I need honest advice, not motivation. Here's my situation:
What I built in 6 months:
CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions on AWS (EC2, EKS, S3, IAM)
Kubernetes deployments with Helm and ArgoCD
Infrastructure as Code with Terraform
Docker containerization end-to-end
3-4 real projects on GitHub — not tutorials, actual setups
The problem:
Zero shortlists. Zero replies to cold emails. Most DevOps job postings ask for 1-3 years experience. I have no DSA prep — skipped it entirely to focus on DevOps. Core CS (OS, DBMS, CN) is rusty. Graduating May 2026.
What I genuinely don't know:
Is DevOps a realistic first job for a fresher in India in 2026, or is it always an "after 1-2 years SDE experience" field? I want a real answer — not "keep applying, it'll happen."
Should I spend the next 2-3 months doing DSA and apply broadly to SDE roles at any company just to get market entry — then pivot to DevOps after 1 year?
Or is there a specific type of company (size, stage, domain) where a fresher with strong DevOps projects actually gets a shot without DSA rounds?
If you were a fresher today with my exact skillset — what would your next 90 days look like?
I'm not looking for "you'll figure it out." I want to know what people who've actually hired or been hired in this space think the realistic path looks like.