🎯 Final Outcomes & Job Readiness

1. Technical Skills

You can demonstrate:

• Linux system administration and shell scripting
• Networking fundamentals and troubleshooting
• Git version control and collaboration workflows
• AWS core services (EC2, S3, VPC, RDS, IAM, CloudFront)
• Docker containerization and Docker Compose
• Kubernetes basics (Pods, Deployments, Services)
• Infrastructure as Code with Terraform
• CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions
• Monitoring and logging with CloudWatch

2. GitHub Portfolio

Your GitHub should showcase:

• Terraform modules for AWS infrastructure
• Dockerized applications with compose files
• Automated CI/CD pipelines (visible via GitHub Actions)
• Well-documented README files with architecture diagrams
• Consistent commit history showing progression

Quality beats quantity. 3-5 polished projects are better than 20 half-finished tutorials.

3. Hands-On Experience

Real deployments you've done:

• Static website on S3 + CloudFront + Route53
• Multi-tier infrastructure (VPC + EC2 + RDS)
• Containerized applications deployed to cloud
• Automated deployment pipelines
• Monitoring dashboards and alerts

Project-Focused Resume

Don't just list technologies. Showcase projects:

Example:

Automated Infrastructure Deployment
• Designed and implemented Terraform modules for AWS VPC, 
  reducing infrastructure provisioning time from 2 hours to 5 minutes
• Deployed multi-tier application architecture (web, app, database tiers)
• Configured automated CI/CD pipeline with GitHub Actions
• Technologies: Terraform, AWS (EC2, RDS, VPC), GitHub Actions

Skills Section

Organize by category:

• Cloud Platforms: AWS (EC2, S3, VPC, RDS, CloudWatch, IAM, Route53, CloudFront)
• Infrastructure as Code: Terraform, AWS CLI
• Containers & Orchestration: Docker, Docker Compose, Kubernetes (basics)
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions, Git
• Operating Systems: Linux (Ubuntu, Amazon Linux), Shell Scripting
• Monitoring: AWS CloudWatch, CloudWatch Logs

Common Technical Questions You Should Master

Linux & Networking:

• Explain how DNS resolution works
• How do you troubleshoot a server that's not responding?
• What's the difference between TCP and UDP?
• How do you check which process is using a port?

AWS:

• Explain the difference between S3, EBS, and EFS
• How would you secure an application on AWS?
• What's the difference between security groups and NACLs?
• How would you set up high availability for a web application?

Containers:

• What's the difference between a container and a VM?
• Explain Docker's layered file system
• How do you handle persistent data in containers?
• What is a Kubernetes Pod?

IaC & Automation:

• Why use Infrastructure as Code?
• How does Terraform state management work?
• Explain your CI/CD pipeline
• How do you handle secrets in your automation?

Behavioral Questions (DevOps Culture)

• Tell me about a time you automated something manual
• How do you handle learning new technologies?
• Describe a time you debugged a production issue
• How do you ensure your code/infrastructure is reliable?

Tip: Use examples from your 5-month projects. Be specific about what you built and why.

Worth Considering

• AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate: Most recognized AWS cert
• Terraform Associate: Shows IaC expertise
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA): Only if targeting K8s-heavy roles

Pro tip: Get hired first, then get certified on company time/budget.

What to Learn Next (After Getting Hired)

• Advanced Kubernetes (StatefulSets, Operators, Helm)
• Prometheus & Grafana for monitoring
• GitOps with ArgoCD or Flux
• Advanced Terraform (modules, testing, Terragrunt)
• Service meshes (Istio, Linkerd)
• Multi-cloud strategies