Want to Work in DevOps? Here’s What it Takes to Get Hired

If you’re a coder or engineer you’ve probably heard the term DevOps. While technically defined as “a culture, movement or practice that emphasizes the collaboration and communication of both software developers and other information-technology (IT) professionals” there is debate as to whether it’s a culture, a philosophy or just a job title.

Regardless, it’s a growing trend and many companies are hiring for DevOps team members to build both teams and software. Candidates still need to know coding and engineering, but they’ll also be tasked with problem solving and collaboration.

Curious to learn more about DevOps or to see if you have what it takes to work in this culture? We got some insight from Holden Omans, Technical Lead at Optanix, an IT service management company focused on predictable IT.

What exactly is DevOps?

DevOps is a hard thing to define, as its more of philosophy than it is a defined workflow or process like Scrum or Waterfall. In short, it focuses on rapid development and delivery of IT services, and heavily emphasizes the importance of people and collaboration, between both developers and operations, hence DevOps. It also places high value on customer empathy and service, allowing for better and more meaningful interactions between the customer and product, which ultimately serves better business outcomes.

Is this new or different somehow?

DevOps is new and different in that it places such a high value in cross team collaboration. While traditional development and deployment were defined in separate silos, DevOps looks to break this mold by bringing the people and processes all together. In my opinion this is essential in today’s technology market, where not only do you need rapid innovation but delivery. DevOps teams also bring the customer’s needs and concerns more closely to the ones building and designing the product. How can you expect to successfully build and deploy a product when the people building, deploying, maintaining, and using it are not closely communicating?

Does it require different skills from coding and engineering?

DevOps definitely requires different skills. A traditional DevOps team is built of members with diverse but complementary skills, that allow them to be successful. The foundation of DevOps is built on the idea of each member contributing skills and knowledge equally to the project to make it successful.

Specifically, what kind of skills should someone looking to go into DevOps have?

When you look for a candidate for a DevOps initiative, you obviously want to look at people who bring technical skills and knowledge relevant to the project, but more importantly you want to look for some more intangible skills.

With collaboration being such a large part of DevOps, individuals need to be able to adapt and communicate succinctly in situations they may not be used to. On the other side, individuals need to be able to learn from one another to better themselves and the project. Even more specifically, a candidate should be a ‘continuous learner’ with a passion for not just adding to their proficiency and acumen, but to apply in problem solving and innovating.

What do you mean by continuous learner or being predisposed to learning?

When you really boil it down, it's as simple as: “Does this person have the ability to learn?” Whether it is a new skill, new language, or even the ability to adapt to different situations. Individuals that are predisposed to this are those that are always looking to answer the questions of “Why?”, “How?” and “Why not?” In a DevOps environment, individuals who are not willing to learn are detrimental. Individuals who can adapt, learn, and self-improve are essential for project success.

How do you interview for these specific skills or traits?

Personally, I don’t ask a lot of technical questions. If they have previous development experience on the resume, I take it at face value. What I ask about is how they handle new and unknown situations, what they do in their spare time, example situations where they failed at something, and how they handle conflict in the workplace. These can give me a sense of what kind of communication skills they have, if they are continuous learners, and how they handle failure.

Think you have what it takes to work in DevOps? Apply here.