In September 2023, I was an IT Technician with no clear direction. A year earlier, I’d dropped out of Computer Science at Cal State Long Beach. I knew I wanted to work in tech, but staring at all the paths—backend, frontend, DevOps, cybersecurity…I froze. I was in decision paralysis.

Eventually I realized doing something was better than nothing. I re-enrolled online at University of the People and decided to try cybersecurity. Over a few months I earned the ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC) and Google Cybersecurity Professional certificates, then started hacking boxes on HackTheBox and TryHackMe.

I learned a ton. I also realized I hated it.

The material felt like a grind, not a puzzle I wanted to solve. Burnout hit fast, so I pivoted. Since I was already in an IT operations role, DevOps made sense. I liked building things and automating boring work. In January 2024, I mapped out a 12-month plan: quarterly goals, skills to learn, projects to build, and a target of landing a Junior DevOps role by year-end.

The year flew. I picked up Linux, Git, Python, AWS, Terraform, Docker, and CI/CD fundamentals. I built projects. I read docs. I broke things and fixed them. More importantly, I enjoyed it.

Midway through, I even convinced my boss to let me take on DevOps work. My first real project was a Lambda function that automated data processing triggered by email. Users would send a file, Lambda would process it, and send the results back. No manual intervention. It handled a couple hundred emails a month and saved hours of tedious work every week. For the first time, I felt like I might actually pull this off.

Q4 2024 was go time. I polished my resume and started applying. Over three months, I sent out 120+ applications. I got 4 interviews. Zero offers.

It stung, but I didn’t quit. I reviewed my skills, identified gaps, kept building, and decided to try again in the next recruiting cycle.

Then on January 22, 2025, a recruiter reached out about a Junior DevOps Engineer role. I went through the process, and a couple months later, I had an offer. I accepted, and in March 2025 I started my first job at a software company.

I’m doing what I love. The path wasn’t linear, but it got me here.

What I’d tell someone starting out:

  • Stop waiting for the perfect plan. Pick a direction and move. You can course-correct later, but you can’t steer a parked car.

  • Build real things. Certs and courses are fine, but nothing beats a project you can demo and explain. And do yourself a favor, don’t use AI to build your projects. Debugging and asking questions is ok, but stay away from having it write your code for you.

  • Get your hands dirty at work. I turned an IT role into DevOps experience by asking to automate things. Your current job might have more runway than you think.

  • Track your progress. A 12-month plan with quarterly checkpoints kept me honest and let me see how far I’d come when I felt stuck.

  • Rejection is part of the game. 120 applications and 4 interviews is rough, but one yes is all it takes.

If you’re in decision paralysis right now, just pick something and start. You’ll figure out what you don’t like, and that’s just as valuable as finding what you do.