Networking interview questions

raruku

Hi guys, I have lists of networking interview questions which I'm not sure of how to answer them. Please assist if you have more info or knowledge that can be shared, appreciate in advance.

1. How can you manage a network using a router?
2. How would you recommend we support our mobile workers?
3. How does the networking team interact with other areas of IT?

TechGuru80

What do you mean you do not understand how to answer them? Do you have any networking experience? Not to come off harsh but CCNA+ level should have a decent amount of input on those questions. If you are completely lost, you should look into studying for the certifications because you aren't ready for a networking position yet.

theodoxa

raruku wrote: »

1. How can you manage a network using a router?

Huh? I don't know what exactly they are asking. Do they mean "How does a router function within an internetwork?" or are they asking about Telnetting/SSHing from one router ("managing using a router") to another? Poor wording IMHO.

raruku

That's right, I have just done CCNA certification, and got an offer for network engineer position and a friend of mine has kindly mentioned the questions will be asked during interview, for both theory and practical questions.
I don't have network experience, as my role within support.
Please disregard number one question as I have found out this will be general function as a router: Routers have built in console that able to configure different settings, like security and data logging. I can assign restrictions to computers, such as what resources it is allowed access, or what particular time of the day people can browse the internet. I can even put restrictions on what websites are not viewable across the entire network.

As for practical, will appreciate for any info or knowledge answer as I do not have hands on experience yet within network

TWX

You're WAY over-thinking it. For the functions of a router don't worry about how it's managed, worry about what all it can do and how it does it. From the company's perspective it doesn't matter if the router is configured by text console, by web page, or by Ouija-board, all they care about is what it does for the company. For your third question about how the networking team interacts with the rest of the IT department and the rest of the organization, sounds to me like they've had problems with holier-than-thou network admins in the past and want to avoid that in the future. To be perfectly honest, if you're struggling with these types of questions then this does not bode well. They're asking simple questions, how a basic component used in the job works (which you should be able to explain now that you're certified), how you'll take care of a given class of user (which is one of the job's core responsibilities), and how you'll interact with the rest of the staff (which you'll have to do on a daily basis).

LeisureSuitLarry

The problem with those questions is they're extremely broad. Of the three, the first one probably makes the most sense, but it's still broad and there are numerous ways to answer it. The second question, my impulse would be to give a dumb look and say, "uhh...I'd make sure their **** works?"

Really not a fan of questions like that. It's like asking, "If you owned a happy brown dog, what would you do?" Uh... pet him? Give him a bone? Be glad he's happy? WTF kinda dumbass question is that?

White Wizard

raruku wrote: »

Hi guys, I have lists of networking interview questions which I'm not sure of how to answer them. Please assist if you have more info or knowledge that can be shared, appreciate in advance.

1. How can you manage a network using a router?
2. How would you recommend we support our mobile workers?
3. How does the networking team interact with other areas of IT?

Agree with others, quite broad but I bet there asked because of that very reason. The questions can expose what you know or do not know. For supporting mobile users, you would need some type of management software such as kaseya possibly or logmein if need be to remotely support users. Last question is there to weed out egotistic admins in my opinion and see if your a team player.

raruku

Thanks guys for contributing your ideas how to answer the questions.
As for first question, I guess as @TWX mentioned I should have just defined what router does in general.
Also for second question I have an idea by mentioning about bandwidth availability for each user or department, user experience, and also traffic security.
Last question probably I could say working with platform and application specialists, being involved in projects, or collaboration with telephony experts.
Not sure how to make good sentences but only had an idea so far what I can think of

blatini

Don't feel it's rude to ask for clarification when you're asked questions this broad either.

jaandrade3rd

I'm thinking the answer in regards to mobile users has to do with dynamic ACLs. If an employee needs broad access but has a laptop and is using DHCP he/she might have trouble with accessing certain websites/resources due to ACLs. A dynamic ACL will allow that remote user to telnet into the router and by just logging in will up date the dynamic ACL with his current IP address.

richypc

The mobile workers question probably relates to setting up remote support i.e. VPN or using Citrix.

theodoxa

#2 Remote Access VPN. I'd go with SSL VPN and Cisco AnyConnect (uses TCP/443) for ease of use.

raruku

Right, I guess it's part of supporting business as usual by giving access VPN.
I have few other practical questions as well which I'm not even sure about the question and how to answer them.

4. What monitoring tools or approaches do you rate?
5. What’s your experience of configuration management?
6. What types of network do you have experience with?
With this one, will it be ideal answer to say that I haven't had any hands on experience work with network yet, but willing to learn by using the CCNA knowledge I have acquired?

theodoxa

raruku wrote: »

4. What monitoring tools or approaches do you rate?

Is this a Britishism (yes, I made that word up) like "writing" or "revising for" an exam? The only thing I can figure is it must be asking which monitoring tools and troubleshooting approach you have used.

5. What’s your experience of configuration management?

"Experience of"? Is English not their first language? "What is your experience with configuration (presumably this includes change management also?) management? If you don't know, then the answer is "None".

6. What types of network do you have experience with?

I would guess they want to know what types of media (UTP, Fiber, T1), equipment (routers, switches, hubs), topologies (star, bus, full mesh), vendors (Cisco, Juniper, Fortinet, Palo Alto, Dell/Sonicwall, etc...), protocols (Ethernet, Frame Relay, ATM, PPP, MLPPP, TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, etc...), etc...you have worked with.

With this one, will it be ideal answer to say that I haven't had any hands on experience work with network yet, but willing to learn by using the CCNA knowledge I have acquired?

That would depend on the position. It would sound from the questions like this might not be the answer they are looking for, but you can never tell for sure.

raruku

Thank you for sharing useful information for these.

theodoxa wrote: »

Is this a Britishism (yes, I made that word up) like "writing" or "revising for" an exam? The only thing I can figure is it must be asking which monitoring tools and troubleshooting approach you have used.

As I haven't had any exposure to network role, then it's best to say none as well?
What sort of monitoring tools or troubleshooting that can be used to answer this question?

theodoxa wrote: »

"Experience of"? Is English not their first language? "What is your experience with configuration (presumably this includes change management also?) management? If you don't know, then the answer is "None".

This position will be in non English speaker country, hence the question's structure doesn't sound clear enough.
Seems this might relate with configuration management about network?

theodoxa wrote: »

That would depend on the position. It would sound from the questions like this might not be the answer they are looking for, but you can never tell for sure.

Could you elaborate what could be the answer?
As I have been working in support role, the type of networking tasks I have been doing are very limited, such as ping specific address whether the server is still up or not, or using tracert command to identify any issue within network.
The majority of network's role is done by network engineer guys.

theodoxa

raruku wrote: »

Could you elaborate what could be the answer?
As I have been working in support role, the type of networking tasks I have been doing are very limited, such as ping specific address whether the server is still up or not, or using tracert command to identify any issue within network.
The majority of network's role is done by network engineer guys.

The second set of questions sound like they are trying to ascertain your level and breadth of experience. The question is what level of experience are they actually looking for.

PS, just answer honestly.

ebohlman

blatini wrote: »

Don't feel it's rude to ask for clarification when you're asked questions this broad either.

In fact a good interviewer who asks such a broad question is expecting the candidate to ask for clarification, indicating that the candidate knows, for example, that "managing" a network can mean gathering data about how the network is performing, allowing administrators to control the communication over the network, or simply breaking up the network into manageable chunks.