Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)

- Describe your experience with automating system configurations, deploying infrastructure, and managing infrastructure as code (IaC). Which tools and techniques have you used?
- How would you troubleshoot a high-latency issue in a distributed system? What steps would you take to diagnose and resolve the problem?
- Explain your approach to ensuring the security and compliance of the systems you manage. What practices and tools do you employ to maintain security standards?
- Can you discuss your experience with monitoring and alerting systems? Which tools have you used and how did they help you in maintaining system reliability?
- Describe a scenario where you had to handle a large-scale outage. What steps did you take to mitigate the issue and prevent it from happening again?
- How do you manage and optimize the performance of cloud-based infrastructure? Can you give examples of performance tuning or cost optimization strategies you have implemented?
- What is your understanding of the term "mean time to recovery" (MTTR), and how do you work to improve it in your systems?
- Explain the concept of "service-level objectives" (SLOs) and how you have used them to maintain system reliability. Can you provide an example from your past work?
- How do you handle the release of new features or updates to minimize the impact on system availability and performance? What strategies or tools do you use for rollback and deployment?
- Discuss your experience with container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes. How have you used these platforms to manage and scale applications effectively?

- Describe a time when you identified a potential issue in a system before it became a major problem. What steps did you take to address it?
- Can you walk us through a complex incident you managed? How did you diagnose the issue and what innovative solutions did you implement to resolve it?
- How do you approach designing a system for high availability and scalability from scratch? Provide an example of a project and the thought process behind your decisions.
- Share an instance where you automated a repetitive task or process. What tools did you use, and what was the outcome?
- Describe a scenario where you had to balance competing priorities of reliability and release speed. How did you navigate this challenge?
- Have you ever encountered a persistent problem that required unconventional thinking to solve? What was the problem, and what innovative solution did you apply?
- How do you ensure that your systems are resilient to common failure types? Provide examples of strategies or practices you’ve implemented.
- Can you discuss a time when you had to refactor a significant portion of a legacy system? What innovative approaches did you use to improve reliability and performance?
- How do you stay current with the latest tools and techniques in SRE to continually improve your problem-solving skills?
- Tell us about a particularly challenging bug you encountered. How did you isolate the issue, and what creative methods did you employ to fix it?

- Can you describe a time when you had to explain a complex technical issue to a non-technical stakeholder? How did you approach the explanation?
- How do you ensure effective communication within a distributed or remote team setting?
- Can you provide an example of a situation where you successfully collaborated with other teams or departments to solve a significant problem?
- Describe a time when you had to mediate a conflict between team members. What approach did you take to resolve the issue?
- How do you document and share knowledge and processes with your team to ensure everyone is on the same page?
- Tell me about a project where you had to work closely with developers to improve system reliability. What strategies did you use to facilitate this collaboration?
- How do you handle situations where there is a disagreement on the best approach to solve a problem within the team?
- Can you discuss an instance where proactive communication from your side prevented a potential issue or outage?
- What is your approach to giving and receiving feedback within a team environment?
- How do you ensure that your contributions and the work of your team align with the overall goals and objectives of the organization?

- Can you describe a project where you had to balance reliability and performance? How did you prioritize and what was the outcome?
- How do you manage and allocate resources for multiple competing projects to ensure reliability standards are met?
- Can you walk me through your process for estimating the time and resources required for a new infrastructure project?
- Describe a time when you had to manage resources during a critical incident. How did you ensure the team was effectively utilized?
- How do you approach capacity planning and scaling for a project with rapidly increasing demand?
- Can you discuss a project where you had to work with cross-functional teams? How did you manage communication and ensure everyone was aligned?
- How do you prioritize new feature deployments versus maintaining existing system reliability?
- Describe your experience with automating resource allocation and management. What tools and strategies did you use?
- How do you assess and mitigate risks in project planning and execution?
- Can you provide an example of how you have improved resource efficiency on a previous project? What metrics did you use to measure success?

- How do you ensure compliance with industry regulations and standards in the systems you design and maintain?
- Can you provide an example of a time when you had to address an ethical dilemma related to system reliability or data privacy? How did you handle it?
- How do you keep yourself updated with the latest compliance and ethical standards relevant to site reliability engineering?
- Describe your approach to ensuring data privacy and security while balancing system performance and reliability.
- What steps do you take to ensure that third-party tools and services used in your infrastructure comply with relevant regulations and ethical standards?
- How do you manage compliance with open-source software licenses in your infrastructure?
- Explain a situation where your commitment to ethical practices or compliance requirements resulted in a conflict of interest. How did you resolve it?
- What measures do you implement to avoid and mitigate risks associated with unauthorized access and data breaches?
- How do you approach the documentation and reporting of compliance-related incidents or breaches in your infrastructure?
- Describe a time when you had to advocate for ethical practices or compliance standards in a team setting. What was the outcome?

- How do you stay updated with the latest trends and technologies in Site Reliability Engineering?
- Can you describe a time when you had to quickly learn a new technology or tool? How did you approach it?
- What strategies do you use to continuously improve your technical and soft skills?
- How do you prioritize which new skills or technologies to learn given the vast amount of available information?
- Can you provide an example of a significant change in your work environment and how you adapted to it?
- How do you handle feedback and criticism aimed at helping you grow professionally?
- Describe a project where you had to adapt to a major shift in requirements or technology. How did you manage it?
- How do you measure and track your career growth and development in the field of SRE?
- Can you discuss a situation where you had to mentor or train others in a new technology or best practice?
- How do you balance maintaining current systems while also innovating and exploring new solutions?