What we’re looking for in a candidate

SREs are some of the hardest to hire, as the job requires a rather large skill set, uncommon troubleshooting, and rapid learning capabilities, mixed with the ability to be responsible. You’d be surprised in the marketplace just how hard that combination is, especially when that skill set often includes development and cloud infrastructure.

Are you qualified?

This is a hard question to answer, and the entire reason for writing the chapter is to help you understand the types of experience you need in order to obtain a position as an SRE. Being qualified is both a mix of what a company is looking for and frankly, what they are willing to pay.

Entry-level SRE job

Let’s start with this: SRE is not an entry-level position, though I have seen and even hired entry-level engineers; these are not the norm, and trust me, the entry-level pay is often half that of a seasoned SRE. So, if you are an entry-level engineer, where...