Four years ago, I had zero IT experience. No degree in computer science. No certifications. No clue what an SRE even was.
One year later, I was working as an SRE at a large enterprise alongside engineers with decades of experience.
This is how it happened.
The Starting Point
I knew Sean Fretenborough through mutual connections. He'd been working in enterprise IT for over two decades - the kind of experience you can't fake. When I mentioned I was interested in getting into tech, he didn't point me to a bootcamp or tell me to get a certification. He said something that changed my trajectory:
"I'll teach you the way I learned. I'll give you topics to study. You research them, then we talk about what you found."
That was the deal. No structured curriculum. No hand-holding. Just a list of topics and the expectation that I'd figure it out.
The Method
Every week or two, Sean would give me something to research. Sometimes it was broad - "learn about DNS." Sometimes it was specific - "understand how TCP handshakes work." Sometimes it was practical - "set up a Linux VM and get comfortable with the command line."
My job was to go find the information. Read documentation. Watch videos. Set up lab environments. Break things. Fix them. Then come back and explain what I learned.
The conversations were the real education. Sean would ask questions I hadn't thought of. He'd poke holes in my understanding. He'd share war stories from enterprise environments that put the theory into context. "That's how it works in textbooks. Here's what actually happens at 2am when a production system is down."
What I Actually Studied
Looking back at that year, here's the progression Sean laid out for me:
1. Networking
The foundation of everything. TCP/IP, DNS, routing, firewalls, load balancers. You can't troubleshoot what you don't understand, and networking underlies every system you'll ever touch.
2. Hypervisors
How virtualization actually works. VMware, Hyper-V, KVM. Understanding the layer between hardware and operating systems changed how I thought about infrastructure.
3. Scripting
This was a big one. PowerShell, Python, Bash. But also the stuff around scripting - YAML, JSON, XML for configuration. Regex for pattern matching. Source control with Git. How to work with APIs. This is where you stop being someone who clicks buttons and start being someone who automates.
4. Containers
Docker, container fundamentals, how they differ from VMs. The shift from "deploy a server" to "deploy an application" thinking.
5. Cloud
AWS and Azure fundamentals. Compute, storage, networking in the cloud. The mental model shift from physical infrastructure to on-demand resources.
6. Orchestration and Pipelines
Infrastructure as Code, Configuration as Code. Terraform, Ansible, Puppet. CI/CD with Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab. This is where everything comes together - infrastructure that's version controlled, tested, and deployed automatically.
7. Architectural Decisions
How to think about systems at scale. Trade-offs between approaches. Why certain patterns exist. This isn't something you learn from documentation - it comes from discussion and experience.
8. Instrumentation and Telemetry
The deepest rabbit hole. Observability, APM, monitoring. SNMP, WMI, Perfmon, Syslog, Event logs. OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana. Datadog, New Relic, SolarWinds, Thousand Eyes, Kentik. You can't fix what you can't see, and modern systems require serious investment in visibility.
The Hard Parts
I won't pretend it was easy. Some weeks I spent 20+ hours on a single topic. There were moments where I felt completely lost - staring at documentation that assumed knowledge I didn't have, Googling terms from the Google results.
The hardest part wasn't the technical content. It was the uncertainty. Bootcamps give you a clear path - complete these modules, pass this test, get this certificate. Self-directed learning doesn't work that way. I constantly wondered: Am I learning the right things? Am I going deep enough? Will this actually lead to a job?
Sean's guidance was the anchor. When I went down rabbit holes that didn't matter, he'd redirect me. When I was avoiding topics I found intimidating, he'd push me toward them. When I felt like I wasn't making progress, he'd point out how far I'd come.
Getting the Job
After about a year, I started applying for jobs.
The interviews were technical. They asked me to troubleshoot scenarios, explain concepts, talk through how I'd approach problems. I didn't know everything - not even close. But I knew how to think about systems. I knew how to find answers. I had hands-on experience from all those lab environments. And I could speak intelligently about enterprise-grade tools and patterns because Sean had grounded everything in real-world context.
I landed a role at a large enterprise, working alongside Sean. The mentorship continued, but now I was getting paid to learn.
What Made This Work
Looking back, a few things made this approach successful:
1. A mentor who was invested
Sean didn't just give me topics and disappear. He made time for conversations. He answered questions. He cared whether I succeeded. Not everyone has access to this, and I don't take it for granted.
2. Self-direction with guardrails
I had to do the work myself - nobody was going to spoon-feed me. But Sean kept me pointed in the right direction. Pure self-teaching would have taken twice as long with half the results.
3. Practical application
Every topic connected to real work. I wasn't learning theory for certification exams. I was learning skills I'd actually use. That made it stick.
4. Consistent effort over time
A year of steady work beats a month of cramming. I studied most days, even when it was just an hour. The compound effect is real.
Four Years Later
I'm now a Senior SRE. I've worked through a major ransomware attack. I've mentored interns myself. I work with AWS, Azure, Python, PowerShell, and increasingly, AI tools like Claude Code.
None of it would have happened without that first year of guided self-study.
If You're Starting Out
You don't need a CS degree. You don't need expensive bootcamps. You don't need to know someone who'll give you a job.
What you need:
- A clear list of topics to study (I'll share mine in future posts)
- The discipline to study consistently
- Hands-on practice - reading isn't enough
- Someone to learn from, even if it's just online communities
If you can find a mentor willing to guide you, take it. That's the fast track. If you can't, the path is still open - it just requires more trial and error.
The SRE Project exists because we believe this approach works. Sean taught me. Now we want to teach others.
Start with one topic. Learn it well. Then move to the next.
One year from now, you'll be amazed how far you've come.
- Seth Black, Co-Founder, The SRE Project