Interview Question Generator

Hiring Infrastructure Talent Is Hard

You need someone who can:

• Prevent disasters before they happen
• Debug production issues at 2 AM
• Scale infrastructure without breaking the bank
• Communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders

But how do you evaluate these skills if you’re not technical yourself?

What This Tool Provides

Select your hiring criteria:

1. Role: DevOps, SRE, SysAdmin, or Consultant
2. Tech Stack: AWS, GCP, Azure, or Multi-cloud
3. Experience Level: Junior, Mid, or Senior
4. Biggest Concern: Cost, Security, Scalability, or Reliability

Get 7 customized interview questions with:

• What you’re testing: The skill behind each question
• Good answer includes: What to listen for
• Red flags: Warning signs to watch for

Sample Questions by Role

DevOps Engineer:

• “Walk me through setting up infrastructure from scratch”
• “How do you approach infrastructure documentation?”
• “What monitoring and alerting tools have you used?”

Site Reliability Engineer (SRE):

• “What does 99.9% uptime mean in practice?”
• “How do you implement zero-downtime deployments?”
• “Describe your backup and disaster recovery strategy”

System Administrator:

• “What are the first security measures you implement on a new server?”
• “How do you troubleshoot a critical production issue?”
• “Explain your monitoring and alerting setup”

Infrastructure Consultant:

• “How do you identify and eliminate cloud waste?”
• “What strategies reduce infrastructure costs without sacrificing reliability?”
• “How would you design infrastructure to handle 10x traffic?”

What Makes a Good Answer

Good candidates:

• Give specific examples from past experience
• Explain their thought process clearly
• Mention actual tools and technologies
• Show problem-solving approach
• Admit mistakes and lessons learned
• Ask clarifying questions

Red flags:

• Vague, theoretical answers
• No concrete examples
• Blaming others for problems
• Never admitting mistakes
• Oversimplifying complex issues
• No questions or curiosity

Concern-Specific Questions

Cost Optimization:

• “How do you identify and eliminate cloud waste?”
• “What strategies reduce costs without sacrificing reliability?”

Security:

• “What are the first security measures on a new server?”
• “How do you handle secrets management?”

Scalability:

• “How would you design infrastructure for 10x traffic?”
• “What caching strategies have you implemented?”

Reliability:

• “What does 99.9% uptime mean in practice?”
• “How do you implement zero-downtime deployments?”

How to Use These Questions

Before the interview:

1. Generate your customized question set
2. Read the evaluation criteria
3. Prepare follow-up questions
4. Share relevant context about your business

During the interview:

1. Ask open-ended questions
2. Listen for specifics, not buzzwords
3. Ask “tell me about a time when…” for examples
4. Watch for red flags
5. Leave time for their questions

After the interview:

1. Score each answer (1-5 scale)
2. Compare notes with other interviewers
3. Check references specifically about flagged areas
4. Consider technical assessment for finalists

Common Hiring Mistakes

Mistake 1: Focusing on Tools, Not Skills

• Tools change, problem-solving doesn’t
• “Do you know Kubernetes?” is less important than “How do you approach orchestration?”

Mistake 2: Not Testing Communication

• Infrastructure roles require explaining technical concepts
• Can they explain to a non-technical founder?

Mistake 3: Ignoring Cultural Fit

• Technical skills matter, but so does:
  • Attitude toward on-call work
  • Approach to documentation
  • Comfort with ambiguity

Mistake 4: Rushing the Process

• Bad hires are expensive (€50K-€150K in salary + recruiting costs)
• Take time to evaluate properly

Experience Level Guidance

Junior (0-2 years):

• Look for foundational knowledge
• Willingness to learn
• Basic troubleshooting skills
• Expect less depth, more enthusiasm

Mid-level (2-5 years):

• Specific project experience
• Proven problem-solving
• Some architecture decisions
• Balance depth and breadth

Senior (5+ years):

• Strategic thinking
• Architecture experience
• Mentorship capability
• Business impact awareness

Tech Stack Considerations

AWS-specific:

• EC2, RDS, S3, CloudWatch knowledge
• Cost optimization focus (AWS is pricey)
• IAM and security best practices

GCP-specific:

• Compute Engine, Cloud SQL, Cloud Storage
• BigQuery and data pipelines common
• Kubernetes expertise (GKE)

Azure-specific:

• Enterprise integration experience
• Active Directory knowledge
• Hybrid cloud scenarios

Multi-cloud:

• Broader but shallower knowledge
• Focus on portability and abstraction
• Terraform/infrastructure-as-code essential

After You Hire

Great interview questions help you hire well. But don’t stop there:

1. 30-60-90 Day Plan: Set clear expectations
2. Regular Check-ins: Catch problems early
3. Documentation Focus: Knowledge transfer from day one
4. Gradual Responsibility: Build trust over time

When NOT to Hire

Sometimes the answer isn’t hiring at all:

• Too early: Under €300K ARR, consider managed services
• Unclear needs: Fix your infrastructure first, then hire
• No budget for tools: Infrastructure talent needs proper tools
• No on-call plan: How will you handle 2 AM emergencies?

Use the “Should You Hire Full-Time Help?” calculator to evaluate if hiring is the right move.

The Cost of a Bad Hire

Direct costs:

• Salary: €60K-€120K/year
• Recruiting: €10K-€20K
• Onboarding time: 2-3 months

Indirect costs:

• Infrastructure incidents during learning curve
• Team frustration with poor performer
• Lost opportunity cost
• Re-recruiting if they don’t work out

Total: €80K-€200K for a failed hire

These questions help you avoid that outcome.