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That depends on what is expected of the DevOps position I feel. If you're going to need to dig into the source code of infrastructure pieces to find/fix bugs o
by marcinzm 7y ago
That depends on what is expected of the DevOps position I feel.
If you're going to need to dig into the source code of infrastructure pieces to find/fix bugs or write your own infrastructure pieces then a SE interview makes sense. If you're doing things at scale or using newer technologies then these come up often enough and resolving them can have significant business consequences (not getting into if choosing that path was a good business decision or not, separate topic).
- doitLP 7y agoDoesn’t sound like that’s what happened. Seems like they have standard questions and phone in the interview process by trying to apply it to every “tech” position they hire for.
- marcinzm 7y agoI don't see anything to indicate one way or the other myself. There are also companies which want DevOps to know SE simply because they believe that such people create better infrastructure. Better in this case means more automation, code versus todo lists, understanding the SE users, etc.
- xfitm3 7y agoBeing able to read and debug code is a different skillset from first hand development.
- marcinzm 7y agoIf you're depending on open source software then you also need to be able to fix the code in question. And do so in a way which the project would accept. Otherwise, your bug report may linger until the end of time.
- toomuchtodo 7y agoThen hire for software engineering. Don't lie to candidates that it's a systems admin or devops role. It's pathetic employers keep demanding more skill and free work for the same pay.
- dbancajas 7y agothen they can't pay you little. LOL. I'd end the interview right there especially if the salary is low.
- marcinzm 7y ago>It's pathetic employers keep demanding more skill and free work for the same pay. In my experience DevOps pays better than SE (and much better than sys admin) because it requires a diverse set of skills. DevOps in that context is not just a new term for sys admin.
- toomuchtodo 7y agoI have yet to see DevOps roles that require "diverse set of skills" beyond sysadmin skills, very basic knowledge of at least one language such as Java, Go, or Python (occasionally only PowerShell if its a Microsoft shop) and either Terraform or Cloudformation for IAC. The pay delta between the two roles is less than you think (excluding SF/BA market, but that market is always an outlier). DevOps is sysadmin with more scripting, more infrastructure as code, and more expectation that you're an underpaid SRE. It also seems like DevOps role demand more unpaid on call responsibilities, where this is usually not the case with traditional sysadmin roles (or it's spread across a much larger team, negating the pain). YMMV. Disclaimer: 20+ years in tech, the majority in ops roles.
- dbancajas 7y agoa lot of SW out there are just plumbing code. Rarely you see dynamic programming/recursion algo. Most use standard library as the implementation is solid and kinks have been ironed out.
- marcinzm 7y agoSure but that's a discussion on the value of leetcode itself which I've not argued one way or another. I'm simply saying that IF a company (many do) assumes leetcode is a way of gauging SE talent then it'd make sense to use the same criteria for gauging SE talent in DevOps.