What does "exposure to active directory" mean?

georgios

Hi guys, I've been searching jobs for months, saw and was asked about "exposure to active directory". I always say no as I never managed active directory, but what does exposure thing mean exactly? I'v worked under active directory environment as worker, can I say yes based on that?

cyberguypr

Two questions: what were you doing with AD and what is the context of the position's responsibility?

TacoRocket

It really depends on the context. If they are expecting someone to handle AD, then you've had no exposure. Working under an AD environment doesn't count.

joelsfood

Have you created users, groups and looked at a group policy? If your answer is no to any of these questions, you do not have exposure to AD

markulous

At minimum you'd need to be doing AD password resets. Working under an AD managed environment is a definite 'no'.

Simplest way to check yes is just to get a 2008/2012 server up and install AD on it and create a couple of test users, security groups, password resets, etc.

TacoRocket

markulous wrote: »

At minimum you'd need to be doing AD password resets. Working under an AD managed environment is a definite 'no'.

Simplest way to check yes is just to get a 2008/2012 server up and install AD on it and create a couple of test users, security groups, password resets, etc.

Also lot of times but not all, exposure to AD means Group Policy. Going to put that out there.

rsutton

Active Directory is a huge topic, there are books that span the various AD-categories, so it's hard to generalize what the recruiter meant. In my experience, if the context is a Help Desk position, they will want you to know how to create users, add them to groups, and change passwords - you can learn how to do this pretty quickly by building your own lab. Also, if this is a Help Desk job, I think it's unlikely you will have to understand server side GPO, but you may need to know a little about troubleshooting GPO from the client side.

636-555-3226

If I was writing a job description and put exposure to AD in there, it'd be for someone like a level 1/2/3 support role who needs to know what AD is and how the basic functions work. users vs groups. adding computers/users to the domain. familiarity with the GUI. youtube will teach you all you need to know for "exposure to AD" IMHO

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=active+directory

OctalDump

To me exposure basically means "yeah, I've touch that". It might not be in a production context, it might not be that you've managed or administered it, it might not mean you were ever paid for it. But you are aware that it exists and have some lose understanding of how it works, and have used it in at least some minor way.

Exposure is like the lowest level of knowledge about something.

If you've ever done any Windows Server course, you likely have more than enough to say you've had "exposure to AD". If you've had a helpdesk role where you've reset passwords, added users to groups, gone through an onboarding process for a new hire, applied Group Policy, added a computer to the domain or any other minor AD tasks, that'd be enough in my books to say "exposure"

If they want more than that, then they would probably say "experience administering AD", "experience creating and deploying Group Policy", "experience with Identity Management", "designed AD infrastructures" or "extended AD schemata" etc etc.

The other part of it is, is in the interview, they will likely ask you about your experience. Be honest, let them know what you've done or not. Being able to demonstrate that you can learn new skills is often more important. It might come down to you and someone else who knows more about AD, but I suspect it is low on their priorities so your other qualities would likely make up for it.

georgios

It's level 1 service desk job and doesn't seem to include AD tasks though I'm sure they will hope someone can handle some parts of it. I told them I've learned through materials and my MCSA can testify it. Yes, I've done labbing for AD though almost forgot, but surely can pick up very quickly. How am I supposed to gain real life experience if nobody is willing to give me a chance? How should I answer this question properly? A simply no won't help at all...

OctalDump

georgios wrote: »

How should I answer this question properly? A simply no won't help at all...

I guess start by thinking about what you know about AD, or what you've done (even labbing). Just one or two concrete points for your resume.

Something along the lines of:
"I have experience with AD from the client side, joining computers to domains"
"I have MCSA Windows 7 which included content on AD from client computer perspective, so I am familiar with the basics of AD"
"I've added domain resources, printers/shares etc, to computers"

I am guessing that they'll want you to know that AD is the primary authentication system in Windows domain environments, and that accounts are managed centrally. Possibly they'd want you to be able to perform simple tasks like password resets or adding users to groups.

When it comes to the interview, you can tell them what you know, and then ask them what kind of things you'd be doing with AD. If you can give them some assurance that you know what they are talking about and/or can learn, then that's probably enough.

