In the complex IT landscape of today - dominated by siloed cloud environments and distributed infrastructure locations extending all the way to the network edge - there is a growing divide between developers and enterprise operators. That is why it is so important to hire DevOps engineers.
DevOps engineers coordinate developers and operators to ensure that IT processes are cohesive, efficient, and collaborative every step of the way. They are also responsible for creating and implementing DevOps solutions and methodologies to ensure that productive collaboration is possible at every step of the software development lifecycle.
The latest statistics from Zippia indicate that there are over 6,800 DevOps engineers currently employed in the United States. This figure accounts for a very small percentage of the overall software engineering talent pool in the US, creating a challenge for companies that recognize the need for DevOps expertise.
However, statistics also show that DevOps engineers are 55% more likely to work at public companies rather than private companies. This means that the challenge when you hire DevOps engineers lies mostly in knowing where to find these niche professionals in the first place.
Just as the IT field itself is constantly evolving, so is the landscape of developer hiring. An insightful report from 2021 shows that the top countries for DevOps engineers include France, Germany, and the UK. Your hiring strategy may likewise have a global reach, with an emphasis on international teams and remote-friendly opportunities which are so important to modern developers.
Adding DevOps talent to your team can help your enterprise step boldly into an uncertain future. Read on to learn more about how you can attract top talent to your team.
What Does a DevOps Engineer Do?
Trends and market insights make it clear that it is a powerful move to hire DevOps engineers who can coordinate IT teams. After all, when Salesforce implemented DevOps, users were able to push out a higher frequency of new releases with fewer bugs and faster restore times.
However, you might understandably wonder: What does a DevOps engineer do? They:
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Perform application maintenance and management
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Automate and optimize development processes
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Combine code to boost operational efficiency
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Facilitate communication between developers and IT teams
The end result for your company, when you hire dedicated DevOps engineers, is the ability to deploy code up to 30 times more frequently compared to competitors without DevOps experts on staff. That code also tends to be 50 percent more reliable.
Learning DevOps skills means combining tools and expertise from both the developer and operator side, topping it off with skills one can only accumulate over years of experience. When you hire DevOps engineers, it is important to keep in mind that you are seeking a seasoned IT professional with comprehensive knowledge of the field.
Communication is a particularly crucial facet of the DevOps skillset. The DevOps engineer must be an approachable leader who can understand and respond to the concerns of your company’s developers and IT operators.
In an article for Forbes, Rootstack CEO Alejandro Oses explains how having a DevOps leader in place can help with improving collaboration and optimizing resource management. “DevOps helps reduce internal friction because it forces all teams to focus on general objectives without neglecting the individual objectives of each one, thereby improving the collaboration that must exist between developers and operations teams.”
“By bringing together the operations and development departments, the launch of new products is favored,” Oses continues, delving into the topic of shortening development cycles. “DevOps, with its short, task- and goal-focused development cycles, enables teams to be innovative.”
It is that emphasis and detail-oriented focus on innovation that companies should prioritize when seeking DevOps engineers for hire.
How To Hire DevOps Engineers
DevOps remains a relatively new frontier in the IT space, and as such it is a niche field that not many individuals fully grasp. That is why the first step in recruiting DevOps talent is to have a recruiter with the technical knowledge it takes to intuit how to hire DevOps engineers.
This requires identifying the problem situations in your organization that only a DevOps expert can adequately solve. As a recruiter, consider whether any of these circumstances apply to your company:
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Your time-to-market is behind your competitors
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Your development and IT teams lack communication
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You require budget optimization for development projects
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Your consumers find your software to be unreliable
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There is no feedback loop between your company and the consumers
The position of DevOps engineer is, perhaps more than many other IT positions, a problem-solving role. Your hiring process, therefore, should start with narrowing down potential candidates to those who can solve your existing problems. Consider posing questions relating to your specific roadblocks during any interviews with possible DevOps engineers.
In terms of technical skills, be on the lookout for a candidate with strong testing skills and knowledge of multiple coding languages when you hire DevOps engineers. Intimate experience with the latest security best practices is also a must. These are just a few of the key differentiators that separate an excellent DevOps engineer from the average.
