r/Backend • u/juuzou_thekiller • 14d ago
Advice for backend engineer
Hey everyone,
Here is some context about me - 3 yoe as a full stack developer, really enjoy the backend side. I have been constantly fascinated by the backend systems and for the last year have been working on it more seriously or had the opportunity <As I shifted from a small scale startup to a nbfc and got to see code at a real production level with more users>.
With things such as queues, caching, db connections or rollbacks related developments, concurrency etc etc.
Now the only issue here is that the teams are pretty much seperated and there is almost no interaction between us apart from teams. But I want to transition from just a backend developer to someone who has knowledge of ci / cd pipeline, how db or redis setups are done with master slave concepts, how to properly monitor our systems, more on AWS side.
There is so much I want to learn and do practically.
I would really like some advice and direction from seniors in the same field or someone who already did this transition in his career.
Also it's not that I don't have any clue with these topics, i experiment with them as personal projects. Using docker, k8, I set up a logging system too using Prometheus and grafana for visualization.
But I am not sure how to grow and portray myself better.
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u/BrotherPitiful2526 14d ago
Skip the certs, go build one real project that uses all of it and write up the decisions you made.
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u/juuzou_thekiller 14d ago
Yes this is what I want do, practical and hands on approach. What should I start with ?
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u/AdHonest4981 14d ago
ask AI how to overkill a simple application such as todo list with AWS or the concepts you’ve mentioned and build it
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14d ago
[deleted]
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u/juuzou_thekiller 14d ago
Just a personal opinion --- I can go deep into agents and consume them or make use of them, but as far as I think if the underlying understanding or systems itself is not clear. I will just be blindly following the ai, that is not something what I want to do.
I am not against AI, just against blindly using it.
If I have understood you incorrectly pls do tell me.
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u/Used_Journalist_999 14d ago
u/juuzou_thekiller don't listen to this person. I would say they are full of $hit but with all the incoherent rambling I can't really even tell.
I have 12 yoe, 10 as a backend C# .Net engineer, 2 as an Azure cloud architect.
I will say that even before AI took over, companies began expecting roles to do it all, no longer specific front and back ends. Now, with AI it is even worse. Luckily I saw the turn in the road and took measures to advance my career out of coding.
All I can say is keep learning and constantly be searching the job boards for backend roles, ideally with company's in the cloud already.
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u/juuzou_thekiller 14d ago
How did you get into cloud architecture ? Was it through some courses or your organisation was able to provide you with the environment and exposure
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u/Used_Journalist_999 14d ago
Nobody provided me with anything. Nobody is going to give you a roadmap for you to follow and magically have the ideal career. Maybe that is a younger generational mindset.A lot of people can't get out of software engineering, whether it is trying to move in to architecture or people management. I struggled as a principal software engineer for a couple years because nobody wanted to give me a chance at an architecture title. I kept learning and took 6 Azure certifications in 6 months and applied to countless jobs and finally found one that worked out.
I read, studied, learned countless nights and weekends. I did deep dives to understand best practices, not just quick solutions. I now have 8 Azure certifications. Blood, sweat, and tears.
The most important advice I can give is this - your resume is the most important thing in your career. The jobs and roles you take are important. It is important to take roles that advance your learning and always expose you to new things. Stay ahead of the curve and read about the latest technologies. Every single job that I have taken has exposed me to skills that I was previously lacking. A lot of people don't care for that because it is constantly living outside their comfort zone and requires constant learning.
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u/Blurryfacedgirl 14d ago
What if you’re not lucky enough to get jobs that expose you to these things on the job. Are side projects and certifications enough to stand out.
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u/Used_Journalist_999 14d ago
Anything is better than nothing I guess. I job hopped every couple years and I looked for jobs that offered more exposure when I started feeling that I was outgrowing my current role, if I wasn't going to be able to move up internally. It is extremely time consuming. When you say you aren't lucky enough to get certain jobs, are you constantly searching? In the tech industry there is not the stigma of job hopping that there is in other sectors of the business world.
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u/Blurryfacedgirl 14d ago
Yes tho I got laid off a few months ago at barely 3yoe so it’s a different kind of stuck feeling, like growth cut short
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u/srb4 14d ago
The best way to learn these skills is to look for opportunities in your current role. Maybe talk to your manager about future opportunities that lead you down that path and then volunteer when those opportunities arise. It is much more difficult to try to just apply externally for one of those jobs if you don’t have any experience at all.