DevOps or Cybersecurity as future careers?

00:00:00: Over the last months or maybe year, since AI is becoming more and more of a thing you can't escape.

00:00:06: but I frequently get questions in my live streams below videos.

00:00:11: Whether you should switch away from being developer to devops or cyber security.

00:00:24: Now, I don't know about the farmer thing.

00:00:26: If that's your thing sure do it.

00:00:28: But yeah Let's stay here.

00:00:30: if on on the first two parts DevOps and cyber security Or in general should you leave web development now?

00:00:39: First of all there have been better days.

00:00:41: surprise surprise.

00:00:43: The job market is actually picking up a bit.

00:00:46: If we take a look at this chart here, which on first sight is super depressing where we had that peak year during the pandemic and then it's sharply declined... Here We can see that since early twenty-twenty six It Is slightly increasing again And that looks even better if we like narrow it down.

00:01:04: so the peak is not included.

00:01:06: So, uh... We actually have an increase here in software development job postings on indeed In The United States obviously Not the entire world and ...not just web development but still a good proxy.

00:01:19: Things are getting better.

00:01:20: But I get it AI Is all about uncertainty how the future job as a developer, web developer will look like if people will need web developers or developers.

00:01:34: And obviously I can't look into it to the future too but i think what we're seeing and talked about this in another recent episode is that companies are hopefully Coming to the conclusion that AI is maybe better used as a tool instead of doing token maxing and going all-in, And seeing AI has perfect replacement for people right now.

00:01:58: I have strong belief this will continue in the foreseeable future because AI IS an amazing tool!

00:02:04: It can really help you but it's not that replacement.

00:02:09: there are so many aspects being human or employee And so many things where AI is lacking, and I do talk in that other episode also about it.

00:02:18: That employees will be needed In the future too!

00:02:23: And there has been a case with all technological breakthroughs.

00:02:26: So i think if you're a developer or a web developer Yes You Will Be Needed In The Future Too And more and More Companies Will Realize They Need Those Developers.

00:02:37: The role will change likely.

00:02:39: There WILL be AI involved, clearly!

00:02:42: It may be a combination of writing code by hand and using AI.

00:02:46: there will most likely be code reviews involved in coming up with specifications.

00:02:51: definitely I think what your job will be to shape the code base and that can be done by hand, using AI.

00:02:58: And ideally by using this combination, AI CAN be helpful for researching stuff on so... AI WILL play a role but SO WILL the actual developer in the human end!

00:03:08: You could definitely make an argument that through AI maybe more companies get enabled to tackle more ambitious projects AND they WILL still need human employees side-by-side with AI.

00:03:22: As a web developer, that expertise you can bring to the table will probably I believe matter in future just as it mattered.

00:03:33: So staying a developer or a web-developer is not bad idea but of course i get right now.

00:03:40: job market especially for juniors isn't great so there may also be other attractive areas.

00:03:48: Now, are these areas DevOps and cyber security though if we stay in the tech sector or should you maybe switch to these sectors?

00:03:56: If you're not finding a job as a web developer right now.

00:04:00: My answer is a may be for a couple of reasons.

00:04:04: Let's start with DevOps.

00:04:06: DevOps can be pretty broad term.

00:04:09: here.

00:04:09: I mostly mean stuff like managing servers CICD working with GitHub with Docker stuff like that.

00:04:17: These are skills I think every web developer should have to some level.

00:04:21: An essential basic understanding of what Docker is, how to use it.

00:04:25: the same goes for Git and GitHub And i think you should also be able To at least set up a VPS For example on academy.com slash courses.

00:04:36: I don't just have amazing courses on cloud code and codex, i ha-have for example also a course on uh vps essential so that you can learn how to securely set up a vp s And they have way more courses there about all kinds of stuff including docker github actions.

00:04:50: So that could be useful!

00:04:52: Of course we take our membership To get access to all the courses as long as your are an active member.

00:04:58: That may be interesting too.

00:04:59: I think these skills every developer should have.

00:05:04: But is it a career you should switch into?

00:05:07: The first important thing here, instead.

00:05:10: If you don't enjoy it... You shouldn't!

00:05:12: And that's true no matter which career or part of the job we're talking about.

00:05:17: obviously We all have to do stuff we don't like myself included even though I'm self employed from time-to-time.

00:05:23: but if you are mostly working on something That's not a good idea.

00:05:28: And that wasn't a great idea for being a developer too!

00:05:30: I know there are people just in the market and it was never my thing, if i don t enjoy what im working on then Doing all that DevOps related stuff and since I believe that every developer should have the essentials there.

00:05:51: looking into those essential technologies Learning a bit about Docker learning abut it but get up.

