Going down the wrong path...

Mitechniq

So anyone in the cloud forum knows that I have spent the last 9 months working on getting my AWS Solution Architect Associate and Professional certificate. I have received quite a lot of traffic from recruiters with some very good salary offerings, the problem is they ALL are looking for a developer. I have done several AWS migration projects successfully in the last year, none of them have required me to code or develop applications - we have developers for that. I build the full infrastructure in AWS but they want me to do all of that and be able to manage the application code as well. What is also interesting is the lack of Security minded people on these projects, they use developers in hopes that they learn enough about AWS security features to feel comfortable deploying their applications in the cloud.

TeKniques

I don't know much about AWS, but I do have friends who work in DevOps that use it all the time. Both of them were software engineers prior to DevOps, but wanted to do more sys admin/engineering rather than all day coding. From what I've heard, a solid foundation in scripting and familiarity with tools such as Puppet and JSON go a long way in that field. Only thing I can see a need to know the code may be for the application integration needs perhaps. I know this is all anecdotal, but just a different perspective. Others may have some other information.

gespenstern

Yeah, it's something that I'm challenged with as well, people always tend to ask about agile, software development, etc. Not that I'm not a programmer, but I didn't do it full time for more than a decade and have no experience in modern collaboration techniques and java frameworks that everybody seems to be using nowadays and it always leads to confusions on interviews.

DatabaseHead

Valuable insight thanks for providing this information. I'm sure it will help someone else.

EnderWiggin

Sounds like those jobs would be the next logical step for you. You won't be completely lost, because you've built the infrastructure. You would just need to pick up on how to manage the application code as well. Nobody ever advanced by making lateral movements

beads

What your seeing is the market reaction to needing more DevOps people. On paper you probably look like you have enough cross over skill to be that hidden person. Well, that and 'cruiters are oft clueless, desperate people with little to look forward to besides their next commission check.

Have you thought about adding some project management skill to the matrix? I know PM aren't the hot commodity right now but sounds like thats where your headed if not the DevOps side of the house.

Project Management no longer hot? Thats because tons of people went out, lied about the experience and suddenly became mid level PM practitioners? Really? Seriously? Who'd thought people would do such a thing?

Boggles the mind, doesn't it?

- b/eads

DatabaseHead

beads brilliant write up and so true...... market is FLOODED with mid tier PM's without financial skills.

Just 2 years ago you couldn't fill these PM roles fast enough. My company has actually done away with the title almost altogether, at our last managers meeting senior leadership wasn't thrilled with project delivery.

Mitechniq

Honestly, I am not actively pursuing a new career - there was an incentive to take the certification and I am the only one in our Cyber Security Division with the AWS PSA certification, the rest are part of our Cloud Division. My focus is designing secure AWS environments for our multiple 'as a service' products. I have been thrown into a Solution Architect role but no official title or pay increase - which is a little frustrating. So these last several weeks I have accepted interviews with companies looking for an AWS SA but in reality, they are looking for a DevOps Engineer. I have over 10 years of bash and python scripting and I picked up Ansible, Vagrant, Git and Chef rather quickly. Most of my deployments are now done with Cloudformation writing JSON templates. With all that said I am not a developer nor do I want to be one. I just wanted to inform people that are pursuing their AWS SA know, you might not yield the ROI in the certification if you don't have a developer background. Which is funny because even the AWS SA's I have talked to say they have no developer background - too bad I can't move to Seattle.

beads

DatabaseHead wrote: »

beads brilliant write up and so true...... market is FLOODED with mid tier PM's without financial skills.

Just 2 years ago you couldn't fill these PM roles fast enough. My company has actually done away with the title almost altogether, at our last managers meeting senior leadership wasn't thrilled with project delivery.

(*smile*)

So true.

- b/eads

beads

Mitechniq wrote: »

Honestly, I am not actively pursuing a new career - there was an incentive to take the certification and I am the only one in our Cyber Security Division with the AWS PSA certification, the rest are part of our Cloud Division. My focus is designing secure AWS environments for our multiple 'as a service' products. I have been thrown into a Solution Architect role but no official title or pay increase - which is a little frustrating. So these last several weeks I have accepted interviews with companies looking for an AWS SA but in reality, they are looking for a DevOps Engineer. I have over 10 years of bash and python scripting and I picked up Ansible, Vagrant, Git and Chef rather quickly. Most of my deployments are now done with Cloudformation writing JSON templates. With all that said I am not a developer nor do I want to be one. I just wanted to inform people that are pursuing their AWS SA know, you might not yield the ROI in the certification if you don't have a developer background. Which is funny because even the AWS SA's I have talked to say they have no developer background - too bad I can't move to Seattle.

Keep in mind to the non-technical 'cruiter type you might just fit that bill and will now be tagged DevOps until you downplay some of the key words on your resume, hence why I brought up the PM angle. Just a way of shaking things out so to speak. Please don't take the skill question to heart but you initial post left some ambiguity. Crystal clear now.

Personally, I think your a bit ahead of the demand game on the whole cloud thing. We will be saddled with more and more cloud based services but at a longer term risk in loosing the training ground for future administrators and eventually hands on security people. Time will tell.

Fighting against cloud computing is like arguing for Novell Netware back in the 1990s.

- b/eads