Docker vs. Kubernetes
Often listed together as if they were one skill. Docker packages an application into a container. Kubernetes runs and manages many containers across many machines: restarting failed ones, scaling up and rolling out new versions. Writing a Dockerfile is a common, fairly basic skill. Running Kubernetes in production is a much deeper one.
How to tell them apart on a resume
Docker
Dockerfiles, docker-compose, local development environments, 'containerised the app'. Common among all kinds of developers.
Kubernetes
Clusters, pods, Helm, EKS/GKE/AKS, autoscaling, on-call for production workloads. Usually DevOps, platform or SRE work.
The question that settles it
“Did you package the app into containers, or did you run and troubleshoot the Kubernetes cluster those containers ran on?”
Read the full definitions
Open the full tool for the other look-alike pairs, role profiles, and the JD decoder.