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Positioning Yourself For a Career in DevOps
Article by Ian Tushman, Practice Manager for Workbridge Los Angeles
We have seen a surge in DevOps hiring over the past year and the most exciting part is that every new DevOps candidate hired seems to come from a different background. We have seen job seekers take on DevOps roles after previously focusing on systems administration, application development, automation or build/release management.The DevOps movement is an increase in communication between development, operations, test and the production environments.A Background in systems:
The most commonly asked for skills include server automation and system scaling, preferably in the cloud. Amazon Web Services (AWS/EC2/S3) and RackSpace tend to be the most common public clouds used while OpenStack, CloudStack and Eucalyptus are the most commonly used private clouds. Puppet and Chef are currently the most common configuration management tools used to automate server tuningbut the newly released Salt (about 1 year old) and Ansible (3 months old) have become more prevalent. While we attended the SCALE convention in February, we spoke with Puppet Labs and they sent us a link to their own training and certification course to help job seekers learn a very in-demand tool:
https://puppetlabs.com/services/certification/
A Background in Development:
Application developers transition very smoothly into DevOps.Rather than focusing on building the application, DevOps includes tools development; building modules and customizing the tools used in each aspect of the life cycle. The most common languages we see are Ruby on Rails, Perl or Python. Chef and RackSpace customization is most commonly done with Ruby on Rails. Cloud systems need to be built and configuration and monitoring tools need to be customized. Each of these tools is essential to support the developers, testers and systems administrators. A background in development will also make you instrumental in code maintenance and reviews. The most common version control systems have been Git, SVN and CVS.
A Background in Build/Release and Automation:
DevOps Engineers work closely with the code and version control systems. They will help to manage the health of the code repository and automate the system for continuous deployments, usually with Jenkins or a bash script. Continuous integration has helped the on-call staff sleep at night knowing that properly tested code with move straight into production when it is ready. The build/release cycle is extremely crucial and ensures that broken code is not pushed live into production.
No matter what background you come from in technology, DevOps is a fundamental part of each aspect of the product life cycle, and the technology market needs more people in the DevOps community!
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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Ember.js and Rails Spotlighted at Tech in Motion Los Angeles
Steve Klabnik, an open-source and ruby on rails enthusiast spoke for Tech in Motion: Los Angeles recently and discussed building API-first applications using Ember and Rails. He showed us practical applications of using these technologies, by coding and building an application that a restaurant would use. Everyone really enjoyed picking his brain before and after the talk as well as networking with their peers.
After the event I was able to speak with Steve and gain more insight about his tech roots. Here is what he had to say.
WB: When did you first discover your love of technology?SK: I started programming when I was 7. One of my uncles brought a computer home to my grandmother's house. I was hooked.
WB: What is your favorite thing about coding?
SK: I like that I can have an impact on people's lives in a positive manner.
WB: What sparked your love of Ruby/open source technology?
SK: Ruby just makes me really happy. It’s fun to program in, the people who program in it are great, and it just fits my brain really well. I love Open Source because we're collectively building a commons.
WB: What in your opinion is the next big thing in technology?
SK: "Tech" in general is so broad, I'm going to go with the Tesla Model S. It's still a luxury car (I won't ever own one,) but the next Tesla model will be affordable for all.
WB: What excites/interests you most about the technology field?
SK: The same as coding: I can impact others positively.
WB: Thanks so much Steve! We hope to have you back soon!
If you are interested in attending or speaking at a Tech in Motion: Los Angeles event please contact: Jennifer DesRosiers at 310-445-3300
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Tech in Motion Los Angeles - The Next Generation of E-Commerce Technologies
On Wednesday, March 27th, Workbridge Associates had the pleasure of hosting yet another exciting Tech in Motion Los Angeles meet-up at BlankSpaces. The guest speaker was Tom Nora, CEO and Founder of the start-up neoRay and Executive Director of Startup Workshops.
Tom spoke to us on the boom in Silicon Beach and Los Angeles of E-Commerce companies and the technologies that make them successful, in his talk "The Next Generation of E-Commerce Technologies." We had a great group of people in our audience and everyone left with some new ideas and more confidence to continue in their startup endeavors.
We were able to ask Tom a few questions after the event and here is what he had to say.
WB: When did you first discover your love of technology?
TN: When I was a 11 my brother built a homemade crystal radio. It was fascinating to see him assemble these inert parts and then hear sound come out. From then on I was hooked on technology and electronics.
WB: What is your favorite part of your job?
