Ask HN: What skills make you a successful SRE

11 points·mraza007··3 comments

Dear HNers, What are some skills that makes you successful SRE and what’s it being in this role and how much stress it is. Last how can you transition from Software Engineer to SRE

Lastly why don’t companies offer SRE roles as a new grad

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Observing successful SREs in my companies, most of them have the ability to manage their emotions under the extreme pressure of a serious production outage. You might even wonder why they are not stressing out.

If you have not heard of the Google SRE book, I think it is a good introduction to the systems thinking SRE mindset.

At Google, SREs are recruited from the ranks of the best engineers. SRE positions at the top tech companies are typically not offered to new graduates because of the trust and responsibility required. If you want to accelerate the process, join a startup that is Cloud native or an established company that is transitioning to the cloud. These types of companies will be more eager to hire a junior who is teachable and coachable.

https://landing.google.com/sre/sre-book/chapters/preface/

Got it thanks for the advice and it makes a lot of sense if company hires a junior they can eventually train them

I am not an SRE, but in my years of working with them as a developer the unifying trait seems to be the ability to answer all requests with one of the following:

1. "Not now."

2. "No."

3. "Hell no."

4. "Are you insane? Go away."

(this is sarcasm, it's supposed to be funny, I love you SREs)

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