Dominique Top shares her unconventional career journey into DevOps, highlighting her diverse experiences from being a solutions engineer to her role as a community advocate. She discusses the importance of personal growth, addressing impostor syndrome, and practical steps for those starting out in the field. The presentation concludes with encouragement to set realistic goals, seek help, and embrace failures as learning opportunities.

1. a story about my unconventional way
into devops
by dominique top [she / her]
My Career
Journey

2. Agenda
here’s what i’ll be waffling about for the next 30 mins:
1. whoami
2. why am I speaking at a devops conference about career journeys
3. my history (from then to now, this is the bulky bit)
4. my future (please note; i’m not a fortune teller)
5. conclusion, or ‘what do i do with this information’

3. whoami
there’s no place like 127.0.0.1
01

4. * dominique top
* solutions engineer @ hashicorp
* meetup & conference organiser
* vocalist / dj / producer
* neurodivergent
* all-round nerd
whoami @devopsdomi

5. but why tho
* why am i speaking at a devops conference about my career journey
* why am i speaking at a devops conference about my career journey
* why am i speaking at a devops conference about my career journey
* why am i speaking at a devops conference about my career journey
02

6. what is devops (dangerous question of the day)
DevOps is the collective development and
operations lifecycle of business critical
software systems, the infrastructure it runs
upon, and the mindset, methodologies and
processes applied to it by the people who
build, run and maintain it.
Or something.

7. — Wayne Gretzky
(or so the internet suggests)
“You miss a 100% of the shots you don’t
take”

8. impostor syndrome
Impostor “syndrome” refers to the notion that
some individuals feel as if they ended up in
esteemed roles and positions not because of
their competencies, but because of some
oversight or stroke of luck. Such individuals
therefore feel like frauds or “impostors.”
Source: Contextualizing the Impostor “Syndrome”,
published on frontiers in Psychology
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.575024/full

9. impostor syndrome
Impostor “syndrome” refers to the notion that
some individuals feel as if they ended up in
esteemed roles and positions not because of
their competencies, but because of some
oversight or stroke of luck. Such individuals
therefore feel like frauds or “impostors.”
Source: Contextualizing the Impostor “Syndrome”,
published on frontiers in Psychology
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.575024/full

10. impostor syndrome
Impostor “syndrome” refers to the notion that
some individuals feel as if they ended up in
esteemed roles and positions not because of
their competencies, but because of some
oversight or stroke of luck. Such individuals
therefore feel like frauds or “impostors.”
Source: Contextualizing the Impostor “Syndrome”,
published on frontiers in Psychology
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.575024/full

11. my history
started from the bottom now we’re here
03

12. — Bryan's Dad,
NPAC graduation day, June 2011
“Your twenties should be about exploring
who you are, you have enough time to
settle on a career path from your thirties
onwards. Don’t stay in the same role or
company for more than 5 years”

13. a short history of nearly everything
Graduated Pop Academy
2011
Apple Premium Reseller
2011 - 2016
DevOps Recruiter &
Community Advocate
2017 - 2019
DevRel & Community
Manager
2019 - 2020
Solutions Engineer
2020 - Now

14. a short history of nearly everything
Graduated Pop Academy
2011
Apple Premium Reseller
2011 - 2016
DevOps Recruiter &
Community Advocate
2017 - 2019
DevRel & Community
Manager
2019 - 2020
Solutions Engineer
2020 - Now

15. a short history of nearly everything
Graduated Pop Academy
2011
Apple Premium Reseller
2011 - 2016
DevOps Recruiter &
Community Advocate
2017 - 2019
DevRel & Community
Manager
2019 - 2020
Solutions Engineer
2020 - Now

16. a short history of nearly everything
Graduated Pop Academy
2011
Apple Premium Reseller
2011 - 2016
DevOps Recruiter &
Community Advocate
2017 - 2019
DevRel & Community
Manager
2019 - 2020
Solutions Engineer
2020 - Now

17. a short history of nearly everything
Graduated Pop Academy
2011
Apple Premium Reseller
2011 - 2016
DevOps Recruiter &
Community Advocate
2017 - 2019
DevRel & Community
Manager
2019 - 2020
Solutions Engineer
2020 - Now

18. my future
boldly go where man has definitely gone before
04

19. — Maya Angelou
“I have great respect for the past. If you don't
know where you've come from, you don't know
where you're going.”

20. my future
Those without experience do
personal projects
(currently doing cloudresumechallenge.dev)
Those without experience get
certified
(failed linux exam twice, but not giving up)
Learn from each other and lift
each other up
(WISE at HashiCorp)
(Women, Non-Binary & Marginalised Genders in Solutions Engineering)

21. conclusion
live long and prosper
05

22. what do i do with all this
● just do it, basically
● worry about your own journey (others have their own worries)
● set realistic goals and work towards them
● don’t expect miracles
● don’t be afraid to ask for help
● fail fast, fail often (but don’t forget to learn from it)

23. CREDITS: This presentation template was created by Slidesgo, including icons by Flaticon, and infographics & images by Freepik
thanks
for listening
Follow me on twitter, add me on linkedin
@devopsdomi
Dominique Top