HelpDesks Administrator

aschenbecher

Hi

I had phone interview with a Help-desk manager of a IT Dept of a State govt.

He wants me to come in for interview tomorrow for a position of Help-desk Administrator.
He told me this position involves managing team of Help-desk technician who would be escalating issues to me.

I have never been in a management or team lead role. I have no freaking clue what i am suppose to do ??

Not to mention, I just have a A+. He didn't ask me if i had any server, coding or networking experience.
I know the basics but i am no expert.

Also , this job is 1 hr drive.

Should i even try to go for interview ?

bumg

My suggestion would be to use the interview as an opportunity to learn new things and help you possibly gain a better position. At the very least it would help give you more experience with interviews and would help give you insight into a potential advancement. You made it through the phone interview so that shows that they are at least interested in you to a certain degree. Granted, if it isn't for you, then only you can make that determination. Good luck either way.

scaredoftests

Go to the interview, though I'd want to get paid well if I had to go for an hour's drive. Make sure to check if it's shift work. Good luck...

UncleB

aschenbecher wrote: »

I have never been in a management or team lead role. I have no freaking clue what i am suppose to do ??

Not to mention, I just have a A+. He didn't ask me if i had any server, coding or networking experience.
I know the basics but i am no expert.

Also , this job is 1 hr drive.

Should i even try to go for interview ?

Do you even want the position if it were offered to you? If the answer is no then don't waste the managers or your time and tell them "no thanks".

If you think it is worthwhile and the money compensates for the commute then start thinking about how to answer some of the questions you are likely to be asked. I should imagine these will be along the lines of:

- what is your management style? (if you have no management or team lead experience then say here, but say you prefer a collaborative approach where you work with your colleagues and get them to work with you to work in an integrated approach)

- how do you deal with performance problems in the team ( I always find it better to use a 1st step to speak to the person involved to understand and guide them, try to assist before escalating to firm talk, a Performance Improvement Plan to give measurable standards of work, and finally (ie last resort) move to working with the HR team to follow disciplinary procedures).

- tell me about a mistake you made and how you dealt with it (think team lead mistake - scheduling mess up for example and how you asked the team who could put in extra shifts to cover - and how you compensated them. Also how you get the schedules sanity checked by someone else in future).

- What are your greatest weaknesses? (don't say too much of a perfectionist as that is textbook bullshit - be realistic and go on to say what you are doing to improve it. Interviewers love a candidate that will self-improve as they want that to be part of the ethos of the team).

- What are your greatest strengths (avoid clichés again and tell them about your methodical task list tracking or great public speaking skills. If you are really stuck then say something funny like "I make the meanest margarita this side of <insert state boundary name here> - a bit of humour is good in most interviews.

Remember team lead positions are much more hands on technically than management and you work alongside the people you look after, so getting them to work with you and respect you is a lot of it. Attention to detail for task lists from your boss, KPIs delivered by the team, regular team and meetings, 1-2-1 meetings with the staff (all written up and filed) will go a long way.

Lastly I would say that you acknowledge that you have much to learn and ask the interviewer what the options are for training, coaching or mentoring as you would like to develop your management skills to make you better at your job.

thanks
Iain