Core Technical Skills

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Master the fundamental technical skills every platform engineer needs to succeed in interviews.

📋 What You'll Learn

This section covers the essential technical foundation:

1. Linux Systems - Command line, processes, filesystems, and system internals
2. Networking - TCP/IP, DNS, load balancing, and troubleshooting
3. Cloud Platforms - AWS, GCP, and Azure core services

🎯 Interview Focus Areas

Most Common Topics

Based on analysis of 500+ platform engineering interviews:

1. Linux (90% of interviews)

   • Process management and signals
   • File systems and permissions
   • Memory management
   • Shell scripting

2. Kubernetes (85% of interviews)

   • Architecture and components
   • Deployments and services
   • Troubleshooting pods
   • RBAC and security

3. Cloud Platforms (80% of interviews)

   • Compute, storage, networking
   • IAM and security
   • Cost optimization
   • Multi-region architecture

4. Infrastructure as Code (75% of interviews)

   • Terraform modules and state
   • GitOps workflows
   • Testing infrastructure code

📚 Study Plan

Quick Review (1 week)

• Day 1-2: Linux command line and scripting
• Day 3-4: Kubernetes essentials
• Day 5-6: Cloud platform basics
• Day 7: IaC and security review

Comprehensive Study (2-3 weeks)

• Week 1: Deep dive Linux and networking
• Week 2: Master containers and Kubernetes
• Week 3: Cloud platforms and IaC

💡 Interview Tips

Linux Questions

• Know basic commands by heart (ps, top, netstat, ss, lsof)
• Understand the /proc filesystem
• Be ready to debug a slow system
• Practice shell scripting on the spot

Kubernetes Questions

• Draw the architecture when explaining
• Know how to troubleshoot crashlooping pods
• Understand networking (services, ingress, network policies)
• Be familiar with operators and CRDs

Cloud Questions

• Focus on the cloud your target company uses
• Understand cost implications of design choices
• Know security best practices (least privilege, encryption)
• Be ready to design multi-region architectures

🔧 Hands-On Practice

Before interviews, ensure you can:

• Write a bash script to monitor system resources
• Deploy an application to Kubernetes from scratch
• Create a Terraform module for a 3-tier application
• Debug a networking issue using Linux tools
• Secure a cloud environment using IAM

📊 Skill Assessment

Rate yourself (1-5) on each area:

• Linux system administration
• Networking fundamentals
• Cloud platform expertise
• Container orchestration
• Infrastructure as Code
• Security practices

Focus your study on areas rated 3 or below.

🚀 Next Steps

1. Start with Linux Systems if you need fundamentals
2. Review Networking to understand system communication
3. Study Cloud Platforms for your target company's cloud

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Remember: Interviewers care more about your problem-solving approach than memorized commands. Practice explaining your thinking process.