Essential Work Sample Exercises for Evaluating Cloud Engineer Candidates

Cloud engineering has become a critical function for organizations embracing digital transformation. As businesses increasingly migrate to cloud platforms, the role of Cloud Engineers has evolved from simply managing infrastructure to architecting complex, secure, and cost-effective solutions that drive business value. Finding the right Cloud Engineer requires more than just reviewing resumes and conducting standard interviews—it demands a practical assessment of their technical abilities, problem-solving skills, and collaborative approach.

Traditional interviews often fail to reveal a candidate's true capabilities in cloud engineering. While a candidate might eloquently discuss their experience with AWS or Azure during an interview, this doesn't necessarily translate to practical proficiency. Work samples provide a window into how candidates approach real-world challenges, make technical decisions, and implement solutions—all critical aspects of the Cloud Engineer role.

The exercises outlined below are designed to evaluate candidates across the essential competencies required for cloud engineering success: architecture design, automation, security implementation, and troubleshooting. By observing candidates as they work through these scenarios, hiring managers can gain valuable insights into their technical skills, thought processes, and ability to communicate complex technical concepts.

Moreover, these exercises incorporate feedback mechanisms that assess a candidate's adaptability and coachability—traits that are particularly important in the rapidly evolving cloud technology landscape. A Cloud Engineer who can gracefully incorporate feedback and adjust their approach will continue to grow with your organization as cloud technologies advance.

By implementing these carefully crafted work samples in your hiring process, you'll be able to identify Cloud Engineers who not only possess the technical expertise required for the role but also demonstrate the problem-solving abilities and collaborative mindset needed to thrive in your organization's unique environment.

Activity #1: Cloud Architecture Design Challenge

This exercise evaluates a candidate's ability to design scalable, secure, and cost-effective cloud architecture—a fundamental skill for any Cloud Engineer. Candidates will demonstrate their understanding of cloud services, networking principles, and security best practices while balancing technical requirements with business constraints.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare a fictional business case describing a web application that needs to be migrated to the cloud. Include specific requirements such as expected traffic patterns, data storage needs, security requirements, and budget constraints.
• Provide the candidate with a template diagram tool (like draw.io, Lucidchart, or a cloud provider's architecture diagram tool) to create their solution.
• Allow 45-60 minutes for this exercise.
• Prepare questions to probe the candidate's reasoning behind specific design choices.
• Have a senior Cloud Engineer or architect available to evaluate the solution.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the business case and requirements carefully.
• Design a cloud architecture that addresses all the requirements, considering scalability, reliability, security, and cost-effectiveness.
• Create a diagram illustrating your proposed architecture, clearly labeling all components and their interactions.
• Prepare to explain your design decisions, including service selections, networking configuration, security controls, and cost optimization strategies.
• Be ready to discuss alternative approaches you considered and why you ultimately chose your solution.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the candidate presents their solution, provide specific feedback on one aspect they handled well (e.g., "Your approach to auto-scaling was well-thought-out") and one area for improvement (e.g., "Consider how you might enhance the security of the database layer").
• Give the candidate 10 minutes to revise their design based on the improvement feedback, focusing specifically on that aspect.
• Observe how receptively they incorporate the feedback and their ability to adapt their thinking.

Activity #2: Infrastructure as Code Implementation

This exercise assesses a candidate's ability to automate infrastructure deployment using code—an essential skill for modern cloud operations. It reveals their familiarity with infrastructure as code (IaC) tools, understanding of cloud resources, and coding practices.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare a simple infrastructure requirement (e.g., a web application with a database backend) that can be implemented using IaC.
• Specify which IaC tool to use (Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, Azure ARM templates, etc.) based on your organization's preferences.
• Provide access to a development environment or sandbox account where the candidate can test their code.
• Allow 45-60 minutes for this exercise.
• Prepare a rubric for evaluating code quality, resource configuration, and security considerations.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the infrastructure requirements provided.
• Write infrastructure code using the specified tool to provision the required resources.
• Ensure your code follows best practices for modularity, reusability, and security.
• Include appropriate documentation or comments to explain your implementation.
• Be prepared to explain your code, including any assumptions or design decisions you made.
• Consider how your implementation handles environment variables, secrets management, and resource dependencies.

Feedback Mechanism:

• Review the candidate's code and provide specific feedback on one strength (e.g., "Your modular approach to network configuration will make this very maintainable") and one area for improvement (e.g., "The security group configuration could be more restrictive").
• Give the candidate 15 minutes to refactor the identified portion of their code based on the feedback.
• Observe their coding practices, problem-solving approach, and how they incorporate the feedback.

