Use these questions to identify a candidate’s technical knowledge and abilities
Use these questions to determine how a candidate handled situations in the past
Use these questions to assess a candidate’s personal traits and cognitive skills
Why this matters:
Site reliability engineers (SRE) need a standard way to document every aspect of what their team does—so they can easily discover the root cause of an incident. From there, they can make or request the required changes to make the platform more reliable. Candidates must know the importance of proper documentation at every stage of development.
What to listen for:
- Listen for answers that mention attributes like reliability, stability, performance, time to recover.
- The best responses will be thoughtful and thorough, delving into specific strategies for testing these attributes and markers for success.
Why this matters:
One of the key functions of the SRE is to take a holistic view of system health and reliability. Attention to detail is critical in this role, since even the smallest errors can lead to major issues. The best site reliability engineers know how to gather and analyze data from both operating systems and applications to assist in performance tuning and fault finding.
What to listen for:
- An ideal answer to this question will demonstrate a wide breadth of knowledge and an understanding of data and metrics.
- Look for references to test-driven development (DTT) techniques and debugging tools.
Why this matters:
While this may seem like a simple question for a site reliability engineer, it provides excellent insight into the candidate’s operational perspective. Are they accustomed to using a hodgepodge of languages or is the development flow opinionated? How many different technologies does a team have to support?
What to listen for:
- Are they more interested in choosing something easy or are they willing to use the newest tech to make improvements?
- Candidates may mention considerations like maintainability, scalability, and security levels, all of which impact a company’s systems.
Why this matters:
Development is a highly collaborative process, requiring a number of teams and clients to work together. If one element is off schedule, it can be difficult to identify, solve, and fix issues, and ultimately meet implementation dates. How they answer the question will indicate the candidate’s ability to solve a problem to meet a deadline.
What to listen for:
- Listen for signs that the candidate can take charge to ensure key deadlines are met.
- Rather than expressing frustration, a strong answer will focus on what the candidate did to solve the problem.
Why this matters:
The SRE is responsible for the availability, performance, monitoring, and incident response, among other things, of the platforms and services that a company owns. They must know how to respond to backlogs and take action before issues become problems. If a majority of their career was spent in reactive mode, they may not know how to be proactive.
What to listen for:
- Candidates should acknowledge their weaknesses and strengths, and demonstrate a willingness and ability to work together with a team.
- If they claim to to have been purely proactive, probe for more detail to see if they can handle quick reactions.
Why this matters:
It can be frustrating when someone disagrees with you, especially in a field where technology can make or break a launch or update. To handle these situations gracefully and guide projects toward success, it's important for a candidate to know how to be diplomatic while still relying on their expertise and knowledge.
What to listen for:
- Look for answers that show the candidate listened to another’s perspective, shared their own, and managed to reach a workable solution.
- A calm and reflective demeanor when describing the situation is ideal.
Why this matters:
This question can help you screen for both communication and teamwork skills. Each team is made up of people with differing expertise, leadership instincts, and backgrounds in all kinds of industries. Strong candidates will demonstrate the flexible, pragmatic nature it takes to work in harmony to reach a goal.
What to listen for:
- Answers should reveal that the candidate is comfortable sharing their insight when it can benefit the company.
- Smart candidates understand the importance of being tactful and adaptable depending on the circumstances.
Why this matters:
Production meetings are crucial to evaluating the current state of a project or improvements that need to be made to operations. There are many ways to run a production meeting, depending on the location of team members and the scope. What this question gets to is your candidate’s leadership ability and resourcefulness in moving a project through the pipeline.
What to listen for:
- Consider how their leadership style compares with your needs, and listen for answers that reflect those values.
- A strong answer will indicate that the candidate sees the value of time management and internal processes.
Why this matters:
This is a great way to determine if the candidate is actively pursuing professional development, and whether or not they have a drive for continuous learning. To keep up with the rapidly developing field of technology, the best SREs are on top of trends of the industry, and actively seek to enhance their knowledge and skills.
What to listen for:
- Any mention of conferences, online courses, professional groups, message boards, and authors show an eagerness to learn.
- Top answers will include details of specific steps the candidate has taken to grow and why they were beneficial.
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