How to source and shortlist {role_name}

Where can you find qualified {role_name}?

  • Professional network
    • Leverage your professional network and reach out to former colleagues, industry peers, and tech community members to ask for referrals.
  • Educational Institutions:
    • Partner with universities or bootcamps that focus on cloud computing, automation, and DevOps training.
    • Institutions offering DevOps certifications (AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, Docker Certified Associate).
  • Company Career Pages:
    • Many companies attract top talent by keeping their career pages updated with open DevOps positions.
  • Role-Specific Job Boards:
  • Geography-Specific Job Boards:

What are the best practices for headhunting {role_name}?

  • Leverage Professional Networks: Use platforms like LinkedIn to directly reach out to candidates with personalized messages highlighting specific aspects of the role, such as opportunities for leadership and automation projects.
  • Target Open Source Communities: Many DevOps professionals are active contributors to platforms like GitHub, where you can see their work and assess technical skills before approaching them.
  • Engage in Niche Communities: Join DevOps-related groups on platforms like Reddit and Slack to network with potential candidates.

How to shortlist candidates?

Once you have started to get applications from applicants, a thorough screening process and shortlisting of prospects will help you make the most of your time spent with the most qualified ones. 

Automated shortlisting tools :

Automated screening quickly filters out unqualified candidates, saving time for manual review. This allows the manual process to focus on the most promising candidates, ensuring the best ones are considered for further evaluation.

Screening questions to auto-shortlist based on predefined criteria

like qualifications, location, experience, and skills. Either use job board or use an ATS such as whitecarrot. Here are some questions for {role_name}

  • How many years of experience do you have with CI/CD pipelines?
    • Auto-reject criteria: Less than 3 years.
  • How many years of experience do you have with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)?
    • Auto-reject criteria: Less than 2 years.
  • Are you located within [specified location] or willing to work remotely?
    • Auto-reject criteria: Not located in the desired region or not willing to work remotely.

Skill based question to auto shortlist candidate

Analyze the skill test data to automatically shortlist top-performing applicants. (recommended screening test time - 15 minutes). Here are some skill test questions for {role_name}

CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment)

Understanding of CI/CD tools and practices.

  • Question 1: What is the main benefit of using a CI/CD pipeline?
    • Options:
      1. Faster software development
      2. Manual deployment
      3. Slower feedback loops
      4. Increased downtime
    • Correct Answer: 1. Faster software development
  • Question 2: Which of the following is NOT a CI/CD tool?
    • Options:
      1. Jenkins
      2. Travis CI
      3. Ansible
      4. GitLab CI
    • Correct Answer: 3. Ansible
  • Question 3: In which phase of CI/CD would automated tests be executed?
    • Options:
      1. Integration
      2. Deployment
      3. Continuous Delivery
      4. Feedback
    • Correct Answer: 1. Integration

Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Knowledge of managing infrastructure through code.

  • Question 1: What is the purpose of Infrastructure as Code (IaC)?
    • Options:
      1. Manual server configuration
      2. Automate infrastructure provisioning
      3. Monitor performance metrics
      4. Cloud computing management
    • Correct Answer: 2. Automate infrastructure provisioning
  • Question 2: Which IaC tool is most commonly used to define cloud infrastructure?
    • Options:
      1. Jenkins
      2. Ansible
      3. Terraform
      4. Kubernetes
    • Correct Answer: 3. Terraform
  • Question 3: What is the main advantage of using IaC?
    • Options:
      1. Reduced manual errors
      2. Decreased system uptime
      3. Delayed infrastructure setup
      4. Increased security breaches
    • Correct Answer: 1. Reduced manual errors

Automation and Scripting

Expertise in automating processes and writing scripts.

  • Question 1: Which of the following is used to automate the configuration of servers?
    • Options:
      1. Docker
      2. Puppet
      3. Git
      4. Kubernetes
    • Correct Answer: 2. Puppet
  • Question 2: What is a common scripting language used in automation?
    • Options:
      1. Python
      2. SQL
      3. HTML
      4. CSS
    • Correct Answer: 1. Python
  • Question 3: Which automation tool is most commonly used for CI/CD?
    • Options:
      1. Jenkins
      2. Puppet
      3. Kubernetes
      4. Docker
    • Correct Answer: 1. Jenkins

Note - Auto reject candidates if scores less than 70% in this section

One way video interview

Recruitment Bullet

Use tools like hirevue, whitecarrot.io to ask candidates pre-recorded questions about their experience and skills.

Recruitment Bullet

Use sample question given in scorecard.

Collect other information 

Recruitment Bullet

Collect data from shortlisted candidates, such as salary expectations and visa status.

Manual candidate profile shortlisting:

Recruitment Bullet

Thoroughly review the CVs of the top scoring candidates from the automated process

Recruitment Bullet

Look for evidence of the required skills, experience, and achievements

Recruitment Bullet

Review the candidate’s portfolio or GitHub repositories to see examples of their work.

Schedule recruiter calls with the candidate

Recruitment Bullet

Use a tool like calendly or whitecarrot to allow candidates to self-schedule calls based on your availability

Recruitment Bullet

Confirm the call details (date, time, dial-in info) with the candidate via email

What questions to ask in the recruiter phone screen?

Recruitment Bullet

 Use scorecard for rating candidates for recruiter

Recruitment Bullet

Sample scorecard : 

Criteria Sample Question Rating (1-5)
Leadership "Describe a time when you led a cross-functional team on a DevOps project. What challenges did you face?"
Problem-Solving "How did you troubleshoot and resolve a critical system failure during a code release?"
Communication "Can you explain how you communicate technical information to non-technical stakeholders?"
CI/CD Knowledge "What CI/CD tools are you familiar with, and how have you used them in past roles?"
Automation Expertise "Give an example of a process you automated to improve efficiency."
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) "Explain how you implemented Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in a previous project."
Recruitment Bullet

Check for consistency in responses from the candidates.

Recruitment Bullet

Record such scorecards in an ATS like whitecarrot or use google doc