Activity #3: Cloud Security Assessment and Remediation

This exercise evaluates a candidate's understanding of cloud security principles and their ability to identify and address security vulnerabilities—critical skills for protecting cloud-based assets. It reveals their knowledge of security best practices and their practical approach to implementing security controls.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare a pre-configured cloud environment (or a detailed description with screenshots) that contains several security misconfigurations or vulnerabilities. These might include overly permissive IAM roles, public S3 buckets, unencrypted databases, or security groups with unrestricted access.
• Create a document listing the resources in the environment without explicitly pointing out the security issues.
• Allow 45 minutes for the assessment and remediation planning.
• Prepare a list of the intentional security issues to compare with the candidate's findings.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the provided cloud environment or documentation.
• Identify as many security issues or misconfigurations as you can find.
• For each issue identified, explain:
• The potential security risk it poses
• How you would remediate the issue
• Any potential impact the remediation might have on system functionality
• Prioritize the issues based on their severity and potential impact.
• Document your findings and recommendations in a clear, organized manner.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After reviewing the candidate's assessment, acknowledge one security issue they identified thoroughly and provide feedback on one security concern they missed or inadequately addressed.
• Give the candidate 10 minutes to develop a remediation plan for the missed/inadequately addressed security issue.
• Evaluate their ability to quickly understand the security implication and develop an appropriate solution.

Activity #4: Cloud Troubleshooting Scenario

This exercise assesses a candidate's problem-solving abilities and technical troubleshooting skills—essential qualities for maintaining reliable cloud operations. It reveals how they approach complex issues, utilize available tools, and communicate during critical situations.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare a scenario describing a cloud-based application experiencing performance issues or downtime. Include system architecture diagrams, error logs, and monitoring screenshots.
• Ensure the scenario has multiple potential causes but one primary root cause that can be identified through careful analysis.
• Consider recording a video of the issue occurring or creating a simulated environment if possible.
• Allow 45 minutes for the troubleshooting exercise.
• Prepare hints that can be provided if the candidate gets stuck, but only offer them if necessary.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the troubleshooting scenario and all provided materials.
• Analyze the information to identify potential causes of the issue.
• Describe the steps you would take to diagnose the problem, including:
• What logs or metrics you would examine
• What commands or tools you would use
• What additional information you would gather
• Explain your thought process as you narrow down the possible causes.
• Once you've identified what you believe is the root cause, propose a solution and explain how you would implement it.
• Outline how you would verify that your solution resolved the issue.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the candidate presents their troubleshooting approach and solution, provide feedback on one effective aspect of their methodology and one area where their approach could be more efficient or thorough.
• Ask the candidate to revise their troubleshooting plan based on the feedback, focusing on the area for improvement.
• Evaluate their ability to incorporate the feedback and refine their approach.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should we allocate for each work sample exercise?

Each exercise should be allocated 45-60 minutes, with additional time for setup, instructions, and feedback. Plan for approximately 1.5 hours per exercise if conducting them individually, or consider a half-day assessment if combining multiple exercises.

Should we conduct these exercises remotely or in-person?

These exercises can be conducted either remotely or in-person. For remote sessions, ensure you have appropriate screen-sharing and collaboration tools available. In-person sessions may provide better opportunities to observe the candidate's thought process, but remote sessions more closely mirror the reality of modern cloud engineering work.

What if a candidate is unfamiliar with our specific cloud provider?

Focus on evaluating the candidate's understanding of cloud concepts rather than specific provider implementations. Allow candidates to use the cloud provider they're most familiar with for the exercises, as the fundamental principles transfer across platforms. Strong candidates will be able to adapt to different cloud environments quickly.

How should we evaluate candidates who take different approaches to the same problem?

There are often multiple valid solutions to cloud engineering challenges. Evaluate candidates on the soundness of their reasoning, adherence to best practices, consideration of requirements, and ability to explain their choices—not on whether they chose the exact approach you would have taken.

Should we provide access to documentation or internet resources during these exercises?

Yes, allowing access to documentation and resources mirrors real-world conditions and focuses the assessment on problem-solving abilities rather than memorization. However, be clear about what resources are permitted and monitor usage to ensure candidates are demonstrating their own skills.

How do we ensure these exercises don't disadvantage candidates from diverse backgrounds?

Review your exercises to ensure they don't require specialized knowledge that's not essential to the role. Provide clear instructions and equal preparation materials to all candidates. Consider offering accommodations for candidates who may need them, and standardize your evaluation criteria to focus on job-relevant skills.

Finding the right Cloud Engineer is crucial for organizations looking to leverage cloud technologies effectively. By incorporating these practical work samples into your hiring process, you'll gain deeper insights into candidates' technical abilities, problem-solving approaches, and collaboration skills than traditional interviews alone can provide.

Remember that the goal of these exercises is not just to test technical knowledge, but to observe how candidates approach complex problems, make decisions, and communicate their thinking—all essential aspects of success in a Cloud Engineer role. By evaluating candidates in action, you'll be better equipped to identify those who will thrive in your specific environment and contribute to your cloud initiatives.

For more resources to enhance your hiring process, check out Yardstick's AI Job Description Generator, AI Interview Question Generator, and AI Interview Guide Generator. You can also find a complete job description for a Cloud Engineer role here.

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