New Game+: Platform Engineer#

After almost 15 years in backend and data engineering – most recently as a tech lead – I’ve decided to respec into platform engineering. My intention is to use this blog to document that journey.

How did I get here?

At the end of last year I took some time off to deal with some health issues. It had been a long time since I had time to think, to reflect on my life and career. Without meaning to, I started questioning what I actually wanted from my career, and turns out, the answer wasn’t “keep grinding the same questline.”

I’ve always loved the problem-solving side of engineering. I’ve never considered what I do a “job”, it’s always felt more like a game. I am having fun doing what I do. But somewhere along the way, that fun started to fade. And I kept thinking back to a previous role I had on a platform team – building the tools and infrastructure that leveled up the engineers around me. I realized I missed that.

So, I’m making the switch. Platform engineering means a different problem space and different technologies to dig into, and honestly, I’m excited about it in a way I haven’t been in quite a while. I’ve got experience with a lot of the foundational pieces already (carry-over stats from the first playthrough), but there’s a difference between “I’ve worked a bit with Kubernetes” and “I actually know what I’m doing.” I’m planning to close that gap – CKA, Terraform certification, and going deeper on the surrounding ecosystem.

This blog will serve as my quest log – partly accountability, partly documentation, and partly an excuse to write things down so I remember them later. If you’re on a similar path, maybe you’ll find something useful here.