Tinker, play, break, fix. Start with docker, a couple virtual machines, use the terminal, even switch to linux. Start automating/scripting mundane or repetitive tasks. For me, this is fun, I actually enjoy the work I do. I have a homelab, a few mini-pcs that I play with, and that I’m not afraid to break. I use ansible and terraform to manage them. Completely overkill for just a few apps and services I run for me and my family, but that’s how I learned a bunch of things.

Getting a job in devops might need a few years of experience as either a sysadmin or a developer, but it’s in high demand.