I am guessing they might have some anxiety about hiring someone who has no idea what AD is, and then starts doing stupid things as a result. Like for example someone can't login to their computer, if you didn't know about AD, you'd probably try all this clever stuff on the local machine to get them to login. It wouldn't occur to you to escalate to a Server Admin, or reset their password and try again.

Or that the reason you can't install/run software x on to a computer might be because it is prevented by a group policy.

georgios

OctalDump wrote: »

I guess start by thinking about what you know about AD, or what you've done (even labbing). Just one or two concrete points for your resume.

Something along the lines of:
"I have experience with AD from the client side, joining computers to domains"
"I have MCSA Windows 7 which included content on AD from client computer perspective, so I am familiar with the basics of AD"
"I've added domain resources, printers/shares etc, to computers"

I am guessing that they'll want you to know that AD is the primary authentication system in Windows domain environments, and that accounts are managed centrally. Possibly they'd want you to be able to perform simple tasks like password resets or adding users to groups.

When it comes to the interview, you can tell them what you know, and then ask them what kind of things you'd be doing with AD. If you can give them some assurance that you know what they are talking about and/or can learn, then that's probably enough.

I am guessing they might have some anxiety about hiring someone who has no idea what AD is, and then starts doing stupid things as a result. Like for example someone can't login to their computer, if you didn't know about AD, you'd probably try all this clever stuff on the local machine to get them to login. It wouldn't occur to you to escalate to a Server Admin, or reset their password and try again.

Or that the reason you can't install/run software x on to a computer might be because it is prevented by a group policy.

you really pointed out something, thanks man. It really sucks to find a level 1 job, I've been as a technician for a compter retailer for over a year and I'm starting to forget what I've learned...

thomas_

How am I supposed to gain real life experience if nobody is willing to give me a chance?

I think a lot of people struggle with this. The default answer tends to be to volunteer, but I think finding volunteer IT work is easier said than done especially when it comes to actually logging into systems and making changes. Someone posted some links to a website awhile back for volunteer work. I took a look at them, but I didn't find anything in my area.

That pretty much leaves labbing and being able to display the knowledge you have learned through labbing and self-study during an interview.

YesOffense

The sad part is it's pretty simple to grasp if you have a technical acumen and are familiar with windows once you get exposure.

thomas_

I think I finally got "exposure" to active directory! I did a simulation using the software that came with David L. Prowse Security+ book to set the logon hours for an employee tonight. That counts as exposure, right? lol, jk.....

EnderWiggin

If they actually ask that in an interview for level one service desk, and you have an MCSA........... The interviewer is clearly not a technical person, and is basically just looking for a 'yes.'

georgios

The interviewers were IT manager and Network Administrator. Anyway, not surprisingly, I failed. HR said I just lacked a little technical background. I think they meant Active Directory. So I'm gonna build a good PC (i7+32G RAM+ SSD) to do tons of labbing so next time I will feel more confident to answer this question. And I probabaly need to learn more about software part stuff for enterprise environment as my current job is hardware dominated which I think is another reason I failed. What do you guys think?

OctalDump

Labbing is an excellent idea to build your confidence.

georgios

OctalDump wrote: »

Labbing is an excellent idea to build your confidence.

Thanks, do you know any materials related to real life enterprise software stuff for level 1-2?

TomkoTech

For a tier 1 position I don't think they are looking for much more than "Yes". It's kind of like questions about regedit 10 years ago. They just want to know that you are comfortable in it. No one is going to have a tier 1 guy editing group policy, or OUs. You will more than likely be asked to do password resets and the like.

OctalDump

The obvious resource is https://mva.microsoft.com/

The Microsoft courseware for 70-410 is also a good place to start. OR you could look at 70-686, although I think that is more Windows 7 in a Windows 2008r2 context.

Another approach for a home lab is to just decide on a simple project, like "I want to be able to login to this virtual machine, using AD running on this virtual server". And then slowly extend out "I want to have AD logins to a website" "I want to vpn into my home computer" etc etc. That way you develop the skills of understanding a problem, researching the solution, and working through the solution. You will inevitably hit small problems along the way, which you then need to figure out how to solve. Slowly, you will build up not just your knowledge of the technology, but also your practical skills in solving IT problems.

tsimmns

Does anyone have this link? I would love to find a volunteer IT job in my area to volunteer at to get some experience.