Keep failing job interviews

[The Stig]

No, he's an ass. Better to not have worked for him.

[Mizango]

No, he's an ass. Better to not have worked for him.

^ This.

[MisterBob]

You're not going to get network admin jobs with an A+ cert and no degree in this economy, sorry.

Either get to school, or at the very least get your CCNP. (CCNA isn't going to cut it either, the test is a joke. Took it for fun in college and managed to get it after 2 days of studying).

[SubzeroDiabolos]

Tu t'es faite dire non 4 fois dans la meme journée? Sérieusement...

T'as quand meme pas a te plaindre avec la scholaritée que t'as c'est quand meme décent comparer a mon super secondaire 4 qui m'ammenera jamais nul part dans la vie.

Sur une note a part, moi je le garderais sur mon CV meme si t'étais pas en bon terme avec ton employeur vu que 3 ans dans le domaine parais beaucoup mieux qu'un vide de 3 ans, bonne réputation ou non.

Pis je doute que meme si ton employeur t'aimais pas qui fasse expres pour que tu puisse jamais te pogner de job a moins qui soit vraiment zouf.

[Stiker]

I have a question that's fairly on-topic so I hope I don't hijack.

I'm about 6 months from finishing an IT associates and I have all these vouchers for certification exams and access to practice tests. What order is recommended for them? I can do A+, Network+, MCSE for XP/Vista, Security+, and soon Cisco. I was thinking A+ and Network+ first as they seem the most basic.

I'm not looking forward to job hunting and interviews as all my jobs have either been on the family farm, walk on snowboard instructor cause I'm good, and a custom farm job I got 30 seconds after I called. I'll pay attention to this thread because I have no experience in interviews at all. :/

I'll try to kill 2 birds with one stone then here because my suggestion to the OP involves certs.

As far as certifications that are "needed" it all depends on what kind of job you are applying for. When I got the job I currently have now, all I had was my computer engineering degree and that was enough for entry level. Now that I am moving up, I am expected to have more certs that apply to my job.

Since I work with a telecom distributor (Nortel, Avaya, and such) and my job applies to convered networking (phones + networking) I am expected to have working knowledge of both networks and specific phone systems. So I started by getting Network+, then going to vendor specfic certs.

So know what your certs are going to get you. A+ is a bare minimum exam to a point (and actually a reason my company wanted me to bypass it) as in the end it is really more of a general knowledge exam in comparison to other ones. Exams like Network+ will show a more specified skill set, and one that would be expected if you were applied as a Network Admin.

MCP is really, REALLY easy to get as far as Microsoft certs go. You just have to pass any Microsoft exam to get it and that is why it doesn't hold to much value. I got mine taking a Windows XP exam, and someone else could get theirs by doing a far tougher exam -- yet we are both MCP. That is why MCSA/MCSE holds a lot more weight as it is a set standard of serveral exams.

As far as the OP goes, it sounds like it isn't just your interviewing that is giving you issues. If anything, it appears as if these jobs are taking a shot at you because you seem to be close to what they need, so they are interviewing you to see if you might know a bit more than what your resume and certs may say. That is why they asked about previous job acomplishments.

Now you may not have much, but give SOMETHING. Never, ever say nothing. For instance, I talked about projects I did in college, the fact that I built, configured, and tinker around with several PCs, web stuff, etc. Giving them something is always better than nothing 100% of the time and it can show your skillset.

As for salary, yes give them a number, believe it or not this question actually reflects on you. Saying "the industry standard" screams, "please, I'm begging you hire me". Giving a ridiculous number either way (too high or low) doesn't reflect well on you either. Do some research on what people in the position you are interviewing make. Then when you ask the question, either give them that number, or shoot just above it. If they really want to give you the job, they will negotiate with you and you might be surprised how well this works in your favor. I ended up getting $3k more per year than I was initially hoping (I shot $5k per year above my goal).

Best of luck, I know it sucks. I got turned away from several jobs because my GPA was 2.8 coming out of college and not the magic 3.0 everyone looks for. If you keep at it though, it will work out and in the meantime, brush up on your certs and buff up your resume.

(sorry for the tl;dr lol)

[Ratatapa]

Tu t'es faite dire non 4 fois dans la meme journée? Sérieusement...

T'as quand meme pas a te plaindre avec la scholaritée que t'as c'est quand meme décent comparer a mon super secondaire 4 qui m'ammenera jamais nul part dans la vie.

