Who is stopping you from getting the DevOps/SRE offer? Perspective from the hiring manager interview

Summary

The speaker shares insights on the hiring process for DevOps and SRE roles, emphasizing the key stages where candidates may face challenges. They explain that while recruiters and hiring managers play an important role, the most significant hurdle often comes during technical interviews with senior engineers. These engineers, who seek highly skilled candidates to minimize training efforts, ask tough technical questions related to system design, coding (e.g., Terraform, Jenkins, Ansible), and cloud infrastructure. Preparing thoroughly for these technical interviews is crucial to advancing and securing a job offer.

Takeaways

• 👨‍💼 The speaker has over five years of experience as an operations/SRE manager, with a successful track record of retaining employees.
• 📊 During their management tenure, they have interviewed around 20 people and personally been interviewed for DevOps and SRE roles multiple times over the last 7-8 years.
• 🔍 Recruiters are incentivized to push candidates through to the hiring manager, so candidates are rarely denied at the recruiter stage.
• 📉 Once a candidate reaches the hiring manager, there's about a 50-60% chance of moving to the next stage, as hiring managers are often eager to fill open positions.
• 🧠 Hiring managers may ask a mix of technical and non-technical questions, but the toughest hurdle is the technical interview with senior engineers.
• 🛠️ Senior engineers prioritize hiring candidates who are technically strong and require minimal training, so they are the most likely to prevent candidates from receiving an offer.
• 💻 Candidates should focus on preparing for technical interviews, which may involve topics such as coding in Terraform, system design, Ansible, Jenkins, CI/CD pipelines, or cloud services like AWS or GCP.
• 🤖 The senior engineer interview often includes scenario-based questions that are relevant to the company’s current challenges.
• ⚠️ Candidates should not overly stress about the recruiter or hiring manager; the key challenge is the technical interview with senior engineers.
• 👍 The speaker emphasizes the importance of preparing thoroughly for the technical interview, as it is the main barrier to receiving an offer.

Q & A

What is the speaker's experience in DevOps and SRE roles?

The speaker has over five years of experience as an operations/SRE manager, managing around 27-28 people during that time, and only losing one person to attrition.

How many people has the speaker interviewed for DevOps or SRE positions?

The speaker has interviewed around 20 people for DevOps or SRE roles.

What role do recruiters play in the interview process according to the speaker?

Recruiters, whether internal or external, aim to move candidates forward in the process because they are incentivized by getting candidates through to the hiring manager.

What is the significance of making it to the hiring manager stage?

Making it to the hiring manager stage means that the candidate has a 50-60% chance of moving forward, as hiring managers are often eager to fill positions that have been approved after a delay.

Why is the technical interview with senior engineers crucial in this process?

The technical interview with senior engineers is crucial because they have a vested interest in hiring someone who already has the skills, as they want to minimize the time spent on training and knowledge transfer.

What types of technical questions can candidates expect during the interview with senior engineers?

Candidates can expect coding interviews on tools like Terraform, system design interviews, or a combination of questions about tools such as Ansible, Jenkins, CI/CD pipelines, cloud platforms like AWS or GCP, and company-specific scenarios.

Who is most likely responsible for stopping candidates from getting an offer?

The senior engineers conducting the technical interview are most likely responsible for stopping candidates from getting an offer if they do not perform well.

What should candidates focus on when preparing for an interview for a DevOps/SRE position?

Candidates should focus on preparing for the technical interview with senior engineers, as this is the most critical part of the process and the biggest hurdle in securing an offer.

Does the speaker suggest that candidates should worry about the recruiter or hiring manager interviews?

No, the speaker suggests that candidates should not stress too much about the recruiter or hiring manager interviews. The technical interview with senior engineers is where the real challenge lies.

What is the speaker’s main message in this video?

The main message is that candidates should focus their preparation on the technical interview with senior engineers, as this is the stage that most often determines whether they receive an offer.