Security Tech Interview

markulous

So I've been working at a help desk for a little under a year and a half and I'm good with it because I keep learning more things and get more opportunities with experience, but I got another interview for a company where I'd get out of help desk and into networking and IT security for a satellite TV provider. It's a good deal amount more in pay and looks like similar hours and a similar commute. Also FTE employee right out the gate with benefits. Glassdoor has some good ratings on the company. Everything looks great. Only thing I'm worried about is some of the job requirements. I don't have any experience with SQL or scripting outside of school so I'm a little nervous. I talked to the recruiter and should hopefully have an interview lined up soon. Anyone have any tips on the following description or have you had a job with similar requirements?

[FONT=&quot]Key areas of responsibility[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Short term (12 – 18 months): Operate the monitoring Lab; duties will include gathering information from the lab, store the collected data into a database, monitoring report writing and publishing, upgrade and maintain the lab, high level troubleshooting (Networking, basic sysadmin).[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Long term (18 – 36 months): Automate the monitoring Lab; duties will include automation software testing, report issue to the development team, deploy software into the monitoring lab. Main goal is to automate the gathering of data from the lab.[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Respect assigned tasks in Project Plan.[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Update and maintain a list of licenses (buy new licenses and renew licenses before it expire)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Skill Requirements[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Ability to build strong relationships and establish solid collaboration with peers.[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Curious and proactive mind-set with a high sense of ownership and commitment.[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Flexible to changes and resilient to stress.[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Write technical documents, such as requirement specification.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Profile[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Web/Internet investigation[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Comfortable working in a Linux/UNIX and Microsoft environment[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Networking troubleshooting (Switches configuration, VPN, TCP, UDP. Wireshark)[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Database basics: PostgreS, ORACLE[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Any of the following would also be an advantage:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]o [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Associates Degree in Computer related field.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]o [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Scripting languages: Perl, ksh, csh, awk.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]o [/FONT][FONT=&quot]AGILE methodology.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]o [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Experience/knowledge in Digital Broadcasting standards/protocols (MPEG transport stream, DVB, IPTV, etc.) and digital broadcasting infrastructure.[/FONT]

goatama

I'm not really sure how much this has to do with security. It's definitely going to be heavy with Linux scripting though. (It's weird that they called out ksh and csh, I wonder what flavors of Linux they're running.) However, that said, if you were comfortable enough with the command line to get your Linux+ and CCNA, I'd say you should be fine. Did you have issues with the scripting in school? I'm no programmer, but I'm pretty good at taking a script someone else has started and modifying it to do what I want it to. The more you do that, the better you'll get. It looks like you won't be diving into that hardcore at first, so you should have plenty of time to get your skills up to par.

The db stuff I'm not sure about. Do you not have *any* experience with SQL? Honestly, it's pretty straightforward unless you're trying to normalize a db from scratch. The description just looks like you'll be inputting and manipulating existing data. The automation stuff looks awesome, though, that should definitely help your resume if you wanna do DevOps stuff.

markulous

I'm not 100% sure of what type of security is involved with this job but it sounds interesting. Much better than help desk and I wouldn't mind getting into devops either since it's very diverse work.

I didn't really have any issues with scripting. Although I wasn't a fan of Javascript.

I guess I should say I don't have any SQL experience at work. About a month ago I finished up my database class and I had fun with it.

I like that they outlined what I'd do early on and then train me to do more in a years time.

goatama

Yeah, the job sounds pretty awesome, and definitely a few steps up from help desk, for sure. Good luck! With your education and certs it should definitely give you a leg up on the competition.

markulous

Thanks! That actually makes me feel a bit more confident.

markulous

Also, I have to give my resume to the recruiter. I just got promoted but don't start until a week from now. Is it OK to show future job duties and show them I just got promoted?

NetworkNewb

markulous wrote: »

Also, I have to give my resume to the recruiter. I just got promoted but don't start until a week from now. Is it OK to show future job duties and show them I just got promoted?

I don't think I would, I wouldn't want an interviewer questioning me on stuff I don't actually do. Would probably mention in an interview I that just got promoted though. Just be prepared to give a reason why aren't staying at the company when you just got promoted.

I would update my resume in a week though when I started the position though. Really just depends if you get an interview within starting the promoted position (within the next week)

markulous

He has to have the resume by Monday morning so I wouldn't be able to do that. Hmm so maybe that's the better option then is just mentioning I got handed more responsibilities in the interview.