Sur une note a part, moi je le garderais sur mon CV meme si t'étais pas en bon terme avec ton employeur vu que 3 ans dans le domaine parais beaucoup mieux qu'un vide de 3 ans, bonne réputation ou non.

Pis je doute que meme si ton employeur t'aimais pas qui fasse expres pour que tu puisse jamais te pogner de job a moins qui soit vraiment zouf.

non 4 entrevues en 3 semaines lol

[Mizango]

I have a question that's fairly on-topic so I hope I don't hijack.

I'm about 6 months from finishing an IT associates and I have all these vouchers for certification exams and access to practice tests. What order is recommended for them? I can do A+, Network+, MCSE for XP/Vista, Security+, and soon Cisco. I was thinking A+ and Network+ first as they seem the most basic.

As for me I did my A+, Network+ and Server+ certs. immediately after I got my BS and was finally done with school the first time. While I was doing in last internship at Microsoft they offered to pay for me to take active directory courses as well as my MCSE and MCSA. I went back after 2 years and finished up my Cisco and Novell coursework and tests as well, that were subsequently paid for as well.

I mean, a lot of people here went that route, myself included. You just have to find what works for you and work on the confidence thing for your interviews. Just a piece of advice, if you get anything from IBM, decline it. That is the worst company I have ever worked for in my entire life for a multitude of reasons.

But yea, work on your basics first and gradually move up is what I offer to people. Taking the harder shit first tends to burn you out and sour you on future studies.

Good luck to you my man.

Edit: Rata gtfo with your moon speak.

Omelette-Du-Fromage!

[wyrmtung]

I would view these four failures as a positive for your next interviews. Most of us need the practice before they become comfortable and the answers start to really flow.

Now that you had the four interviews, write down some answers to the questions that gave you the most trouble. Repeat those answers out loud until they flow naturally.

Get a friend to practice interview you. Then ask them for their opinion of how the interview went. Let them critique your body language, the delivery of your answers, and the content of your answers. Make sure that the answers that you prepared are conveying the message that you want to the interviewer.

Also, make sure to write down some questions to ask the interviewer. At the end of the interview, they always open it up for you to ask questions. Those can be just as important. I like to ask questions that subtlety ask "why should I choose to work for you?" Or maybe ask questions that expresses how knowledgeable you are, like asking them what kind of equipment you will be working with (e.g. how old their computers are, etc)

[Ratatapa]

for those who wonder this was the job i applied to

Seeking Dynamic individuals in IT ? - SOLULAN

[The Stig]

for those who wonder this was the job i applied to

Seeking Dynamic individuals in IT ? - SOLULAN

Sorry that looks a bit shit. It's not clear, no pay is even listed, no position, nothing. That page is just a general "here give us your personal info lol" page.

As a rule of thumb (or is it thumb of rule? Haven't used this for a while):

It took me 2 years to figure out that "Exciting opportunity in the financial services" means "Soul destroying admin shit"

"Challenging Role" means "Impossible work load aimed at causing your imminent mental breakdown"

"Flexi-time" means "You work when we fucking tell you to work fuckface"

"Competitive industry standard wage" means "You're a monkey, here are some peanuts, DANCE MONKEY, DANCE"

"Working in a close team" means "Complete cunt of a manager telling you 8 hours a day that your work is not good enough, you will need to work late, and that I own you man-bitch"

[Ratatapa]

i don't know if it's me or only in Quebec but i've almost never seen a job that post a pay

usually at pay it says like depends on experience or nothing

[The Stig]

In that case I cannot say as I only have knowledge within the UK, but I just had a look at this site: Job Bank - Where do you live?

and it all lists pay, the positions. Granted, I've done a very very wide and none specific search, however, do you not find it strange you're going to a possible interview without knowing the pay? Does it not strike you as odd?

But seriously aside from that, the link to the "job" you applied for is invisible. No employer (unless fishy) should be like that, everything should be listed.

Otherwise, having experienced some weird interviews myself during the summer, I have concluded some of these people just invite me along "for lolz" despite having a "position" available and then not getting back to me, I seriously do wonder if some of the interviews I went to the people were just bored and wanted to poke some fun. I hate to say but it very much seems you went to such an interview.

