Staff SRE Engineer Interview Experience - Sunnyvale, California
Process
I had a very smooth and professional experience during my interview process. Kayla Dobbins, the recruiter I worked with, was incredibly helpful from start to finish. She kept me informed at every stage, shared timelines clearly, and was quick to answer any questions I had.
The process itself was structured and respectful of my time, with clear expectations set for each round. Kayla’s communication made a big difference — I never felt left in the dark, and her steady follow-ups helped reduce a lot of the stress that usually comes with interviewing.
Overall, it was one of the better recruiting experiences I’ve had, and I’m thankful for how professionally it was handled.
Questions
In the technical interview with the engineering team, I was asked a mix of coding questions, infrastructure-as-code (IaC) scenarios, and topics related to the SRE role — things like reliability practices, deployment workflows, and troubleshooting approaches. It was a solid mix of practical and conceptual questions.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Illumio Staff SRE Engineer role in Sunnyvale, California.
Success Rate
Illumio's interview process for their Staff SRE Engineer roles in Sunnyvale, California is incredibly easy as the vast majority of engineers get an offer after going through it.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Illumio's Staff SRE Engineer interview process in Sunnyvale, California.
Illumio Work Experiences
- 5.0Awesome place to work at!Software Test Engineer • Current EmployeeSunnyvale, CaliforniaOctober 7, 2019Pros: The environment I work feeling like a family. It's hard to describe how awesome this place is. I put it this way: I left the top 10, multi-year "best company to work for" and came to Illumio years ago, and still here.Cons: Any place will have cons, including the 'best company to work for', as long as the cons are not strong enough to leave.
- 3.0Nice company overallSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeSunnyvale, CaliforniaAugust 29, 2025Pros: Average pay, standard benefits, interesting peopleCons: Startup fast pace, chaotic, fast-changing priorities.
- 5.0Great team, Great ProductQA Director • Current EmployeeSunnyvale, CaliforniaOctober 7, 2019Pros: I've been in Silicon Valley startups for close to thirty years. Illumio is a very special place. The company is well over 300 people, but the engineering culture has remained open, and collaborative. From my experience, the senior engineering staff are approachable and friendly. I can (and do) stop people and ask them about details of their design at any point. Engineering ideas are evaluated, by and large, based on merit (and best practices). There is plenty of innovation that happens every day at Illumio. I enjoy coming to work, contributing to a great product, and working with a good team. Is the company perfect in every way? It is not. However, it is still one of the best places I have worked. The company is successful both technically, and commercially.Cons: Illumio cannot be run like a small startup anymore (mostly due to our success). There are growing pains associated with this shift in company strategy. Some new leadership has been brought in to help take Illumio to the next level. They have restructured their organization as they saw fit. From a personal perspective it's hard to see people you've worked with for years leave the company (for any reason). However, this happens at every company, regardless of size or success.
