IT Job Interview

[samalis]

Hey guys, wasn't sure if I should have posted this in this in tech or general, but I figured more of you guys in the IT field browse here so I wanted some help for you veterans, I could use some input so I am not too nervous.

I changed my career to IT and finished graduating and have a phone interview for Student Technology Support Coordinator at a local college in my area. The email they sent me about the phone interview stated, "For the phone interview the committee will ask you several technical questions to access your computer support knowledge.". I have done interviews at past jobs before and am fine with general interview questions but technical interview questions in this field is new to me, I am just curious if you guys have ever ran into this and what kind of questions they ask.

I am just a little nervous because the phone interview is with a few members of the board of the college instead of with HR. I just don't want to sound like an idiot and if you veterans in the field could give me some tips or insight to calm me, I would appreciate it!

Job description:

You will assist students with accessing their student files, email services, change and reset passwords, file recovery, malware and virus issues, technical support of mobile and laptops, and other student tech issues. You will provide procedures and policies for the help desk to accomplish the goal of improving student support across campus. "

Experience with PC and mac hardware and software as well as mobile and basic network is preferred"

[Dantrag]

What's the role? That will probably dictate the questions more than anything else.

[samalis]

So the role from the job description is:

You will assist students with accessing their student files, email services, change and reset passwords, file recovery, malware and virus issues, technical support of mobile and laptops, and other student tech issues. You will provide procedures and policies for the help desk to accomplish the goal of improving student support across campus.

Experience with PC and mac hardware and software as well as mobile and basic network is preferred"

I will edit this in OP as well.

[Cutriss]

You will provide procedures and policies for the help desk to accomplish the goal of improving student support across campus.

Would probably be smart to familiarize yourselves with these beforehand. Look at their website to see what the various policies and offerings are. The self-help areas and FAQs in particular.

[Dantrag]

So, those are going to be impossible to answer without knowing what systems they use. The best thing I can tell you to do(if this is your first job in IT) is show your passion for IT, tell them about the projects that you did at home. ASK them what systems they use for managing UN/PW. Most schools use some form of online systems(gmail, o365, etc) so if you have knowledge based of that, that will help. Honestly with such generic terms its very hard to lock down what some of the technical questions will be as well. They're def asking for a lot of "normal" stuff but some stuff that I wouldn't expect even people that have a few years of experience to be able to do unless they specialized in it.

I hope it pays decent, they're asking for a lot of experience overall.

[samalis]

So, those are going to be impossible to answer without knowing what systems they use. The best thing I can tell you to do(if this is your first job in IT) is show your passion for IT, tell them about the projects that you did at home. ASK them what systems they use for managing UN/PW. Most schools use some form of online systems(gmail, o365, etc) so if you have knowledge based of that, that will help. Honestly with such generic terms its very hard to lock down what some of the technical questions will be as well. They're def asking for a lot of "normal" stuff but some stuff that I wouldn't expect even people that have a few years of experience to be able to do unless they specialized in it.

I hope it pays decent, they're asking for a lot of experience overall.

It's $25/hr, I have 1 year experience at an entry support desk but thats about it and that only paid $15/hr. I am honestly just trying to get a decent IT job in my small area without moving.

Would probably be smart to familiarize yourselves with these beforehand. Look at their website to see what the various policies and offerings are. The self-help areas and FAQs in particular.

Will do, thanks guys for the advice.

[Minions]

Seems pretty easy going to be honest. I wouldn't really worry about it. If you have a general understanding of computers you should be fine. I need to find a job in my area as my current one laid me off (since it closed). Just be confident. Since I work/worked with servers I keep getting written off for these kind of jobs by employers...

[Melena]

Honestly, they may ask you some basic terminology like what is an IP address, as well as rhetorical questions like what would you do if a student told you there was a virus on one of the computers.

[Shenrien]

Give some basic troubleshooting scenarios and resolving issues, ex.
Friend was having troubles installing microsoft office, shadowed/screen connected to their computer and was able to get it installed for them, it wasn't installing to the correct path and was causing conflict.

give a list of some screen software's like team viewer, vnc, g2a and such. Show that you're knowledgeable of the exploits that are going on in the IT field and that you don't recommend using team viewer anymore because of their recent hack and exploit.

If you do get hired most of your work will be done in google anyway

[Teorem]

A phone interview is going to be a great opportunity for you to demonstrate good communication, troubleshooting/visualization, and people skills (read: patience), especially if your role is going to include in-person or telephone-based support.

Definitely good suggestions above, and make sure to run through some simple scenarios (e.g., how to connect to wired/wireless networks using Windows/Mac OS/iOS, making an Office document, addressing "my computer is slow," etc.). If you want bonus points and you're in the US, you can find a way to work in that you understand FERPA (student privacy) is very important, particularly when it comes to systems where personal information is accessible by IT staff, or accounts being compromised via social engineering (careless IT staff resetting passwords, phishing, etc.).

Demonstrate that you know the importance that IT--and particularly your role in it--serves in the business of the university (students getting their educations, faculty getting research and grants, staff getting their day-to-day) being done smoothly and efficiently and you should be good to go.