TN: The unknown factor, the challenge to create the future and make something grow from nothing.
WB: What sparked the idea for NeoRay?
TN: The original idea for me came from seeing people use their cellphones to buy from vending machines in Japan. Simultaneously Alessio watched his father create a PayPal competitor and he wanted to make something more futuristic for mobile payments; he then saw a WIRED article "Kill The Password!". We compared notes and decided the timing was right for mobile payments without passwords leveraging advances in biometrics..
WB: What in your opinion is the next big thing in technology?
TN: The 15 Minute Website and Personal Website "Portfolios" - soon anyone will be able to build multiple personal sites with full e-commerce, payment systems, community, social networking, SEO, and big data analytics with no coding and very easy manipulation. Currently there is a barrier to this - you must know some coding to optimize this and it's difficult to manage multiple sites. People and companies will have a portfolio of websites and not even think about it.. Most of the tools already exist but need a lot of refinement; it will take another 2-5 years.
WB: What excites/interests you most about tech startups and what makes them successful?
TN: The Scalability challenge. Much of my career has been dedicated to trying to create the alchemy of continuously growing a company. The progress of E-Commerce, HTML5, CSS3, PHP and Javascript have made it so any startup idea, tech or non-tech, can become reality with very little money or work. The difficult step has shifted from launch to revenues, scalability, growth. This is exciting because it allows so many people to give it a try which equals more great ideas coming to light, but still requires a great idea and great execution to have larger success and growth. Pretty soon the most important people at startups will shift back from developers to those that can create and sustain growth.
Thanks to Tom Nora and BlankSpaces for a successful and fun event!
If you are interested in networking with like-minded tech enthusiasts join our meetup at Tech in Motion:Los Angeles!
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Making The Move To Mobile
By: Jesse Forristal, Recruiter for Workbridge Los Angeles
I want to start off by saying that I do not have a technical degree or any programming experience. However, I have something that some might consider more valuable – an ear to the market (and an eye for talent if we’re keeping with the body part metaphors). One of the biggest trends I’ve come across in my search for talented mobile developers (I specialize in placing Java and Mobile developers) is that everyone wants to be one. Many engineers either want to be a mobile developer or they claim they already have become one. You don’t need professional experience if your primary purpose for moving to the Android platform is to make a tip calculator for fun; however, if your goal is the title “Mobile Developer” at an established company, you need some experience. Now this proves to be somewhat of a Catch-22. You can’t get that job without experience and you can’t get experience without that job. No one wants to hire an inexperienced mobile developer.
So where do these mobile engineers even come from? Well, with most companies embracing the mobile platform – iOS, Android, Windows, BlackBerry OS etc., students are starting to focus their entire Computer Science degrees on mobile development. This is a brand new trend considering the relatively recent inception of these mobile platforms. This trend brings about an ever changing landscape for both established and aspiring developers.
Through my experiences as a recruiter of mobile developers, I’ve started to become a de facto adviser to aspiring mobile developers. A couple pieces of advice for those who want to get into mobile development:
- Play to your strengths. If you are a Java developer, mess around with Eclipse and build an Android application to have something to show off. Port it to the store and get some downloads. This cannot be said enough. Without an actual application, your experience is theoretical.
- Know that you might have to take a pay cut. Until you have professional experience, you might not command your expected salary.
- Take a class. Take an in person class if you have the time; take an online class if you don’t.
- Go to meet-ups. This cannot be stressed enough. You’ll meet people from all walks of life that can influence your career path in countless ways.
- Find a friend or colleague who does it for fun, or better yet, does it professionally. Pick their brain. Ask if you can contribute to their project.
- Ask your manager at work if there’s a chance you can work on a mobile project. Chances are that if you’re working right now, and your title isn’t related to mobile, a mobile developer will be added to your team sometime soon. Maybe that could be you. Prove you have the ability.
Don’t worry if you can’t get that mobile position just yet – the mobile platform is just beginning its takeover. Just do what you can and, slowly but surely, you’ll get there.
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Tech in Motion Speaker Interview Series: Jeffrey Eliasen
Last week we had the opportunity to welcome Jeffrey Eliasen to speak for Tech in Motion: Los Angeles.
After he gave a great presentation on interviewing for tech jobs and keeping tech skills current, we were able to find out about more about his experience with technology.
WB: When did you first discover your love of technology?
JE: I had access to an Apple II+ in third grade and have used
computers ever since. I taught myself Basic and then Assembly language, and eventually started programming solutions to math problems to see if I understood the algorithms. Ever since then, I've been fascinated with using technology as a way to gain deeper understanding into the world. And to watch cat videos.WB: What is your favorite part of your job?