On a more personal level, your chosen DevOps expert should also exhibit a certain level of curiosity and a strong willingness to learn. While DevOps now has a firmly planted place in IT, no one can say for sure what DevOps will look like in 5 years. Innovations are happening at a rapid pace, so even the most experienced IT veterans will need to keep pace with industry changes if they wish to remain relevant in a DevOps role.
What Skills To Look For When Hiring DevOps Engineers
There are very specific technical skills and interpersonal skills that a DevOps engineer should have to excel in their role. An individual in a DevOps position is likely to collaborate with teams involved with every aspect of your software development. It is best to hire DevOps engineers who are familiar with the tools and processes used by each and every one of those teams.
The most popular programming and scripting languages DevOps engineers should know include:
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Python
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Java
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Golang
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PHP
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Ruby
In addition to coding languages, the right DevOps engineer will also be proficient in a variety of development tools. These include solutions used by the development teams themselves as well as specialized tools specifically designed with DevOps in mind. These important DevOps tools include:
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Jenkins for enabling Java-based automation
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Kubernetes for managing containerized applications
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Ranorex Studio for testing web, desktop, and mobile applications
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Splunk for data analytics and monitoring
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Git for distributed version control
The ability to build interpersonal rapport and adapt to company culture are also essential DevOps engineer skills. You can gauge a candidate’s capacity for collaboration when you hire DevOps engineers by evaluating how genuine and interactive they are during the interview process.
It is important to not overlook the importance of hiring for cultural fit, even in a technical IT field. According to Gallup, only two in 10 employees feel strongly connected to their company culture. When it comes to hiring DevOps engineers for a role that is so highly collaborative, considering the cultural aspect can make all the difference in productivity and efficiency.
Tips for Writing a DevOps Engineer Job Description
Writing an effective DevOps engineer job description requires demonstrating to potential candidates that you understand the nuanced nature of their role. Skilled engineers are eager to prove their DevOps experience and expertise. You can give them the chance to do that by including the following requirements in your job description:
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Proficient with CI/CD tools
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Strong troubleshooting abilities
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Experience with infrastructure management tasks
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High-level knowledge of networking, databases, and distributed systems
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Experience in configuring monitoring, logging, and alerting tools
During the interview process for hiring DevOps engineers, consider presenting candidates with hypothetical on-the-job scenarios and challenge them to present a solution using the development or operational tools at your company’s disposal. Along the way, evaluate communication and teamwork abilities using proven leadership assessment methods.
Common Interview Questions To Ask When You Are Looking To Hire a DevOps Engineer
As with any IT role, conducting an interview for a DevOps position requires going into greater depth than what most common interview questions provide. Interview questions should be practical, relevant, and technical to the degree that a DevOps engineer would expect.
Consider using project simulations and coding tests that have real-world equivalents for your IT teams. Consult with existing leaders from among your development and operational staff. Gather information on what they would expect from a DevOps engineer they might someday work with.
You might even take the evaluation one step further with pair programming exercises. DevOps is extremely collaborative by nature, and the interview should reflect that fact. Conducting collaborative coding sessions when you hire DevOps engineers will give you the opportunity to gauge how an applicant interacts with a team and reacts to feedback.
Even so, the core of any interview is in the questions asked by the hiring manager. You can gain deeper insight into a candidate’s personality and history with these meaningful questions:
| Interview Question/Request: | Goal: |
|---|---|
| What was your most recent professional achievement using DevOps practices? | Gain insight into the candidate’s recent work history, as well as their perspective on their own work and skills. |
| How long would it take you to learn a new tool or build a skill set? | Learn if the applicant can provide a reasonable estimate of their own learning abilities, and gauge their personal excitement for learning. |
| Give an example of how you prioritize your work when you have simultaneous projects or deadlines. | Discover how the individual stays on target with projects and manages time, especially if you are hiring the person as a part-time independent freelancer. |
| Can you explain the architecture of [a DevOps tools in use at your company]? | Gauge a candidate’s familiarity with the inner workings of common DevOps tools, particularly those they will use at your company. |
| How do you overcome communication and collaboration challenges when working in a remote or distributed team? | Understand how the applicant ensures timely teamwork, especially if working in a different time zone. |
The inclusion of questions centering around the topic of remote work and distributed teams will make it clear how your chosen candidate will adapt to current and evolving work landscapes. If you are looking to hire DevOps engineers on a temporary or freelance basis, these types of questions become especially relevant.
