Network admin interview, what should I expect?

Levithan

Hi guys!

So the title says it all! I have an upcoming interview for a position as Network Admin, and am wondering what I should expect in the interview, as well as perhaps the position itself.

I'm currently a WAN engineer assisting the management of several DMVPN networks, using exclusively Cisco router and switches.

For firewalls we have mainly Fortinet, with a few Juniper SSG firewalls inbetween. I do some stuff on the firewalls as well, but not as much as routing changes and troubleshooting. The only experience that I have with an ASA has been home when I was studying for the CCNA security, and that was mainly using the CLI/ASDM.

I've asked the company Im interviewing with for a list of the technologies we might be using, and they sent me the list below.

I applied to this job cause it sounded similar to my current position, but with exposure to more technologies and likely a bit more responsibility.

I guess im also wondering if I might be in over my head or not? Im just a bit nervous as I'd love to have an opportunity to get a raise and learn more at the same time....


Here's what they sent:


Cisco ASA: vpn, basic firewalling, NAT, Radius client, debug, basic xauth for on-call PC, GUI usage

Cisco Router: routing (RIP, OSPF, PBR), vpn, NAT, ISDN Dial-In, Radius client, ACL

Cisco Switch: rapid-pvst, VLAN, trunking, LACP, Radius client, stacking, basic security (ACL, BPDU filters, storm-controls), basic L2 debug

Windows: DNS server, Radius Server, syslog server, wireshark usage

Linux: tcp tracing setup & analysis, netstat analysis

Adva: basic configuration of optical switching

Crypto: basic configuration of optical encryption device

Juniper: ScreenOS vpn, DPD, NAT, PBR, policing, static routing, OSPF, RIP, Deep Inspection, tunnel monitoring, IKE heartbeating

Zabbix: Monitoring, selective statistics (SNMP MIB-based)


In-Depth: any tcp trace analysis -

IOS/ASA/Juniper analysis of IKE/ISAKMP packet traces

IOS/ASA analysis of any tcp packet tracing/capturing output

flow & tunnel snooping on Juniper setup & analysis

Levithan

Nobody?

Anyone work in a similar role? Just looking for some guidance / similar experiences in interviews for a similar position...

olaHalo

I dont know if its a fluke or what. But Ive been to many interviews (mid level 75ish) and the technical parts have always been very easy.
Explain OSPF vs EIGRP
Describe the last network you worked with
Do you know X protocol
Explain the OSI layers
Explain trunking

A lot of questions are yes or no too. Like have you worked with BGP. Yes? Then explain a bit about what you did.

The biggest thing is just if they like you or not usually. Make them laugh. Ask them about their careers. etc

Mike-Mike

yeah, seems like the higher I go in my career, the easier the interviews are...

when I was younger and trying for entry level roles, I got tons of CCNA type questions. asking to subnet and question answer scenarios..

Now I assume the work experience, certs, and degrees on my resume speak for my technical skill. Most my questions are about projects I've worked on and just generally feeling out my personality.

kurosaki00

When I see network or system admins positions I just see JoA with a network or systems emphasis.
I would say know your admin basics, AD, accounts, object/permissions. VPNs, how to do them, ASDM, VLANS, Nat addresses, Filtering
Routing is not that hard, usually they just want to see if you know how the technology works and if you understand it (this so you can learn their network). How EIGRP works, how BGP works, iBGP/eBGP, etc.
Linux if it was me I would ask for stuff like grep, top, cron jobs and how to browse, install the OS CLI, Vi etc
tcptraceroute (or tcptrace...cant remember) and tcpdump will help you out with the transfer analyses. Play with those if you havent.

I dont know much about the other stuff so I shall leave to other peeps. Good luck!

inverse_one

I would expect a fair amount of technical questions. Most of the time it's to gauge your actual knowledge and how you react when you don't know the answer. As an interviewer I be sure and touch on most of the technologies written on the resume. Lot of the time people write down terms they don't fully understand and it's pretty easy to weed that out. Just be cool, if you feel like you didn't know the answers to a lot of the questions, try and look up the answer afterward to fill in your knowledge gaps.