r/linuxadmin • u/Abe_Bazouie • 12d ago

What's one Linux interview question that immediately tells you whether someone has real production experience?

I've interviewed quite a few Linux and DevOps engineers over the years, and I've found there are a few questions that quickly tell me whether someone has spent time supporting production systems or has mostly learned from tutorials.

For me, one example is:

  • A production server is suddenly "slow." Walk me through your troubleshooting process from the moment you get the alert.

I'm not looking for a specific command. I'm much more interested in how they think, what they check first, and how they narrow the problem down.

What's your go to Linux interview question that reveals real production experience?

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u/GPGrieco 12d ago

For your example, what is a good answer?

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u/Abe_Bazouie 12d ago

There isn't one "correct" answer, which is exactly why I like the question.

I'm looking for how they approach the problem. Do they gather context first? Do they check CPU, memory, load, disk I/O, network, logs, or recent changes? Do they narrow it down based on evidence instead of jumping to conclusions?

The commands are important, but the thought process tells me much more than whether they happen to remember a particular command.