This is a praise for the paid community because they 100% deserve it. @Mischa van den Burg , @Sammy van den Burg and everyone else involved in building the community should really get the recognition. I am writing this post after getting my first DevOps position. It included a long journey of over a year to facilitate this transition from end-user support/system administration. I could not have done it without joining KubeCraft last October. I was advancing pretty well before but joining KubeCraft was a game-changer, it has paved me the way to compete for positions and being relevant in the DevOps/cloud job market. It is a safe haven, the ultimate place for self growth. In so many aspects, not only in relation to DevOps. I will also highlight the respectful discussions, technical insights, career and professional tips, inclusion, and acceptance. Non of what I have mentioned is taken for granted in our current Internet landscape. I would also like to mention all the wonderful courses in the classroom that improved my soft and hard skills alike and were/are still instrumental in my journey: - The Kubernetes related courses (fundamentals, homelab, and advanced) - get your hands dirty and start building, breaking, and fixing systems over and over again - The Arch Linux course - strong Linux foundations are non negotiable and digging into an Arch installation and transforming it into your daily driver is so beneficial - The devcontainers, Neovim, and config management course - think encapsulation, portability, and allowing collaboration between teams - The DevOps masterclass course - a real gem by @Mischa van den Burg . It helped me understand better modern release management practices and CI/CD pipelines - The interview preparation course - very well constructed. This helped me change my perception and become better during interviews Always remember that hard work pays off! (in the photo - an Arnie and John (Savill) super combo for some inspiration)

I spent three months working for a cloud provider in 2021, and they asked me to read this document : https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/ I hope that it will help.

DevOps is growing, but many of you won't get the high-paid jobs because you are afraid to invest in yourself. During my career change to DevOps, I figured out the following hack in life: if you pay for education you are going to reach your goals faster. Instead of trying to get everything for free, I invested in myself repeatedly, and still do today. I spent thousands of dollars on courses, education, tools and mentorship to get where I am today. Why? I realized that to get where I want to be quickly, I need access to the best information and education. Remember: You are competing with other people that invest in themselves. Their time is much better spent than yours. Somebody else right now is learning and working hard to get the spot you want to be at. This should be you! I promise you that that if you go through my hands-on courses on Kubernetes, Homelab, set up your Note-taking system and learn about Soft Skills - you are a different league of Engineer. And once your personal brand grows, jobs will come to you instead of you having to apply and not hearing back. This was my exact experience, and it's working for my other students as well. 2025 is just around the corner. This can be your year if you allow it to be. Mischa

Good day. Gordon here. Grateful for the addition to the community. I am looking to start my DevOps journey. I have completed my Azure Fundamentals and currently preparing for the Azure Administrator. I saw on LinkedIn Mischa's certification path which initially attracted me to the group. Looking forward to learning and collaborating with the community.