few weeks, reality hits.
The confidence fades.
The chaos begins.

You realize this isn’t just “writing scripts” or “setting up pipelines.”
DevOps is about something deeper — keeping systems alive.

The Real Shift: From Coding to Reliability Thinking

As developers, we’re trained to build.
But in DevOps, you’re trained to stabilize.

It’s no longer about how fast you can ship code.
It’s about how fast you can restore a broken system at 2 a.m.

That’s a massive mindset shift most engineers aren’t prepared for.

You stop measuring success by features shipped…
and start measuring it by uptime, response times, and failure rates.

That’s where the true learning begins.

3 Things That Help You Thrive in Your First DevOps Role

1️⃣ Understand the business impact of every system.
Don’t just “deploy.” Know why it matters. Learn which services drive revenue — and protect them first.

2️⃣ Build systems with failure in mind.
Anything that can break will break. So add monitoring, logging, and alerting before it does.

3️⃣ Communicate clearly.
Your team depends on your updates during incidents. Be calm, clear, and factual. Communication is as valuable as automation.

This Week’s Challenge

If you’re new in your DevOps role, do this:
Pick one system you maintain and map out how it fails.

Then ask:
“What’s one small change I can make today to make recovery faster next time?”

That’s how great DevOps engineers are built — not by avoiding incidents, but by learning from every single one.

Final Thoughts

The best DevOps engineers aren’t the ones who know the most tools.
They’re the ones who understand resilience.

They don’t just deploy code — they keep the business running.

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