Interview for networking position

fitzybhoy

I currently work in a support role for an in-house application but my educational background and study area is networking, Cisco to be exact.

I've never been interviewed for a network position before and was wondering if people could give some examples of "what would you do if...." type of questions that may get asked. As I have no vast 1st hand experience, I don't want to sound like the answers come straight the books/coursework.

karthikheb

When you say a network position it is too broad.

But here are a few things i was asked during a interview for level 2 support for a major network manufacturer.

Assume the topology host>router A> router B > Web server
You are not able to visit the webpage sitting on web server , how would you troubleshoot it . This is a open ended question and there can be thousands of scenarios, its generally asked to judge how would a person approach a problem. Whether you start from layer 1 and move up to layer 7 , things like that

Another one is they had a host setting behind a router, gave ip address of 192.168.25.x to the host and 162.32.275.6 to the external outgoing interface of the router they told me that host is not able to visit any websites or anything but is able to ping the router. What is the problem.
Now if you look at the ip address of router u can immediately tell what the issue is, they have written it as "275".

I couldnt answer this since i was being a smart ass and didnt notice the complete address just stopped at 162.32 (didnt get the job no suprises there)... My tip to solving the troubleshooting issues is to have book knowledge + practical if possible + a STRONG attention to detail. Concentrate on every little detail and think logically.

OfWolfAndMan

It depends on the interviewer and what the position entails. If it's a general routing and switching position, expect R&S questions. If they have firewall stuff there, expect them to ask the different types of firewalls, stateful vs stateless, etc. If you're managing some server stuff too like Win Ser 2012, ESXi, etc, you want to know how it operates, it's function, maybe some technical terminology. How does a packet traverse the network, and what changes as it travels? Tell me how to configure this routing protocol or how to troubleshoot this spanning tree issue. Explain some ways you could provide redundancy both physically and logically in a network? I need this many hosts and this many subnets with the 192.168.0.0/22. Make it happen.

IIIMaster

Typically in the interview you they will ask questions for like 10-20 mins. The ddifficulty depends on the scope of work. It could be something as simple as identifying a class A ip address, how many host is on this subnet to going on white board or paper to explain the way you will tshoot a certain networking issue. Pretty much stuff you should know with a networking degree or holding a net+, ccna.

fitzybhoy

Point taken, question was too broad and general.

Company in question specialise in CCTV installation and monitoring. All done over IP. CCNA is requirement so imagine questions will be in this field with some vpn and security thrown in.

E Double U

Interviewed for the NOC back in May 2006 and I only remember talking about ping, trace, and ACL. Sorry, its been a while.

AwesomeGarrett

Know what is on your resume. If you have a CCNA and say "I know OSPF", I would expect you to know it at a CCNA level. Review the basics and be honest of what you do not know.

goldenlight

practice subnetting and review your notes.

fitzybhoy

Interview went well. Interviewer was manager I will be working for in a 2 man team and he has all the knowledge. Interview wasn't highly technical, he's looking for someone he gets on with first and foremost. Job is security based, physical actually. designing implementing cameras, fire alarms, door contacts etc. over IP. If successful I'll need to pass Cisco physical security exams (x2) which I didn't even know existed.

Anyone work in this sector? From what I can gather it is quite niche at present. But niche because it's limited or niche because it's an up an coming sector?