1 YoE dev + active OSS contributor (K8s, ArgoCD, Airflow) how do I break into DevOps?
Hey all, Looking for honest advice on transitioning into DevOps from a dev background.
My background: 2026 graduate, ~1 year professional experience as a Software Developer at a UK-based startup
Active open source contributor, merged PRs in Kubernetes, ArgoCD, and Apache Airflow Comfortable with CI/CD, containers, and cloud-native tooling from working on these projects, but haven't held a DevOps title yet
What I'm trying to figure out: Does OSS contribution to projects like K8s/ArgoCD actually move the needle for DevOps hiring, or do recruiters mostly filter on job titles/years of experience? Should I be targeting "Junior DevOps Engineer" roles or is my OSS work enough to aim higher? Any certs (CKA, Terraform Associate, etc.) actually worth the time at this stage, or is that just resume padding? How do you frame OSS work on a resume/LinkedIn so it doesn't get glossed over by ATS or recruiters?
I'm actively job hunting and open to joining a company for this role right now. But if the general feeling is that I need to build up more first, I'm genuinely happy to hear that too, would rather spend a few more months leveling up than apply too early and waste everyone's time.
Not looking for a shortcut, just want to know if I'm focusing my time on the right things before I start applying seriously. Appreciate any input, especially from people who've hired for DevOps roles or made a similar switch.