JE: As a consultant, I am often brought in to straighten out problems with existing systems. I very much enjoy analyzing existing code to figure out what it does and then refactoring or re-architecting it to do what it was meant to do while at the same time making it faster, more readable, and more elegant.
WB: How long have you been in the technology field?
JE: I've been a professional software developer for 12 years. Prior to that, I had my own company making web pages (when pages were static and HTML was crafted by hand) and fixing small-business networks. Before that, I was a sonar operator/technician on submarines in the US Navy. So I've been paid one way or another for working with tech since 1988.
WB: What was one of your favorite projects?
JE: My first project as an analyst rather than a developer required that I shift my focus from thinking about algorithms and implementation to actually assessing the needs of the client in the first place. The project mostly involved interviewing stakeholders (users, managers, the project owner, etc) and listing and prioritizing a wide variety of needs and goals, then summarizing this into a Project Strategy document that included a recommended approach to solving these needs. Thinking about the solution from the perspectives of multiple users gave me an entirely different insight into assessing the best use of my time and resources on many projects since then.
WB: What in your opinion is the next big thing in technology?
JE: I believe the next big revolution will be connecting people with each other in mutually-beneficial ways. Let's say I need a lawyer, but I don't know any. I want someone I can trust, so friend recommendations and testimonials are valuable, but even more useful is the combined influence of my extended social network (second and third generation connections). This is already starting to happen on LinkedIn and Facebook, but it will go much deeper than it currently does as these and other companies figure out ways to weight the relative connections based on features in the data that are not yet understood.
We would like to thank Jeff for speaking at Tech in Motion: Los Angeles and to The Satellite for providing event space! -
Workbridge Los Angeles Recruiter Profile: Caitlin Toohey
Caitlin Toohey is a dynamic person here in Los Angeles and creates lasting relationships not only with her clients, but job-seekers as well. She was recently promoted to Lead Recruiter due to her hard work and continues to be a great asset to Workbridge family.
Caitlin's experience in the Los Angeles technology market has given her great insight into what clients are looking for in a future employee. She creates lasting relationships with many she meets and will surely continue to thrive here in Los Angeles.
When asked about one of her favorite experiences here at Workbridge Los Angeles she related the story below.
"I would have to say that the best story I have from recruiting is when I placed my friend’s older brother who then became a hiring manager. During my first few months on the job I was sourcing for resumes and found a senior .NET developer who looked like a very strong developer. He had the same last name as one of my good girl friends from college so when I called him I asked if there was any chance that they were related and sure enough he was her older brother! I placed him as a Senior .NET Developer with one of my clients and a year later he was promoted to Development Manager. It felt good to place my friend’s brother with a company that I knew he would be a great fit for and also get him a significant raise. A year later, it felt even better to see him get promoted and know that he was experiencing great success. A few months after his promotion he gave me a call because he was looking to hire a developer. He made it very clear that he was looking for the “right fit” and was in no rush to hire someone who wouldn’t be that for him. Because of the relationship I had built with both him and his manager, they trusted that I would not waste their time and two weeks later they hired my candidate who I knew they would love."
How to Contact Caitlin:
Call: (310) 445-3300
Email: caitlin.toohey@workbridgea.com
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Workbridge Los Angeles: Happy Job Seeker Shows Appreciation
Here in Workbridge Los Angeles we get excited when we find someone a new job and make both clients and job seekers happy. Recently, recruiter Brian Ross helped a job seeker find their ideal job. As we start this new year we look forward to placing many more people in their dream jobs. Here is our most recent LinkedIn review from job seeker Stan.
Thanks Stan! We're thrilled to have been able to help!
Want to chat with Brian about opportunities he may have for you? Contact him today!
Phone: 310-445-3300
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Workbrige Los Angeles and Tech in Motion are a Success!
Yesterday, Workbridge Los Angeles had the pleasure of hosting yet another Tech in Motion meetup at BlankSpaces.
Jorge Garifuna spoke all about mobile technology in a very interactive and engaging format.
We had a full house and people stayed well into the evening discussing building mobile applications with Jorge. He is very enthusiastic about what he does and we are very happy that he took time out of his busy schedule to join us. If you would like to join us and get regular updates about our upcoming Tech in Motion events please sign up here.
Jennifer, Jorge and Alyssa
Jaime and Marjo
Jorge getting the audience involved
Getting advice from manager, Brian at the career table.