Vervoe

How To Hire a Server Engineer

IT & Software

Complete with job descriptions, skill profiles, and interview templates. Use this Server Engineer hiring guide to help you make the right decisions, fast.

What does a Server Engineer do?

A Server Engineer is responsible for creating, maintaining and removing physical hardware and digital software in an organization’s IT infrastructure across multiple locations. With this responsibility it means they must make sure that the different servers and operating environments are able to be accessed at all times.

Day to day tasks of a Server Engineer

  • Write shell scripts
  • Manage VMs in an organization's
  • Interaction with Active Directory
  • Provide technical support to stakeholders
  • Manage NFS’ and SMB’s
  • Use Ansible to automate tasks
Recruitment guide role overview illustration

A server engineer looks after an organization's hardware and software in their IT network. This means they’re partaking in the whole life cycle of designing solutions, maintaining solutions and the removal of potentially confidential data. The role is essential as they look after the business critical applications and servers which run various processes that organizations rely on.

Role definition illustration

Server Engineer Hiring Process

Build the Ideal Candidate Profile​

To find the best person for the role, you need to understand what the role involves. You can complete this with the hiring manager to define the role, its contribution, and the skills needed.

Write A Job Description Based On Skills

Once you understand the requirements for the role, you’ll need to understand the skills for success. You can then write an effective job description to promote your role.

Selecting The Ideal Candidate

See which applicants have the right skills for the role. Send all your applicants a Vervoe skills assessment from the expert library, or customize one for your organization.

Interview Top Performers

Your skills assessment results will identify top performers. Focus your time on interviewing those that have met or exceeded your requirements. Assessment results will also help guide which skill areas to focus on in the interview.

Making An Offer

Once you assess your candidates against these skills, you’re ready to offer the top performer(s). You should base your offer on the value that the candidate would bring to your team and your business as a whole. It is also important to ensure your compensation and benefits packages are competitive in the industry and help you attract and retain the top talent.

Skills needed for a Server Engineer

In order to be an effective Server Engineer, they must have a very good understanding of how the major operating systems work such as Linux + Windows, Active Directory. Furthermore, they must have good communication skills and the willingness to problem-solve.

  • Communication
  • RedHat
  • Linux

How to write a Server Engineer job description

Once you’ve determined the skills required for the role, you can write the job description to advertise for your position. Here’s what to include in your Server Engineer job description:

Job Title
What position are you hiring for?
Summary
What makes your company unique? What would it be like to work for you?
Responsibilities
An overview of the role’s day-to-day activities, and how the position contributes to the organization
Requirements
Skills a candidate must have to perform the job successfully
Benefits
Details of compensation, benefits, and any perks on offer
Use our sample Server Engineer job description
Job description checklist illustration

Sample skill tests for a Server Engineer

Create a free account today to access the full assessment and more from our library

Question 1

Linux

Question Type: Text

An application is being developed on Linux OS. In this application for the input data, the application needs to contact another application whose IP address is 10.174.85.99. But there is an issue where the other application is not responding while a request is sent for the input data. Which of the following options will help to check the status of the other application?

Question 2

RedHat

Question Type: Audio

What will be the octal representation of the following file permission? rwxr-xr-x

Question 3

Communication

Question Type: Text

Describe a time where you have presented an idea, challenge, or problem to a non-technical employee. How did you explain it to ensure they understood?

How to interview a Server Engineer

Once your Vervoe skills assessment has surfaced the most qualified people for your open role, you can focus on interviewing these candidates. The interview should focus on any skills that require development that were highlighted from the skills assessment.

Now you know that candidates can do the job, the interview becomes more of a relationship building exercise where you can get to know the candidate on a more personal level, understand their motivations, and how they would fit in with the team.

How much does it cost to hire a Server Engineer?

The US average for Server Engineers is $107,250 according to Talent.com whilst Indeed.com has the average salary at $90,502. Ninety percent of Server Engineers can expect to earn up to $108,000 and the lowest ten percent are paid up to $56,000 according to Payscale.com.

United States

The United States has a median salary of $72,629 USD for Server Engineers. This figure will change based on many different elements when a salary is made for employees, for instance, the location of the organization, experience and education.

Source: Source: Payscale USA - Server Engineer Salaries

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom a Server Engineer can be expected to receive a yearly salary of approximately £43,000. This figure will be impacted by a number of factors such as, the industry and location of the organization.

Source: Source: Glassdoor UK - Server Engineer Salaries

Australia

Server Engineers in Australia have a reported yearly wage of $94,000 AUD. There are a handful of factors which need to be taken into consideration when this number is offered to candidates, for example, the location of the organization and the seniority of the position.

Source: Source: Glassdoor AU - Server Engineer Salaries