When I first started, I did what most beginners do: begged AI to write my “About Me.” Before that, I looked at profiles of top DevOps freelancers with 100% job success scores and gave those references to AI so it could build something similar for me. Profile looked good. I added 3–4 high-level mindset? I had that in mind that Upwork must be full of big end-to-end DevOps jobs like Blockchain-as-a-Service… but no. Most job posts were small tasks: fix Nginx, set up CI/CD, update a pipeline, restart the universe, etc. I even bought the Upwork premium plan so I could be the first to see every new job. Didn’t help. Competition was wild. I changed my keywords, edited my project catalog, and kept applying. Mostly got ghosted. Sometimes clients viewed my proposal and vanished like I had insulted their ancestors. So I started researching clients outside Upwork – LinkedIn, emails, company websites – to personalize proposals. Surprisingly, it worked. I ended up getting three calls: - One from Upwork (high bidding) - One from LinkedIn (after finding the company name) - One from email (again from company research) But none worked out. One hired someone else, one offered very low pay (I wasn’t ready to accept low budgets then) and one didn’t need DevOps anymore. Still, at least they responded. After dozens of proposals and burning 80+ connects like a ritual sacrifice, finally one client replied to my proposal. Their budget was low, and I needed work + reviews. So we made a deal. Client #1. And that’s how the journey started.

In 2025, DevOps engineers in the U.S. earn an average salary of $141,357 annually. Source: Coursera Specializing in Kubernetes can further enhance earning potential, with salaries ranging from $142,000 to $162,000, depending on experience. Source: Bluelight Software Solutions The demand for DevOps skills remains high, with yearly growth projected at 17% between 2023 and 2033. Souce: Coursera Proficiency in tools like Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud platforms such as AWS and Azure is highly sought after. Source: Brokee

Hi friends, May I ask you a question? Please post in the comments where you are from. This way, we can see where all the members live. Afterward, take a look through the comments and feel free to like or say "hi" to members who are from your area. I'm super curious to see where you're all from and will read every single comment. Let's gooooo! - Mischa 🫡