How much effort do I need to put in to become a DevOps engineer?
Tags: devops, sre, docker, kubernetes
Published: 2020-06-16 06:19:25


There is no one answer to it. If I want to create a formula, it would be something on the lines of

```(skills required to be a Devops Engineer - Current Skills) X average time to master devops skills ```

So where you should begin is by learning where do you stand right now on the Devops Engineer scale. Based on that, you would know what are your current strengths, what gaps you need to fill , what to learn next as well as how to get there. Once you know this you can easily figure out how much of efforts you should put, and more importantly, where.

The question now is how do you evaluate where do you stand ?

what gets measures, gets optimized … !

To provide an answer to this question, based on my 18+ experience as a Ops Engineer turned Devops Engineer, Consultant, Trainer, Author and a Coach, have come up with the concept of Devops Scorecards.


### What are Devops Scorecards ?

Devops Scorecards offer you a simple way to measure where do you stand on the Devops Mastery scale. Also, different people may have different goals based on whats relevant to them.

e.g.

  * If you are a Ops (Operations/Systems/Network/Syops/Cloud Admin) and for you being a Devops Engineer/Site Reliability Engineer may be a logic progression.
  * If you are a Dev (Developer/QA), learning many Devops technologies, specially related to Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery, Containers, Revision Control, Release Strategies would be important. But you do not have to bother about scripting, Infrastructure as a Code, Troubleshooting , Monitoring etc. So, Devops Practitioner career path may make more sense to you.

### What Devops Scorecards are available ?

  * **DEScore** ( Devops Engineer Scorecard) : Generate this if you want to make a career as a Devops Engineer/SRE.
  * **DPScore** (Devops Practitioner Scorecard) : Generate this if you want to be a Devops Practitioner.
How do I generate my DEScore/DPScore ?

Get access to [Devops Self Evaluation Scorecard](http://devops.pink/dev-to-dscore) for FREE using the links given here. The retail price of it is $47, but I am making it available for you, my Dev.to Reader, for FREE.

Here are  your action items, 

  * Pick which Scorecard you want to generate DEScore/DPScore.
  * Fill in the Self Evaluation Questionnaire.
  * Generate your Score and save.
  * Analyse the Score

### How to Analyse your Score ?

Lets take an example of the Devops Engineer Scorecard that I generated for myself.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/dsinmsxdnl181orydpqs.png)

  * You see one overall score on the left with the DEScore gauge. This gives you an idea about where do you stand in terms of succeeding as a Devops Engineer. Your goal is to work towards being the green zone.

  * With Devops Engineer Scorecard (DEScore), you also get skill wise, weighted score including

    * Systems Engineering - Linux
    * Revision Control - Git
    * Cloud
    * Infrastructure as a Code
    * CI/CD
    * Docker
    * Kubernetes
    * Observability

This should give you a clear picture of where do you stand, what are your strengths, what gaps you need to fill in etc. Based on this you could easily figure out the path you need to take as well as how long it would take for you to get there. On an average one skill takes about 3 weeks for you to get to a intermediate level.

Get started generating you [Devops Scorecard](http://devops.pink/dev-to-dscore) Now  !