How to Become a Site Reliability Engineer

Do you want to further your career in the dynamic and exciting field of information technology (IT)? Do you have an interest in software development and systems operations? Becoming a site reliability engineer (SRE) might be a perfect fit!

An SRE is a senior IT role that strives for automation over manual labour in all aspects of systems development, operations and maintenance. Why? As we continue to digitise our world and all of its known information, our need for reliable and fast IT systems to generate, code and store all of this information reliably is increased. So, who is becoming responsible for these large scale systems and their reliability? Cue the SREs.

Google created the role of the SRE to aid cohesion between systems operations and software development. To ensure excellent availability, performance, capacity and minimal latency across all its sites, Google needed generalist experts ready to solve the unsolvable. As more businesses turn to online operations, expanding with the endless possibilities granted by the web, so too has the demand for SREs.

An SRE has a vast knowledge of software development, the operations and administration of large scale systems, and excellent coding skills. Their aim, above all else, is to continually improve the reliability and scalability of a business’ computer systems. Melding the knowledge and expertise of a software engineer with the tasks of systems operations enhances the design and development of these large scale computer systems.

The role of a SRE is very flexible. Within every business comes a different set of issues, responsibilities and opportunities for development. The primary responsibilities of a SRE include:

The reality of becoming an SRE involves the ability to be flexible, persistent and resilient. Often, unforeseen and unfamiliar issues will arise within such large and complex systems – no problem is the same.

Do these open-ended questions interest you? Then, ask yourself these:

If your answers to the above questions were more ‘yeses’ than ‘nos,’ progressing your IT career into an SRE role should be a priority!

SREs are expert generalists in the field of IT, meaning they are adept at a broad range of IT-specific skills, including in-depth knowledge of computer systems, operation systems and database administration. Due to the expertise required by SREs, most people (but not all) who advance into this role have previously worked as software engineers or systems analysts.

If you’re currently working in IT and are looking to progress your career into an exciting new direction, upskilling in specific IT skills will improve your chances of landing an SRE role. Acquiring micro-credentials in these areas will aid in affirming your capability for an SRE role. 

SREs need well-developed skills in several areas, including:

Although there is no ‘SRE’ specific degree, there are multiple education and training opportunities for those of you who want to expand your IT knowledge and skill set. By investing in further education, you’ll develop the confidence to tackle the broad range of responsibilities that an SRE experiences daily. Not to mention, it looks great on the CV and in an interview!

Four tips on what to focus on while pitching or interviewing for an SRE Role.