How to Get a Platform Engineer Job in 2025 (No Guesswork)

Description

Ever wondered what a Platform Engineer at a major airline actually does? In this episode of the Tech Jobber Podcast, we sit down with Ameen Sherali, Principal Platform Engineer at JetBlue Airways, to get the inside story on one of tech's hottest—and most misunderstood—roles. Ameen pulls back the curtain on his journey from intern to principal engineer at JetBlue (all without job-hopping), what platform engineering really means versus DevOps and SRE, and what it's like keeping critical systems running 24/7 for a major airline. 🎯 WHAT WE COVER: Understanding the Role: What platform engineering actually is (beyond the buzzwords) How it's different from DevOps and SRE—with real examples Day-to-day responsibilities of a platform engineer at JetBlue Why companies are investing heavily in platform teams in 2025 The Tech & Skills: The tools Ameen works with: Kubernetes, Terraform, GitHub Actions, ArgoCD/Flux, Docker Why "No Click-Ops" matters for reliability at scale Observability stacks and why they're critical Infrastructure-as-Code and what it means in practice Career Insights: How Ameen went from intern to principal at the same company What hiring managers look for when filling platform roles Salary reality check: $120K–$170K+ depending on level and location Industries hiring platform engineers: aviation, fintech, healthcare, startups The Reality: What 24/7 on-call actually means in aviation tech How AI is impacting platform engineering work Home labs and why proof-of-work matters Where to start if you're interested in this career path ⏰ TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 – Introduction to Ameen Sherali 00:43 – What is Platform Engineering? 02:30 – What do developers need from platform teams? 03:50 – DevOps vs SRE vs Platform Engineering explained 05:45 – The core tech stack: Terraform, K8s, GitHub Actions, Docker 07:40 – Observability 101: Logs, metrics, monitoring 09:25 – Career progression: Intern → Manager → Principal 12:05 – The "No Click-Ops" philosophy and why IaC wins 14:30 – Salary ranges: $120K–$170K+ (role dependent) 16:05 – Industries hiring: Aviation, banks, healthcare, startups 18:00 – What gets you hired: Curiosity, home labs, proof-of-work 21:20 – AI in platform engineering: Friend or foe? 24:10 – Aviation tech reality: 24/7 reliability & on-call life 33:40 – Closing thoughts & where to start 📚 RESOURCES MENTIONED: Learning Platforms: Pluralsight LinkedIn Learning Udemy (zero-to-hero style courses) Tools Discussed: Terraform / OpenTofu GitHub Actions ArgoCD / FluxCD Kubernetes Docker Grafana observability stack 👨‍💻 ABOUT THE GUEST: Ameen Sherali is a Principal Platform Engineer at JetBlue Airways, where he's responsible for building and maintaining the infrastructure that keeps one of America's largest airlines running. His unique career path—going from intern to principal engineer at the same company—offers valuable insights for anyone interested in growing within a single organization. 🎙️ ABOUT TECH JOBBER PODCAST: We interview real tech professionals about their careers, what they actually do day-to-day, and how they got where they are. No fluff, just honest conversations about tech jobs and career paths. 👍 LIKE if you enjoyed learning about platform engineering! 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more tech career interviews! 💬 COMMENT: What questions do you have about platform engineering or working in aviation tech? #PlatformEngineering #TechJobberPodcast #JetBlue #DevOps #Kubernetes #TechCareers #SoftwareEngineering #TechInterview #CareerPath