00:05:56: It's on where our CI CD tools.

00:05:59: besides get-up actions That is good idea, and you obviously don't have to do with my courses.

00:06:04: They are great resources.

00:06:05: But i'm not just saying this here to sell me my course as I think This really something every developer Should due some extent.

00:06:12: now If that's a more secure career than being an actual developer, I can't tell you because if AI would come to a point where it can replace developers and web developers.

00:06:24: Because It can produce code That so good that You really need way less humans Then it can probably also set up CICD workflows And do server administration and so on.

00:06:38: Really well I don't think that's a good hedge against AI replacing developers.

00:06:44: If it can truly replace developers, and we're not close to that yet just make this really clear.

00:06:50: but if would truly replaced developers will also be able to allow extend to replace DevOps people.

00:06:59: Now you could make the argument oh no companies will surely want real humans doing DevOps Really?

00:07:06: Do companies want real humans managing their servers make sense on first sight, right?

00:07:10: But wouldn't you say the same for... writing the code for building the actual product.

00:07:16: If companies don't care about their products being broken because of AI, then there are servers being broken would probably not matter to them too.

00:07:26: now it will likely matter and that brings me back to the other point if The AI is good enough to write the code It's I mean truly Good Enough?

00:07:42: for DevOps will be fully replaced by AI and real employees, humans will be needed.

00:07:49: Now what about cybersecurity?

00:07:51: Here I think it's a bit more interesting now.

00:07:52: For one still if you don't like it It's not a good direction to go.

00:07:57: Also i would say entering cyber security is probably A bit harder than the DevOps and Web Dev stuff because You really need To spend More time learning how software and computers work in death, how to abuse security holes.

00:08:17: Vulnerabilities you need to dive into ethical hacking finding security vulnerabilities understanding in-depth house.

00:08:28: certain concepts like memory truly worked under the hood since many leaks and then vulnerabilities are for example related to memory related bugs in code on.

00:08:40: so I think for one, that the bar is higher here if you're starting from scratch to really become a good cybersecurity expert because it's not as easy too pick up skills there in my opinion.

00:08:56: As maybe coming from WebDev going to DevOps.

00:08:59: It definitely doable but will be more challenging being a cybersecurity expert than it is to be really good at DevOps.

00:09:11: That's my belief, may just also be the case because I'm not into cyber security at all and far from being an expert there.

00:09:23: so for me seems more difficult to make that transition but still definitely doable!

00:09:31: The prospects of this market are I think look really well, because what we can see of course is that also thanks to AI for many reasons about which i also talked in other episodes attacks are becoming more frequent.

00:09:47: Vulnerabilities are becoming exposed quicker and quicker with help off AI And there's likely more demand for cyber security companies than expert In the future.

00:10:01: then There Is Right Now!

00:10:05: AI can also, of course replace some jobs there probably if you follow that narrative.

00:10:12: And I think one thing AI is really good at already when it comes to finding bugs or security vulnerabilities because It's one thing to generate something That's really-really Good!

00:10:26: Its often easier To find a problem in an existing Thing and an existing piece Of software and AI Is not bad At that.

00:10:34: Still, humans will be needed there.

00:10:37: I'm not talking about AI doing it all!

00:10:39: iIm just saying that AI can definitely help thereto.

00:10:42: so its not like.

00:10:43: this is an area of cyber security where you only need humans and no AI at all...I think thats absolutely not the case.

00:10:54: So..i cant tell how many new jobs will be generated there.

00:10:59: Definitely some because again This is becoming more a topic And therefore this can be an interesting area to switch or get into cybersecurity, that is.

00:11:10: But again I think it's a longer way and probably a bit harder.

00:11:16: It requires skillset That does partially overlap with the skill set of a developer but then also requires you to think quite differently about certain aspects.

00:11:30: dive deeper And whilst that may definitely be interesting, if it's not something you enjoy as I mentioned.

00:11:37: i don't think It is a good idea and That Is true for every job If You Don't Enjoy At All Getting Into It Is Not A Good Idea.

00:11:45: Maybe Now More Than Ever.

00:11:48: Now We Have An Eye Because Humans Will Accel And Far Exceed What AI can give you as a company in the areas they truly care about?

00:12:01: They're truly invested and interested.

00:12:04: And therefore this is an aspect that's not to be underestimated, then I fully get it.

00:12:07: we all need To make a living and You can't do just what you enjoy every second of today But you should at least do something or try to do Something which you enjoy most Of the seconds off your day.

00:12:21: So yeah these are my points on That.

00:12:23: obviously you could add more professions here, these are just two of the ones I heard about most often.

00:12:31: And hopefully my perspective was a bit helpful but as always also share yours and what you think about that transition or future in general!