How To Find Freelance DevOps Engineers for Hire
When the time comes to find DevOps engineers to fill crucial roles in your growing IT enterprise, look into the list of the best sites we provide and briefly compare the different options. Consider your desired speed of hiring, your preferred methods for matching with talent, and how involved you wish to be as a hiring manager when it comes to vetting talent. From there, you can easily narrow down your ideal recruitment platform from the list of best sites to hire DevOps engineers.DevOps has become increasingly popular because it gives companies insights into their systems. It helps them optimize their entire business.
Finding the best sites for DevOps developers is not an easy feat since there is a lot of speculation over whether DevOps developers even exist. However, as can be seen on the above-mentioned listings, this exact positions is highly sought after by people just like you looking for someone who can handle both the development and operational side of a project.
For those looking to hire a team of DevOps developers, check out X-Team so you can get a highly qualified team of people that are used to working together as one on long-term projects.
If you're looking for a matching service that pairs you up with the right DevOps specialist, check out Toptal, Gun.io, Mondo, or even Upwork, and let them do most of the work for you.
And, if you prefer to browse profiles yourself, handle all the details regarding hiring, project management, and payment, and need a more affordable option, Freelancer, Codeable, People per Hour, Guru, and even SimplyHired are the best places to look for DevOps freelancers.
Lastly, no matter what your project needs are, it's important to consider several factors before making a final decision. For instance, you should know how many developers you'll need to hire, the level of technical skills you have, and how experienced you need your developer to be. You should also know whether you want your developer to work remotely, a general idea of your budget, the amount of time you want to invest in finding a DevOps developer, and how important things like communication, project updates, and quality of work are to you.
Ultimately, which sites you employ depends on a multitude of factors, such as:
- How quickly you need to hire a front-end developer (i.e. your timeline)
- How much experience you have hiring front-end developers
- Whether or not you're equipped to test technical skills
- How many developers you need to bring on
- What level of experience those front-end developers need
- Whether or not you're open to remote workers
- What your budget constraints are
- How important quality is to your project(s)
Hiring DevOps engineers - FAQs
- How Much Does It Cost To Hire a DevOps Engineer?
The U.S. national average annual salary for DevOps engineers is $127,036 or $61 per hour, but salaries can range from $38,500 to $180,500 depending on location, skill sets and years of experience. You can often save money without sacrificing quality by hiring a freelancer.
- How Do I Hire DevOps Engineers?
You can hire part-time, full-time or freelance DevOps engineers. You’ll need to set a budget, timeframe and measurable goals for your project before beginning the hiring process.
DevOps engineers typically have years of experience with enterprise-level IT systems. They need expertise in many operational and technical areas, including:
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Coding
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Application management and maintenance
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Server administration
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Problem assessment and solving
When you’re ready to add one or more DevOps engineers to your team, you can find qualified candidates by posting a job description, utilizing a talent-matching service or searching engineer profiles on top sites.
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- Why Should You Hire a DevOps Engineer?
Building and delivering applications and software can be a lengthy, frustrating process. Optimizing and automating your processes and systems can streamline and improve your company’s productivity, allow faster development lifecycles and provide valuable insights. This allows you to complete more projects and make more money.
Not everyone has the specialized knowledge to assess your processes and choose the right tools and practices to maximize and unify your development and IT operations. A skilled DevOps Engineer can:
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Automate routine tasks
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Manage databases
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Design CI/CD pipelines
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Ensure security and quality
These professionals also bridge communication gaps and can resolve issues quickly.
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- Are DevOps Engineers In Demand?
More industries are incorporating DevOps into their toolkits, and some engineers are integrating AI into their processes. DevOps engineering is one of the top-ten in-demand tech jobs and the demand for highly skilled engineers should continue to increase.
- Where can I find DevOps engineers for hire?
- Toptal
- Hired
- Indeed
- We Work Remotely
- Mondo
Explore more sites in our comprehensive list of top companies.