8 General DevOps Interview Questions to Help You Practice and Prepare

DevOps is a thriving field with employers actively looking for personnel who develop, test, and efficiently deploy software applications. The UK market is set to grow at a 7.14 percent CAGR (compound annual growth rate) by 2028 [1]. With the software sector’s 6.2 percent growth and £41.3 billion in 2022 revenues, it's a good time to consider the sector. Additionally, the UK tech service job market is bustling, with Statista anticipating 705,000 new jobs by 2025 [2].

If you’re searching for a DevOps job, you’re probably wondering what the interview process is like and what kind of interview questions employers might ask. Since this job requires a range of abilities, expect a combination of questions surrounding technical competency and DevOps culture.

What types of DevOps interview questions can I expect?

DevOps methodology relies on collaboration between an organisation's operations and development teams. Accordingly, a DevOps position requires you to showcase a combination of skills during an interview. You'll need to showcase technical skills to show your ability to manage the software development lifecycle and workplace skills to demonstrate your knowledge of IT operations. 

1. Tell me about yourself.

Your interview will likely start with an icebreaker question such as this. The idea is to ease into the interview with a fundamental question. However, don’t be fooled by its simplicity. The hiring team expects you to provide an overview of your credentials. Start by discussing your last job, mentioning technical and workplace skills, and then give a broad view of your years of experience and education. 

2. What do you love most about working as a DevOps engineer?

This question seems straightforward, but you want to maximise the information you share about your experience and skills. To answer this question, focus on the benefits of being a DevOps engineer. Consider what you have gained from working in this position and how you can frame it to showcase your work ethic or strengths. You might list things such as the following:

• Facilitating a culture of collaboration. Bridging the gap between development teams and IT operations results in more efficient processes. What are some skills or experiences you can bring to a team environment?

• Strategic automation. Creating automation and integration techniques that streamline the DevOps process is an essential skill. You might mention how implementing automation testing improved core operations and enabled faster delivery.

• Customer relations. Have you taken steps in a previous role to implement feedback from customers? How do you approach securing customer satisfaction by iterating on prior versions of a product?

• Leadership. People skills are valuable. Consider recalling when you helped facilitate collaboration amongst team members to create a positive work environment.

3. Can you please explain the difference between Agile methodology and DevOps?

The interviewers want to make sure you can differentiate between software development methodologies. They’re testing your core competency so that an incorrect answer will raise concerns. Make sure you provide clear definitions. 

DevOps provides flexibility in development and operations, focuses on timeliness and a quality product, and makes improvements based on internal feedback. 

Agile methodology is more narrow in scope. It focuses on software or application development flexibility only, prioritises speed above all else, and gathers customer feedback to implement changes.

4. Tell me about your favourite DevOps tools and why you like using them.

Consider some of the critical components of DevOps, like automation, continuous integration, testing, and monitoring, and list several tools used for each. Mention tools you’ve recently worked with and tools used in each phase of the software delivery pipeline to show your expansive skill set. 

Examples of commonly used tools in DevOps environments include:

• Infrastructure automation tools: Chef, Puppet, SaltStack

• Version control system tools: Git, Bitbucket

• Continuous integration tools: Jenkins, Bamboo

• Containerisation tools: Docker, Kubernetes, Mesos

• Configuration management tools: Ansible, Chef

• Continuous monitoring tools: Nagios

5. Can you explain the importance of configuration management?

Configuration management can be complex during an interview, but you should provide a high-level definition and explain its importance. It is a systems engineering process that focuses on establishing a product's consistency and maintaining efficiency throughout its lifecycle.

Configuration management is a systematic approach to updating or changing multiple systems. DevOps engineers identify pieces they can automate to streamline processes and increase productivity. The unified process minimises tedious tasks and expedites change implementation at various phases. 

6. What is the difference between continuous integration and continuous delivery?

The hiring team wants to test your knowledge, so they might ask you to differentiate between two main components of DevOps: continuous integration and continuous delivery. When you define them, you want to provide enough technical knowledge to prove competency but explain it in a way that emphasises your communication skills. 

To answer, explain that continuous integration essentially keeps the software updated. Any changes made in a feature branch are synced with the main branch after validation and testing. Continuous delivery follows the integration phase. Updates or code changes go through further tests before they’re released or delivered.

Continuous integration and delivery are part of a DevOps pipeline meant to streamline software development and increase software quality. 

7. Tell me about your experience using a centralised logging solution.

Logging in DevOps refers to tracking and documenting software updates. It’s an ongoing record that notes everything from minor code updates to more significant strategic failures. Logging helps track problems, recall solutions deployed, and identify problematic trends. You may also use logging for compliance procedures. 

As an experienced DevOps engineer, you should not only define the term and provide its purpose, but you can mention several platforms you’ve used to manage logs, such as Papertrail, Logz.io, or Sentry.

8. Explain the seven stages of a DevOps project.

A potential employer would like to know that you understand the workflow that applies to the role. As a result, they may ask you to walk through the DevOps lifecycle and provide a short explanation of each stage. 

A DevOps lifecycle has several components, which include: 

• Continuous development: Planning and coding software

• Continuous integration: Continually updates codes

• Continuous testing: Makes sure code is functioning and doesn’t impede other facets

• Continuous deployment: Delivery of features to target devices such as the production environment or user's computer

• Continuous monitoring: Watches changes and updates and collects data to track updates

• Continuous feedback: Generates performance reports to explore issues that end-users might have

• Continuous operations: Automating tasks to keep DevOps engineers focused on larger tasks

How to prepare for an interview

DevOps is a competitive field, so preparing for every interview is essential. Aside from reviewing possible interview questions, consider doing these other tasks before it:

Research the organisation.

Before attending the interview, research the company’s website, scroll through its social media channels, and look up news articles on the organisation. You might review current employees' LinkedIn profiles to learn more about the DevOps team you'll join. Pay attention to what they post and the content that they engage with. 

Understand the work culture.

Ask about the company's culture if you know a current or previous employee. If you don’t know anyone with first-hand knowledge, look at employer review sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, CareerBliss, or GoWork UK.

You should consider reading the company’s values and mission on its website and exploring its social media channels for any company engagement activities.  

Prepare your answers.

Take some time to review the DevOps interview questions above and rehearse your answers. Consider writing questions on flashcards and putting bullet points on the back. Say each response out loud, but don’t over-rehearse to the extent you sound like you’ve scripted each answer. Remember to discuss the technical and business benefits of DevOps methodology.

Practice makes perfect

If you’re practising alone, record yourself answering questions. If a friend or spouse is willing to help, have them ask the questions, and you respond. The person asking the questions doesn't need any experience in the field. They ask questions, watch your body language, and help you get comfortable with the process.

Ask for feedback.

After conducting a mock interview, ask your friend or spouse for feedback. While they might not know your technical skills, they can assess your ability to respond to questions, point out any nervous ticks, and provide overall pointers that will help you make a good impression.

Besides reviewing possible DevOps interview questions, you can also sharpen your skills with classes like The Art of the Job Interview or Advanced Interview Techniques, which are two virtual opportunities on Coursera to consider. You can also complete a Guided Project like Accomplishment STAR Techniques for Job Interviews in as little as an hour to help prepare. 

Take the next step in your career with Coursera

Preparing your CV and cover letter is just the beginning. Practising DevOps interview questions like those above can help you prepare for your next interview while brushing up on the fundamentals of DevOps. 

You can also prepare for your next DevOps role with the online course DevOps Culture and Mindset, offered by the University of California Davis. In about 14 hours, you can gain experience with systems thinking, loosely coupled architecture and teams, risk management, and more.