Yea but that doesn't sound shiny on your resume.
I never did choose any single thing in my job, just because of how it could look in my resume.
After +20 years of Linux sysadmin/devops, and because a spinal disc herniation last year, now I'm looking for a job.
99% of job offers, will ask for EKS/Kubernetes now.
It's like the VMware of the years 200[1-9], or like the "Cloud" of the years 201[1-9].
I've always specialized in physical datacenters and servers, being it on-premises, colocation, embedded, etc... so I'm out of the market now, at least in Spain (which always goes like 8 years behind the market).
You can try to avoid it, and it's nice when you save thousands of operational/performance/security/etc issues and dollars to your company across the years, and you look like a guru that goes ahead of industry issue to your boss eyes, but, it will make finding a job... 99% harder.
It doesn't matter if you demonstrate the highest level on Linux, scripting, ansible, networking, security, hardware, performance tuning, high availability, all kind of balancers, switching, routing, firewalls, encryption, backups, monitoring, log management, compliance, architecture, isolation, budget management, team management, provider/customer management, debugging, automation, programming full stack, and a long etc. If you say "I never worked with Kubernetes, but I learn fast", with your best sincerity at the interview, then you're automatically out of the process. No matter if you're talking with human resources, a helper of the CTO, or the CTO. You're out.
If you say "I never worked with X, but I learn fast", with your best sincerity at the interview, then you're automatically out of the process.
Where X can be not just k8s but any other bullet point on the job req.
It's interesting that the very things that people used to say to get the job 20 years ago -- and not as a plattitude (it's a perfectly reasonable and intelligent thing to say, and in a rational world, exactly what one would hope to hear from a candidate) -- are now considered as red flags that immediately disqualify one for the job.
Very sorry to hear about your current situation - best of luck.
Ive never heard of this - has this been your direct experience?
It's somewhat speculative (because no one ever tells you the reason for dropping your application or not contacting you in the first place) but the impression I have, echoed by what many others seem to be saying, is that the process has shifted greatly from "Is this a strong, reliable, motivated person?" (with toolchain overlap being mostly gravy) to "Do they have 5-8 recent years of X, Y and Z?".
As if years of doing anything is a reliable predictor of anything, or can even be effectively measured.
Depends on what kind of company you want to join. Some value simplicity and efficiency more.