In an age where almost every prospective customer or client is connected and online, an organization’s website often functions as the first point of contact. This is also the age when many employees perform work activities through a website interface. These factors mean the website is extremely important to the success of an organization, regardless of industry. In such an operating environment, a website must reliably and seamlessly provide each visitor with a memorable and functional experience.
To ensure their website’s user experience is predictable, consistent, and reliable, organizations often hire specialists known as site reliability engineers. These individuals have experience and expertise in both the front-facing aspects of website design and user experience and backend support functions like cloud computing, database management, and artificial intelligence.
Key considerations when hiring a site reliability engineer
Hiring the best site reliability engineer can be easier than you think. Key considerations involve establishing the right salary, identifying necessary personality traits and skills, clarifying job duties and responsibilities, specifying desired competencies and experience, preparing effective interview questions, and crafting a job advertisement.
For example, the role of a site reliability engineer mostly revolves around writing and developing code to automate processes such as analyzing logs, testing production environments, and responding to any issues that may arise. The site reliability engineer is a software developer with experience in and knowledge of IT operations. Because coding is such an important part of this role, programming skills are vital. This also means many positions will require individuals with significant experience. Practical experience in IT operations and development planning is also a major consideration.
In addition, site reliability engineers will need to have knowledge and experience with various automation tools because they are often responsible for building and integrating software tools to enhance an organizational system’s reliability and scalability.
Lastly, successful candidates will have demonstrable skills in cooperation and social interaction. Candidates should also have advanced verbal and written communication skills. Experience with tools specifically used by your company will be a plus, but adaptability and the ability to learn on the job will be paramount.
Choosing the right site reliability engineer for your business
Researching all the aforementioned considerations can be a time-intensive effort, and formulating the right interview questions can be a challenging part of the process.
Fortunately, TechRepublic Premium’s hiring kit, with its adjustable framework, is now available to help your business find the ideal candidate for a site reliability engineer position.
To explore how a candidate processes project information, the resource covers an interview question on how the candidate writes a piece of code, from requirements to delivery. This question expects candidates to mention requirements analysis, specifications, and architecture in their response. Recruiters must also note the candidate’s programming language choices and check if they match the company’s.
Another major role of a site reliability engineer is troubleshooting problems, failures, and other contingencies. This role means that such individuals are subject to immediate response requirements during non-typical working hours. This level of on-call pressure requires candidates with strong mental and physical constitutions, particularly where production systems are involved. To look into this, the hiring kit includes a question that delves into how the candidate handled pressure and stress in the past.
If this appeals to you, the 12-page hiring kit is available for $9 at TechRepublic Premium.
