Interview questions for DevOps Engineers

If you’re a candidate preparing for an interview — this blog is for you. We’re breaking down some of the most common interview questions for DevOps Engineers. 

Going into the interview feeling ready is the best way to emulate confidence as a candidate — your interview preparation starts here!

Firstly, prepare to be tested

And we’re not just talking about the technical test. We’re talking about the questions you’ll be asked in the interview. Interviews are designed to explore your knowledge about the position you’re going for, that’s obvious, but it’s particularly true for a DevOps role. 

The hiring manager will want you to showcase a forward-thinking mentality, and they’ll want to check how your skills align with what they’re after.

Remember to read the job description properly. It sounds obvious, but it’s a common mistake made by candidates. Read it again before your technical.

DevOps questions the interviewer might ask you

1. Can you tell me about some of the automation tools you used in your last job?

 Before hiring anyone for their DevOps team, they’ll want to know what tools you’re already proficient in. Which tools do you like and why? How have you used them in different situations? And why wouldn’t you recommend others? 

2. Can you explain to me your understanding of the DevOps methodology? 

The methodology is a large part of any technical job, and if you’re interviewing for a senior position, it’s essential you’re able to answer this question. For example, how are you making sure that what you’re doing is working? And how are you fixing it if it’s not? It’s great to have examples to hand for questions like these so you can demonstrate through real-life scenarios.

3. What metrics did your last team use to define their success when it came to implementing DevOps?

We’re all aware that DevOps helps problem-solve in organisations — from uniting people to automating manually-intensive processes. But hiring managers want to know how you approach it and where you start. They want to know your definition of success — it’s easy giving answers to questions, but to explain what metrics you have used successfully in the past, helps them understand what you can bring to the table. 

Extra tip: If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t muddle through. It’s best you’re honest as the hiring manager is not expecting you to know everything. Here’s some great advice from our OQ DevOps team if you find yourself in this position:

Say: “I’m not sure, to be honest, but the only relevant experience I can use to compare or relate this to is the time I did X and how we found a solution by doing Y.”

We hope this has helped shed some light on what kind of DevOps interview questions you might have to field! 

If you’re looking for your next technical role, we’ve got recruitment specialists spanning all areas from DevOps and UX/UI to Digital Marketing and backend development.

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