The DevOps/SRE Interview Pipeline

Understanding the interview stages helps you prepare the right skills at the right time. Here's the typical pipeline for DevOps/SRE roles.

Stage 1: Recruiter Screen (30 min)

What happens: Phone call to assess basic fit

What they ask:

• Tell me about yourself (2-minute pitch)
• Why this company/role?
• Current compensation and expectations
• Visa/location requirements
• Timeline and other processes

How to prepare:

• Research the company's infrastructure
• Know their tech stack (check job posting, engineering blog)
• Have your salary range ready (research market rates)
• Prepare 2-3 questions about the team

Pro tip: Ask "What does the interview process look like?" to set expectations.

Stage 2: Technical Phone Screen (45-60 min)

What happens: Live coding or technical discussion with an engineer

Common formats:

Format	Duration	Focus
Live coding	45 min	Scripting, automation, debugging
System discussion	45 min	Past projects, technical depth
Troubleshooting	45 min	Given a broken system, fix it
Mixed	60 min	Both coding and discussion

Example questions:

# Coding: Find all files modified in last 24 hours larger than 100MB
find /var/log -mtime -1 -size +100M -type f

# Scripting: Parse nginx logs for 5xx errors
awk '$9 ~ /^5/ {count[$9]++} END {for (c in count) print c, count[c]}' access.log

Troubleshooting scenarios:

• "Users report the website is slow. Walk me through your investigation."
• "Disk is at 95%. What do you do?"
• "SSH to a server fails. How do you debug?"

Stage 3: Onsite/Virtual Onsite (4-6 hours)

The main event. Typically 4-5 sessions back-to-back:

Session 1: Coding Round (45-60 min)

Focus: Python, Go, or Bash scripting

• String/log parsing
• Data structure manipulation
• Automation scripts
• API interactions

Session 2: System Design (45-60 min)

Focus: Design infrastructure for scale

• "Design a CI/CD pipeline for 100 microservices"
• "Design a monitoring system for a global service"
• "Design a deployment system with zero downtime"

Session 3: Linux/Networking Deep Dive (45-60 min)

Focus: Operating system fundamentals

• Process management, memory, disk I/O
• TCP/IP, DNS, load balancing
• Kernel tuning and troubleshooting

Session 4: SRE-Specific (45-60 min)

Focus: Production operations

• On-call scenarios
• Incident response
• SLO design and error budgets
• Postmortem analysis

Session 5: Behavioral (45-60 min)

Focus: Soft skills and culture fit

• STAR method stories
• Conflict resolution
• Project ownership examples

Stage 4: Team Matching (Google/Meta)

Some companies have additional team matching after passing:

• Meet multiple teams
• Assess mutual fit
• Choose your preferred team

Stage 5: Offer and Negotiation

Timeline: 1-2 weeks after onsite

Components:

• Base salary
• Signing bonus
• RSU/Stock grants
• Level determination

Interview Pipeline Timeline

Week 1: Apply
Week 2-3: Recruiter screen
Week 3-4: Technical phone screen
Week 4-6: Onsite preparation
Week 6-7: Onsite interviews
Week 7-8: Team matching (if applicable)
Week 8-9: Offer received
Week 9-10: Negotiation
Week 10-12: Start date

Red Flags to Watch For

• No clear job description
• Excessive interview rounds (>8)
• Unwillingness to share compensation range
• Rushed process with no prep time
• Interviewers unprepared or disengaged

Next, we'll create your personalized 90-day study plan. :::