1. Proficiency in Software Development and System Administration: A DevOps engineer should have a good understanding of both software development and system operations. This includes knowledge of programming languages (like Python, Ruby, or Java), as well as expertise in system administration tasks, networking, and server management.
2. Familiarity with Key DevOps Tools and Technologies: Mastery of specific tools is crucial in DevOps. This includes version control systems (like Git), continuous integration and deployment tools (such as Jenkins, CircleCI), configuration management tools (like Ansible, Puppet, or Chef), containerization technologies (such as Docker, Kubernetes), and monitoring tools (like Prometheus, Nagios).
3. Understanding of Cloud Services: Knowledge of cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform is essential. DevOps engineers often work with cloud services for deploying, monitoring, and scaling applications, so understanding how to leverage these platforms is critical.
4. Strong Emphasis on Automation: One of the core principles of DevOps is automation. As a DevOps engineer, you should be skilled in automating the deployment, scaling, and management of applications, as well as automating pipelines for continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD).
5. Soft Skills and Collaboration: DevOps is as much about culture as it is about tools. Effective communication, collaboration, and the ability to work in a cross-functional team are key. You’ll need to collaborate with developers, QA testers, system administrators, and sometimes even with non-technical stakeholders.

In addition to these, a continuous learning mindset and the ability to adapt to new technologies and methodologies are crucial in the ever-evolving field of DevOps.