Interviews/Infrastructure & Reliability/Platform Engineer

Hire Platform Engineers
who actually build the paved road

With EasyEnv we build a fit test for the role. Use it to cut the noise at the top of the funnel, or to go deep on the candidates who matter.

You can even evaluate how this person works with AI. So you hire the engineer who can ship, not the one who looks good in a slide.

BackstageHelm · KustomizeCrossplaneInternal CLIsLive or take-home

Request a Demo Create a Free Account

Real Linux VM

Not a sandbox

systemd, kernel, full toolchain

Browser-based

Zero install for candidates

One link and they are in

Auto-graded

Pass / fail checks per challenge

Plus the full session replay

A platform engineer turns the most painful parts of shipping into a CLI flag. The good ones think about adoption first, abstraction second. EasyEnv hands the candidate a workspace with a half-built internal platform and a developer team that needs to onboard a new service.

Inside a live interview

What you see when they work.

Real CLI, real templates, every keystroke recorded.

billing-api

AMS

Billing-api

src

billing.py

auth.py

models.py

tests

test_billing.pyM

test_auth.py

pyproject.toml

README.md

Pybilling.py

from decimal import Decimal

def calculate_total(items: list[dict]) -> Decimal:

# Sum line totals using Decimal for currency precision

total = Decimal("0")

for item in items:

total += Decimal(str(item["price"])) * item["qty"]

return total

candidate@platform-workspace:~

alice@dev:~/billing-api$

● mainPython 3.12

Claude · ready

Claude

You

Refactor calculate_total to use Decimal for currency math, and add a test.

Claude

Ask Claude...

Mike

Sam

How it works

Three steps. Zero infra to maintain.

Pick the fit test

Use a ready-made challenge or ask us to build one for your stack. Live, take-home, or both.

Send one link

The candidate clicks. A full Linux workspace boots in their browser. No installs, no VPN, no zoom-share.

Review at 2x

Replay the session, read the auto-graded checks, and decide. Most reviews take under five minutes.

The problem

Why hiring a Platform Engineer is hard.

Platform is a moving target. Some teams want Backstage, others want a CLI, others want a portal.

The work is half infra, half UX. Few candidates do both well.

Adoption is the real metric. Whiteboards reward elegance, the job rewards used software.

Templates rot. You need someone who keeps the paved road paved.

The fit test

What we measure for a Platform Engineer.

Every area runs inside a real production-like workspace. The candidate works in a browser, the session records itself.

Service template design

A new service kind. They sketch the template and stand up the first one end to end.

Golden path CI

They wire the template into a CI pipeline that ships from PR to staging with sensible defaults.

Guardrails over gates

Live conversation about how they prevent footguns without blocking velocity.

Internal CLI ergonomics

A half-finished CLI in Go or Python. They add a command that has to feel right.

Platform observability

A "platform health" dashboard with bad signal. They explain what to measure instead.

AI collaboration

Allow AI when writing templates and grade whether they review the generated code as a platform asset.

The stack we put in front of them.

Real tools, pre-installed, accessible from the workspace terminal.

BackstageCrossplaneHelmKustomizeArgo CDTektonCobraGoPythonTypeScriptPostgreSQLOpenAPIAWSGCPKubernetessystemd

Sample challenges

What a Platform Engineer interview looks like.

Pick from our library or ask us to build a challenge for your stack. Each one is a real workspace, not a snippet.

Challenge 01

From zero to deployed

Scenario

They design and apply a Backstage-style template for a new "API service" kind. The repo, helm chart and registration flow are open.

What you learn

Whether they make sensible defaults and document the escape hatches.

In the workspace

$ ls challenges/

workspace, runbook.md, README.md

candidate has:

· a real Linux box in the browser
· kubectl, docker, terraform, jq, yq
· cluster, repo and cloud creds pre-wired
· auto-checks running in the background

interviewer sees:

· every keystroke + every command
· terminal + screen recording
· auto-graded pass/fail per check

AI in the loop

Score the engineer, and how they work with AI.

Platform work is template-heavy, which means AI can be a force multiplier or a footgun. EasyEnv records the prompt history so you see whether the candidate treats LLM-generated templates as production code they review, not snippets they paste.

Allow or block AI per question, not per interview

Full prompt and response history replayed in the review

Score "verifies AI output" as a separate signal

Ready to hire a Platform Engineer who ships?

Set up your first interview in under an hour. We will help you build a fit test for this role on your stack.

Request a Demo Create a Free Account

Role FAQ

Hiring a Platform Engineer, answered.

Yes. The workspace can run Backstage with a sandbox catalog and our standard plugins, ready to extend.

Yes. We provide a half-built Go or Python CLI as the canvas. Candidates ship a new command end to end.

No. The workspace runs in their browser. Terminal, editor, ports and dashboards are all served from the EasyEnv workspace, so candidate setup is zero.

Each challenge has automated checks (did the service come back, did the test pass, did the right log message appear) plus a recording your team can replay. Most reviews take under five minutes.

Yes. AI access is a per-interview setting. Block it for fundamentals, then allow it later in the loop to assess AI collaboration separately.

Interviews/Infrastructure & Reliability/Platform Engineer

Hire Platform Engineers
who actually build the paved road

With EasyEnv we build a fit test for the role. Use it to cut the noise at the top of the funnel, or to go deep on the candidates who matter.

You can even evaluate how this person works with AI. So you hire the engineer who can ship, not the one who looks good in a slide.

