Application as DevOps Engineer

DevOps Engineer is a profession in IT / Software Development and Operations, typically entered via BSc Computer Science FH. Anyone applying here should know these requirements and pitfalls - specific to the Swiss job market, not generic.

Technical Requirements

• CI/CD with GitLab CI, Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions
• Containers and orchestration
• Monitoring and alerting with Prometheus, Grafana or similar
• Scripting and automation
• Understanding of security requirements in the supply chain

Personal Requirements

• Willingness to be reachable at night if a deployment goes wrong
• Mediating between development and operations teams
• Persistence in eliminating recurring incidents

Common Mistakes in the Application

• DevOps is presented as a toolbox rather than a way of working
• No figures on improvement - deployment frequency and recovery time are the currency here
• Handling of incidents is left out, even though it will certainly come up in the interview
• Security aspects are missing, even though they are increasingly part of the role

Typical Employers in Switzerland

Swisscom, SBB, Swiss Post, Avaloq, Temenos, Zühlke, Digitec Galaxus, Ricardo.

Excerpt from a Cover Letter

Dear Ms. Egli When I joined my current employer two and a half years ago, a release took an entire Friday evening and was accompanied by hand by two people. Today, delivery runs through a GitLab pipeline, we deploy on average twelve times a week, and the average recovery time after an incident is 22 minutes.

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