[The Stig]

Technical questions could range anything. However, the nature of support these days due also tend to swing towards a lot of Googling, as Shenrien said:

If you do get hired most of your work will be done in google anyway

Perhaps pepper your answers like this:

"Will see if manufacturer site has latest drivers"
"Look up what the error means on Microsoft website and apply necessary patches or follow necessary instructions to fix"
"Check Symantec/McAfee to see if they have an utility to remove X Y Z virus"
"Look out for the latest security alerts/bulletins on pcworld.com" (or any other reputable site... I believe pcworld.com is lol)

You're not expected to know everything, but the intuition to look it up/research it and apply instructions or fixes from reputable sites is important. Also, make absolutely sure it's in line with the IT policies (VERY important in any institute, less important if the IT Department for a workplace is run by 3 guys only). You don't want to perform/do something against policy. For example, our corporate work place, apps not in our "library", even a simple one like Media Player Classic, needs explicit approval from our client's IT service manager (we do all the work, but only when allowed to), and has to go through a process of requesting, getting approval, getting the ticket assigned to our team, then installing.

The other important thing is knowing how to google aka "Google-Fu". I've seen some guys here google stupid shit like "why does error XYZABC123 come up" instead of just throwing "XYZABC123" into the search engine. I'm not in position to correct them but I always it a bit funny.

[Isiolia]

"For the phone interview the committee will ask you several technical questions to access your computer support knowledge.". I have done interviews at past jobs before and am fine with general interview questions but technical interview questions in this field is new to me, I am just curious if you guys have ever ran into this and what kind of questions they ask.

I've been on both sides of the table for that. Frankly, for the level of position you're describing (which seems to basically be help desk), they're probably just going to ask how you'd handle common problems. Their "committee" is likely just bringing in other IT folks that you'd be working with, tasked with thinking of appropriate questions to ask and judging the responses. So, prepare for them to rotate between people asking their prepared questions, as generally, hiring practices mean they need to ask all the candidates the same things.

I'd say that 90% of it isn't to judge whether or not you get every last detail "correct", but to feel out if you're on the right page, so to speak. If they need someone to go fix things hands-on, then coming across as a high level project manager or something may not work (last time I was part of hiring, we nixed a candidate due to that). Remember, it's not a quiz. Ask questions back to clarify, if needed, qualify your answers, explain how you're coming to conclusions, that kind of thing. IT pretty well requires that you never stop learning, in order to keep up. Demonstrate that you are. That's more what they're likely looking for.

Really though, if you've already been working help desk, it's probably just going to amount to you talking shop with other IT folks. Don't stress about it.

[Dantrag]

I want to mention too that being honest is important. If you don't know. Don't lie or BS.

[BerenTebogo]

I want to mention too that being honest is important. If you don't know. Don't lie or BS.

I think this was an important part of my being hired recently. When I was asked questions I didn't know, I said that I didn't know, but referenced how I would go about finding the answer quickly on my own.

[Dantrag]

I think this was an important part of my being hired recently. When I was asked questions I didn't know, I said that I didn't know, but referenced how I would go about finding the answer quickly on my own.

It's how I got my job... that I didn't think I was going to get. I said "I don't know." So many damn times lol.

[BerenTebogo]

It's how I got my job... that I didn't think I was going to get. I said "I don't know." So many damn times lol.

Same here lol

[The Stig]

That resonates with me.

"I haven't heard of it..."
"I don't know..."

On some parts where I'm vaguely aware, I would add "but is it similar to ..." just to show some awareness.

[Yabby]

I've only done a few of these, as where i work has a great turnover rate (Great meaning people tend to stay here until they die). The only thing i can say is to not try to bullshit if they do have a tech person on during the interview. If you start tossing out jargon, without really knowing it, all you are going to do is piss off the tech person.

The last set of interviews i gave, there was this one guy that i thought was the one. He did well on every set of tests we gave, but during the last interview we touched on things he didn't know to much about. Instead of just saying he would go to google to research, etc, he tried to bullshit his way through. Dude lost a 6 figure job because he tried to bullshit a room full of tech people.

[Dantrag]

I've only done a few of these, as where i work has a great turnover rate (Great meaning people tend to stay here until they die). The only thing i can say is to not try to bullshit if they do have a tech person on during the interview. If you start tossing out jargon, without really knowing it, all you are going to do is piss off the tech person.

The last set of interviews i gave, there was this one guy that i thought was the one. He did well on every set of tests we gave, but during the last interview we touched on things he didn't know to much about. Instead of just saying he would go to google to research, etc, he tried to bullshit his way through. Dude lost a 6 figure job because he tried to bullshit a room full of tech people.

My interview was with two people that had deep knowledge of AD, they out teched me in about 5 questions. Then the "I don't knows - I've never had to do that..." came out quite a bit.

[Yabby]

That is fine, at least to me, for someone to say that (Depending on the job). The only time i expect someone to have deep knowledge of a certain area is if the job app focused on that (meaning if i'm going to hire someone to deploy a new VDI location using VMware, and the guy doesn't know what horizon view is off the top of his head, we will have a problem). When it comes to overall stuff (AD, Networking, virus issues, etc) i don't expect someone to know everything. There is just too much for someone to know, that's what google is for.