BackstageHelm · KustomizeCrossplaneInternal CLIsLive or take-home

Request a Demo Create a Free Account

Real Linux VM

Not a sandbox

systemd, kernel, full toolchain

Browser-based

Zero install for candidates

One link and they are in

Auto-graded

Pass / fail checks per challenge

Plus the full session replay

Inside a live interview

What you see when they work.

Real CLI, real templates, every keystroke recorded.

billing-api

AMS

Billing-api

src

billing.py

auth.py

models.py

tests

test_billing.pyM

test_auth.py

pyproject.toml

README.md

Pybilling.py

from decimal import Decimal

def calculate_total(items: list[dict]) -> Decimal:

# Sum line totals using Decimal for currency precision

total = Decimal("0")

for item in items:

total += Decimal(str(item["price"])) * item["qty"]

return total

candidate@platform-workspace:~

alice@dev:~/billing-api$

● mainPython 3.12

Claude · ready

Claude

You

Refactor calculate_total to use Decimal for currency math, and add a test.

Claude

Ask Claude...

Mike

Sam

How it works

Three steps. Zero infra to maintain.

Pick the fit test

Use a ready-made challenge or ask us to build one for your stack. Live, take-home, or both.

Send one link

The candidate clicks. A full Linux workspace boots in their browser. No installs, no VPN, no zoom-share.

Review at 2x

Replay the session, read the auto-graded checks, and decide. Most reviews take under five minutes.

The problem

Why hiring a Platform Engineer is hard.

Platform is a moving target. Some teams want Backstage, others want a CLI, others want a portal.

The work is half infra, half UX. Few candidates do both well.

Adoption is the real metric. Whiteboards reward elegance, the job rewards used software.

Templates rot. You need someone who keeps the paved road paved.

The fit test

What we measure for a Platform Engineer.

Every area runs inside a real production-like workspace. The candidate works in a browser, the session records itself.

Service template design

A new service kind. They sketch the template and stand up the first one end to end.

Golden path CI

They wire the template into a CI pipeline that ships from PR to staging with sensible defaults.

Guardrails over gates

Live conversation about how they prevent footguns without blocking velocity.

Internal CLI ergonomics

A half-finished CLI in Go or Python. They add a command that has to feel right.

Platform observability

A "platform health" dashboard with bad signal. They explain what to measure instead.

AI collaboration

Allow AI when writing templates and grade whether they review the generated code as a platform asset.

The stack we put in front of them.

Real tools, pre-installed, accessible from the workspace terminal.

BackstageCrossplaneHelmKustomizeArgo CDTektonCobraGoPythonTypeScriptPostgreSQLOpenAPIAWSGCPKubernetessystemd

Sample challenges

What a Platform Engineer interview looks like.

Pick from our library or ask us to build a challenge for your stack. Each one is a real workspace, not a snippet.

Challenge 01

From zero to deployed

Scenario

They design and apply a Backstage-style template for a new "API service" kind. The repo, helm chart and registration flow are open.

What you learn

Whether they make sensible defaults and document the escape hatches.

In the workspace

$ ls challenges/

workspace, runbook.md, README.md

candidate has:

· a real Linux box in the browser
· kubectl, docker, terraform, jq, yq
· cluster, repo and cloud creds pre-wired
· auto-checks running in the background

interviewer sees:

· every keystroke + every command
· terminal + screen recording
· auto-graded pass/fail per check

AI in the loop

Score the engineer, and how they work with AI.

Allow or block AI per question, not per interview

Full prompt and response history replayed in the review

Score "verifies AI output" as a separate signal

Ready to hire a Platform Engineer who ships?

Set up your first interview in under an hour. We will help you build a fit test for this role on your stack.

Request a Demo Create a Free Account

Role FAQ

Hiring a Platform Engineer, answered.

Yes. The workspace can run Backstage with a sandbox catalog and our standard plugins, ready to extend.

Yes. We provide a half-built Go or Python CLI as the canvas. Candidates ship a new command end to end.

No. The workspace runs in their browser. Terminal, editor, ports and dashboards are all served from the EasyEnv workspace, so candidate setup is zero.

Each challenge has automated checks (did the service come back, did the test pass, did the right log message appear) plus a recording your team can replay. Most reviews take under five minutes.

Yes. AI access is a per-interview setting. Block it for fundamentals, then allow it later in the loop to assess AI collaboration separately.

How to Hire a Platform Engineer | EasyEnv | EasyEnv

Hire Platform Engineerswho actually build the paved road

What you see when they work.

Three steps. Zero infra to maintain.

Pick the fit test

Send one link

Review at 2x

Why hiring a Platform Engineer is hard.

What we measure for a Platform Engineer.

Service template design

Golden path CI

Guardrails over gates

Internal CLI ergonomics

Platform observability

AI collaboration

The stack we put in front of them.

What a Platform Engineer interview looks like.

From zero to deployed

Score the engineer, and how they work with AI.

Ready to hire a Platform Engineer who ships?

Hiring a Platform Engineer, answered.

Hire Platform Engineerswho actually build the paved road

What you see when they work.

Three steps. Zero infra to maintain.

Pick the fit test

Send one link

Review at 2x

Why hiring a Platform Engineer is hard.

What we measure for a Platform Engineer.

Service template design

Golden path CI

Guardrails over gates

Internal CLI ergonomics

Platform observability

AI collaboration

The stack we put in front of them.

What a Platform Engineer interview looks like.

From zero to deployed

Score the engineer, and how they work with AI.

Ready to hire a Platform Engineer who ships?

Hiring a Platform Engineer, answered.

Hire Platform Engineers
who actually build the paved road

Hire Platform Engineers
who actually build the paved road