Why am I getting programming tests as part of the interview loop on Linux Engineer roles?!

New
qwertykb

New

qwertykb
Jul 26, 2021 10 Comments

To be completely honest, I'm not sure if I am doing something wrong, or misinterpreting job postings, but it seems that every interview for a Linux Engineer role that I've done for the last 6 months or so has had a programming test in it. I'm not a programmer, and I'm really bad at it when I do try. It's really discouraging because I know how to string together applications and put together a stack for a purpose, and I'm a pretty decent sysadmin in my opinion, but 8 of the 10 interview loops have had an online programming test, for a fairly regular seeming sysadmin role.
Can anyone here clue me in as to why this has been happening?

Edit: I'd like to think my bash is pretty proficient, but all the interviews are in python, which I can't seem to pick up even with practice.
#tech #interview #linux

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TOP 10 Comments
  • Apple / Eng
    πŸ€‘πŸ€·πŸΏβ€β™‚οΈπŸ€‘πŸ€·πŸΏβ€β™‚οΈπŸ€‘

    Go to company page Apple Eng

    πŸ€‘πŸ€·πŸΏβ€β™‚οΈπŸ€‘πŸ€·πŸΏβ€β™‚οΈπŸ€‘
    Yup.
    As a server engineer, you may need to write scripts to automate stuff.

    Also, those programming tests sometimes are aimed to test your problem solving skills.
    Jul 26, 2021 3
  • Amazon / Eng
    rustacean

    Go to company page Amazon Eng

    PRE
    Facebook, Google
    rustacean
    Ignoring the Linux *Engineer* part (and my own ignorance of what that might imply), I’d still probably expect Linux Sysadmins may need some hint of programming for Bash scripts?

    As a software eng myself I may be biased πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ That said, with no programming background you could probably pick up some rudimentary Python in a couple weeks and practice on LeetCode and then you could go on to acing these interviews.
    Jul 26, 2021 0
  • Tesla
    πŸ‰β›ˆ

    Go to company page Tesla

    πŸ‰β›ˆ
    Do these positions have sre or devops in them?
    Jul 26, 2021 1
    • New
      qwertykb

      New

      qwertykb
      OP
      Only two of the 10 I went through the interview loop on did.
      Jul 26, 2021
  • Are you applying to software company roles?
    Jul 26, 2021 1
    • New
      qwertykb

      New

      qwertykb
      OP
      Sometimes, mostly infrastructure roles though, based on job descriptions and titles.
      Jul 26, 2021
  • New
    Alpha_7

    New

    Alpha_7
    Learn from your interviews & move on. The interview system is broken & most companies have absolutely no idea how to interview for specific roles. I've seen people get asked questions that are totally irrelevant to their domain. But since you need a job, you gotta do whatever it takes.

    All the best.
    Jul 26, 2021 0