Demand for Kubernetes Professionals is Here Now.

In this post, I review the following topics to help you understand what Kubernetes is, why it is gaining traction, the salary range, and the demand for Kubernetes professionals.

• What is Kubernetes?
• Kubernetes Roles
• Kubernetes Certifications
• Salaries for Kubernetes Professionals
• What is Kubernetes?

Officially, Kubernetes is a portable, extensible, open-source platform for managing containerized workloads and services, that facilitates both declarative configuration and automation.

Ok, how about a simpler way to sum up Kubernetes? Kubernetes is a container orchestration platform that reduces manual errors and is now really more of an ecosystem of DevOps as well.
There are great solutions for both on-premises and the cloud that support Kubernetes.
The name Kubernetes originates from Greek, meaning helmsman or pilot. Google open-sourced the Kubernetes project in 2014.
Kubernetes combines over 15 years of Google's experience running production workloads at scale with best-of-breed ideas and practices from the community

For those interested in the cool history of Kubernetes, Read this post below
What Is The Awesome Relationship Between The Kubernetes And Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)? Kubernetes Roles Kubernetes knowledge is now clearly in demand both as a skillset or a nice to have on your profile.
Full-time Kubernetes roles are now fairly common to see on the popular job boards such as LinkedIn, Dice, Indeed, or Monster as a full-time administrator or developer.

K8s" is like a code in the development world. It is an abbreviation formed of the first and last letters, with the '8' representing the number of letters in between the word "Kubernetes". - Joe Holbrook
For example, Kubernetes has been around a while, but like any new technology, it can take some time to be adopted. Its clear that we are seeing a significant amount of search traffic.
Google Trends showing "Kubernetes" search results for 5 Years.

It's also clear that there are certain subregions that have a high search number.
Even though the search trends show a slight drop in "Kubernetes" it's clear that other solutions that use Kubernetes are picking up when you dive into the data.
For example, Terraform has been widely used for deploying Kubernetes.
Google Trends Related Topics
One thing that has prompted me to write this post is the number of LinkedIn jobs that seem to have "Kubernetes" in the job description or now more frequently than ever, Kubernetes as the role such as "Kubernetes Engineer", Kubernetes Developer" or Kubernetes Administrator".

Typically, Kubernetes was wrapped up in "DevOps" based titles, now its clearly a breakaway. The expertise requirements are much more specific now with these roles.
Example of number of job posting with "Kubernetes" in the description.
Search for Kubernetes in Jobs in USA.

For example, a Kubernetes Engineers role according to Kubernaauts.io a company that had a posting for a Kubernetes Engineer is as follows in summary…

Design and build distributed systems. Contribute and fix bugs in stream Kubernetes (written in Go) Having interest to work on K8. Having interest to dive into OpenShift and Rancher. Work with your fellow engineers and the community to make the world a better place.

You really don't have to search to have to find roles with Kubernetes in them.
Glassdoor has over 18000 roles with "Kubernetes" in the job description.

Certification for Kubernetes Professionals
Kubernetes certification is becoming a requirement. The two most respected Kubernetes Certifications are the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) Exam and the Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) Exam.

These exams are proctored through the Linux Foundation
Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) which is located here http://shrsl.com/2gtec
Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) is located here http://shrsl.com/2gtfv
Both the CKA and the CKAD show up in the job postings as either a nice to have or a required certification.
Obtaining either of these certifications will help you stand out. Check out this article where I compare them.
The Kubernetes Certifications (CKA vs CKAD)

If you are considering either exam, my Free Exam Prep Series should be a great start for you.
Check out my Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) Exam Prep Series Salaries for Kubernetes Professionals
Salaries for Kubernetes Professionals can range in the US between $120,000 up to 230,000 for solid development professionals

For example, Talent.com has a salary at $140,000

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Joseph Holbrook, CLO
TechCommanders.com