In today's fast-paced digital world, DevOps has become an essential component for organizations seeking to stay competitive and keep up with the demands of their customers. As the demand for DevOps continues to rise, it has become increasingly important to know how to hire the right DevOps engineer.
A skilled DevOps engineer can help streamline operations, improve efficiency, and ensure the smooth running of your organization's software development process. However, with so many DevOps candidates out there, finding the right fit can be a daunting task.
In this guide, we'll explore the essential qualities to look for in a DevOps engineer and provide practical tips to help you make the right hiring decision.
DevOps Engineer Skills To Look Out
Clearly defining what you need from DevOps engineers is the key to recruiting them successfully.
You must understand that you can’t just “hire a DevOps developer.” A wide variety of knowledge is covered in the field of DevOps.
Finding individuals with the essential abilities required for DevOps architecture is thus a wise place to begin.
Soft Skills
Here are a few soft talents that a DevOps engineer should possess:
- Inquisitiveness – The DevOps industry is quite active. When evaluating and deploying new technologies, a DevOps engineer must be bold. They must also be insatiably curious about the newest developments.
- Self-confidence – The DevOps vs. SRE argument is still going strong. On occasion, you might have to persuade your other engineers to support your plans and methods, which is not always easy.
- Creativity – DevOps requires a lot of creativity and flexibility. Since they won’t become bored, some people might find this intriguing. However, as a strategy has no place in this situation, it might be unfortunate for others.
- Teamwork – Be prepared for a lot of it, as it takes a team to produce a genuinely outstanding tech item. A DevOps developer needs to be able to teach the other team members new concepts and techniques.
- Strategic thinking – This ability is very important when it comes to planning infrastructure changes, such as if your company needs extra computer resources.
Technical Skills
Here are the technical skills that a DevOps engineer should possess:
- Virtualization – In DevOps, the term “virtualization” refers to the process of virtualizing servers and other process elements. You can hire a DevOps developer who specializes in network virtualization or server virtualization within the virtualization field.
- Infrastructure Management – DevOps engineers need to be well-versed in the most recent methods for managing and planning infrastructure. Additionally, they must be comfortable using cloud computing platforms like AWS, Azure, and GCP.
- System Administration – The capacity to work in multi-user IT settings and manage them to optimize procedures is known as a sysadmin. You want your DevOps team to develop and maintain infrastructure, software, and file servers. A SysAdmin may also automate crucial processes to boost the effectiveness of your IT infrastructure.
- Storage and Network Management – You will need a few items in order to manage your network and storage. These features should always be strong performers, scalable, and reliable. When planning to hire DevOps freelancers with these abilities, place more emphasis on “how” than “what.”
- Testing and Diagnostics – Look for specialist diagnostic and testing abilities for the software, systems, and platforms you use. Find more about the software testing and automation tools they employ as well as how they do post-diagnosis troubleshooting and problem-solving.
A qualified candidate should be fluent in cloud technologies, configuration and release management, automation, IT security, IaC toolchain, and more in addition to the aforementioned DevOps engineer abilities.
Ways to Hire a DevOps Engineer
- Organize a hackathon – Hackathons are a fantastic approach to evaluating candidates’ thinking processes and potential team dynamics. They also show the candidate’s originality, teamwork, and coding prowess.
- Post Job Ads on a Relevant Job Board – Post job postings on relevant job board websites (Dice, AuthenticJobs) or tech media sites with job boards, including TechCrunch, GeekWire, and similar sites.
- Join the developer community or forum – Another option to identify competent people is to sign up for a developer forum or group. These online groups are also a fantastic resource for learning more about DevOps and how it may help your business.
- Meetups and events for technology – Attending tech events is a terrific method to locate people, evaluate their talents, and determine how well they would fit into your corporate culture. Additionally, you can take advantage of this chance to network with other industry experts.
- Recruiting Firm – Use staffing agencies that focus on placing DevOps engineers. Recruitment agencies that specialize in placing DevOps engineers like Talentport have already done the labor-intensive job for you by pre-screening candidates for factors like technical aptitude, cultural fit, and more.
- Individual Networks – Ask your friends, coworkers, or other professionals if they know anyone who would be a good fit for the post if you don’t have the time to perform a thorough search for a DevOps engineer. You never know who you might know who might have what you need.
- Social Media Recruiting – An excellent technique to locate candidates for your DevOps engineer position is through social media recruiting. Professionals with the abilities you’re searching for can be found on websites like Twitter and LinkedIn, and it’s simple to get in touch with them.
Final Reflections
It’s time to put what we’ve learned about what a DevOps Engineer performs and how to hire one into practice and find the best fit for your company. There could be some challenges at first, but with the right preparation and execution, you’ll discover the ideal candidate quickly!
As always, don’t be afraid to get in touch if you need assistance or want to connect with a recruiter who specializes in hiring a DevOps engineer.
There are lots of criteria to look at while making your DevOps engineers for-hire decision. It is best to ensure the prospective DevOps talent clicks most of the boxes mentioned in this article, as it will help you make the right hiring decision.
Talentport can help you hire the Top 3% of DevOps talent in 2 weeks with 1 Month Matched Guarantee. Contact us today to find the best talent and start transforming your business.