VSHN.timer

VSHN.timer #26: Hiring in a DevOps World

20. Jan 2020

Welcome to another VSHN.timer! Every Monday, 5 links related to Kubernetes, OpenShift, CI / CD, and DevOps; all stuff coming out of our own chat system, making us think, laugh, or simply work better.
This week we are going to talk about the various ways in which DevOps transforms hiring processes, and how it impacts organization culture.
1. We were not surprised to learn that DevOps skills are currently the hottest commodity in the IT HR market. Spoiler alert: here in Switzerland too! Our own DevOps survey shows that more than 90% of Swiss firms use DevOps practices of some kind. Speaking about which: did you know we are hiring?
https://www.zdnet.com/article/devops-now-most-sought-after-skill-survey-finds/
2. Organizations embracing DevOps practices experience fundamental changes. They bring together formerly separated skills and attitudes, maximizing the potential of teams with visible returns on investment. This newly found cooperation makes engineers learn about sales processes, to adopt excellent internal communication skills, and even to start designing APIs with customers in mind. All activities of an organization are impacted and integrated after investing in DevOps.
https://matthewrocklin.com/blog/work/2019/12/05/engineers-and-sales
3. Starting a new company is very hard. To help you build the next unicorn, Version One has published the Startup Handbook, a free e-book divided in three core areas: how to build your team, how build your organization, and how to find investors. Each item includes links to other books, articles and best practices. One interesting data item from this handbook: did you know that only 20% of candidates accept an offer? The IT HR market is a seller’s market and competition to get top talent is very tough.
https://versionone.vc/startup-handbook/
4. How diverse is your organization? If you work in IT, just look around you: your co-workers are mostly (by a large margin) white males between 25 and 35 years old. Hiring processes in our industry are biased, driven towards hiring people that are somewhat similar to the current employees. This “auto-pilot” bias can be unlearnt and fixed. About three years ago, Atlassian shifted their focus in the hiring process, focusing on values instead of skills. Just like Atlassian, organizations all over the world are (finally!) figuring out that the human factor is the most important one for a successful DevOps transformation. (By the way: check out our VSHN Handbook to know more about our values.)
https://www.atlassian.com/blog/inside-atlassian/how-to-fix-brogrammer-culture-hire-for-values
5. Given the complexity of the DevOps technology landscape, it is very important that our colleagues have the basic technical skills for the job. So while you’re hunting for the people with the right values, the tool of the week is a simple list of five basic Kubernetes interview questions you might want to ask to your next candidate. But as the Harvard Business Review once said, hire for attitude, train for skills.
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/kubernetes-interview-questions
How diverse is your team? Have you reviewed your hiring processes lately? Have you adopted DevOps practices in your organization? Get in touch with us through the form at the bottom of this page, and see you next week for another edition of VSHN.timer.

Adrian Kosmaczewski

Adrian Kosmaczewski is in charge of Developer Relations at VSHN. He is a software developer since 1996, a trainer, and a published author. Adrian holds a Master in Information Technology from the University of Liverpool.

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