Any serious role/position will have an application form or a lot more detail than just "ya ya you need this, this, and preferably this. Also this would be nice". I would want to know, in no specific order:

- My pay
- My responsibility(s)
- My role/position
- My benefits
- My holiday allowance
- My working hours (usual)
- Other possible responsibilities

Having just clicked on the SOLULAN site a bit more, I have more to add and point out on (again I am jumping to conclusions):

It's a shit site
It's run by some kiddo
It's a small company
It's ugly

If it's not a small company, any medium size company should have its own job/careers page which is searchable or a lot more detailed then that shitty careers page on there.

I'm pissed off for you, not at you.

EDIT: going to bed now, will be happy to post here with more comments or answers should you have questions or want to discuss.

[Ratatapa]

That job seemed fun when they explained more in detail in the interview

My job would be like a contract aka a client call say i need a tech for 3min to build my Windows server 2008 network blah blah.

so i go there and install the routers servers and clients PC and make sure everything works (dns dhcp create user accounts etC)



Latly i've remarked that people want more and more people for contract and not full time

[MisterBob]

Most companies don't list the salary, especially online. Especially since the salary is generally determined by the quality of the applicant and how much the company thinks they have to pay you to get you to accept.

[Elvis]

[Deadhead]

I got at a job at EMC right out of college. This is a huge Data Storage company. Anywho, make sure you do research on the company before you go in for the interview. They like to know that you took time aside to look up some things about their company. Make sure you bring up some bullet points that you found out while doing your research. Also like everyone else said, go in thinking your interviewer is someone you know and respect. If you seem nervous, they will think that you can not handle pressure. Just go in, be yourself +1, and look interested about their company.

[Conformity]

I was just jobless for a month and got three job offers and landed them all. I believe that interviews are personality measures, nothing more. If you are sitting in front of them they are obviously impressed by your qualifications. I recommend trying to gauge their reactions to your responses and repairing the faulty replies. Also, go in there like you are fucking hungry, hungry for this job. This is your job and nobody elses. Do research on the company and talk about it passivley as if it is just something you know instead of something you researched.

Also, I recommened making them laugh. Dont be a complete drone in there answering questions. You have to show personality. They are judging your interpersonal skills so show them that you have some.

The only time I have ever failed an interview is when I didn't really want the job. If you really want the job show them that you want it.

[Ratatapa]

Well sorry for the necrobump but i wanna thank you all for the tips

Got an interview today, went there and was really dynamic and they talked alot about how they liked my dynamic. So continued that interview that way and did their little practice exam.

They said they couldn't give an answer now since they got interviews till next monday but. They said unless someone really goes omg they will call me for a 2nd interview.

So i guess i did good ^^

Thx again hehe now to wish they call me back :D

[Octavious]

Well sorry for the necrobump but i wanna thank you all for the tips

Got an interview today, went there and was really dynamic and they talked alot about how they liked my dynamic. So continued that interview that way and did their little practice exam.

They said they couldn't give an answer now since they got interviews till next monday but. They said unless someone really goes omg they will call me for a 2nd interview.

So i guess i did good ^^

Thx again hehe now to wish they call me back :D

I went through similar things this past fall before I finally got a job offer for the summer. I'm not a Network person, (software engineer here) but I would say interview with as many people as possible. I think I did maybe 8-10 interviews and got 4 second round interviews and finally 2 offers. I got really down after awhile from not being called back the first few times, but if you really want a good tip (idk if anyone has said it) be interested in what your applying for.

People love to see that you're not only looking for the job, but that you're happy to work there and be part of their company. Research who your applying for and make conversation about their company when they ask if you have any questions. Make some effort to show that you know what you want and how to get it, basically.

I wish you the best of luck in your job search. May you not become the angst filled monster that is most network admins. I don't have the patience to do it, more power to ya.

[Mizango]

Well sorry for the necrobump but i wanna thank you all for the tips

Got an interview today, went there and was really dynamic and they talked alot about how they liked my dynamic. So continued that interview that way and did their little practice exam.

They said they couldn't give an answer now since they got interviews till next monday but. They said unless someone really goes omg they will call me for a 2nd interview.

So i guess i did good ^^

Thx again hehe now to wish they call me back :D

Kick ass man, congratulations. If you get it or not take the confidence you learned from that interview into any future ones. You're sure to nail them from here on out.

Canes are on the comeback!