What DevOps Skills Should You Highlight in Your Next Interview?
DevOps is no longer a trend or a fringe approach to delivering applications and services. Today, DevOps is firmly planted in the mainstream and DevOps skills are in high demand. The tricky part for DevOps job candidates is knowing how to define their skills since it is technically more of a philosophy and approach than a clearly defined skill. However, regardless of the specific requirements of a job, there are some skills that every hiring manager wants to see in a DevOps candidate. Here’s how to successfully highlight your DevOps skills in an interview.
Soft Skills
DevOps is all about enhancing collaboration from the front end to the back end and you can’t do that without some serious soft skills. Employers need to find DevOps pros who can work with people that come to the table with varying priorities, different philosophies, and often strong personalities. Many DevOps pros are also involved in client relations on some level, which means having the ability to communicate well with people who aren’t necessarily tech experts.
Employers also typically want to see qualities like effective verbal and written communication, strong listening skills, tact, problem-solving abilities, teamwork and team building, negotiation skills and adaptability.
Infrastructure Automation And Web Language Fluency
Employers want their DevOps candidates to be proficient with tools like Ansible, SaltStack, Puppet, Docker, Chef and Windows PowerShell DSC. They are also looking for proficiency in Ruby, Python, Java and PHP. It is equally important to demonstrate your desire and ability to expand your skillsets in infrastructure automation and web languages to show that you are committed to keeping your skills sharp and relevant over time.
Continuous Integration Tools
Continuous integration (CI) is critical to DevOps. This methodology merges source code updates from every developer on a specific project and notifies the team of failures along the way. Continuous integration ensures that all team members are engaged throughout the process by providing real-time feedback on the development of the system. Common CI tools include CruiseControl, Jenkins, Bamboo, Hudson, Go, Anthill Pro, Microsoft’s Team Foundation Server and TeamCity.
Additional Important Skills And Certifications
There are some other important skills that DevOps professionals need to demonstrate in an interview like code deployment, software architecture, application programming, database management, system design and expertise in software build cycles.
Though project management certification, risk management certification and Scrum master certification are not always required, they are useful in making your case that you are a strong candidate for any DevOps position.
Are You Looking For A DevOps Position?
If you are a talented DevOps engineer looking for new opportunities, the recruiters at Talon want to hear from you. We can match you with a position and an employer that will help you utilize your talents and achieve your professional goals. Contact us today to start the conversation.
