I Pivoted from DevOps to Backend Engineering and Why It Was the Right Move for Me

Over the past few months, I’ve been exploring my path in software engineering. I originally set my sights on DevOps — the automation, the CI/CD pipelines, the cloud-native infrastructure... it all sounded exciting. But I quickly realized something: Entry-level DevOps roles are few and far between. Most job listings demand years of experience, deep system knowledge, and cloud certifications things that take time to build. So I made a strategic shift. I pivoted into backend development, specifically with Django and Django REST Framework. It wasn’t a complete departure — in fact, many of the skills overlap: Writing efficient, testable code Thinking in systems and logic Managing environments and APIs Designing clean, scalable backend architecture More importantly, I found that backend engineering plays to one of my natural strengths: I love logic. Solving problems, modeling real-world workflows in code, and making APIs that actually serve users — that excites me. Now I’m building a full-featured ToDo List API — with authentication, permissions, validation, pagination, Docker support, and (soon) automated tests and deployment. I’ll even be sharing my journey soon.

Jun 20, 2025 - 15:00

I Pivoted from DevOps to Backend Engineering and Why It Was the Right Move for Me

Over the past few months, I’ve been exploring my path in software engineering. I originally set my sights on DevOps — the automation, the CI/CD pipelines, the cloud-native infrastructure... it all sounded exciting.

But I quickly realized something:
Entry-level DevOps roles are few and far between. Most job listings demand years of experience, deep system knowledge, and cloud certifications things that take time to build.

So I made a strategic shift.

I pivoted into backend development, specifically with Django and Django REST Framework. It wasn’t a complete departure — in fact, many of the skills overlap:

Writing efficient, testable code

Thinking in systems and logic

Managing environments and APIs

Designing clean, scalable backend architecture

More importantly, I found that backend engineering plays to one of my natural strengths:
I love logic. Solving problems, modeling real-world workflows in code, and making APIs that actually serve users — that excites me.

Now I’m building a full-featured ToDo List API — with authentication, permissions, validation, pagination, Docker support, and (soon) automated tests and deployment. I’ll even be sharing my journey soon.