Had a interview for a local bank in town

Applied for a local job went in and handed my resume in person within 15mins the HR department was calling me back to arrange an interview. I had my first interview on friday everything went well thought she liked me well. I have B.S in Computer Science and experience throughout school from 2000 in various computer/networking jobs. After the first interview she calls me for an assessment that she would like me to take on Monday. So for the whole weekend im brushing up on network theories, security, and basic MS stuff. I walk in there on Monday thinking im prepared and im handed a test that tests my vocabulary, math skills, and sentence structure. After were done taking the test she asks is there any other questions. I ask what are the exact job details as there was only an overview on careerbuilder and she begins to explain (I wanted to make sure she remembered me by asking good questions). She replies and the genius next to me says so will this help desk position require talking to people over the phone? The look on the HR person’s face was priceless. Anyways the point is why do companies give such stupid tests? I was expecting to talk to the IT department and have them pick my brain instead I get a basic test from highschool, not only that but the vocabulary part had words on it I have never heard before! Alright venting off, off to the next interview! Just remember fellas be prepared for anything...

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SRTMCSE

Local banks are very backwards when it comes to IT. But the test they gave you is probably one they give to all employees. Odds are it's mandated by the board of directors. I work for a small bank and our board of directors has all kinds of funky policies in place. Small banks are great places to work at but salaries and advancement for the most part suck. Don't sweat the test though, like I said it's probably a technicality mandated by some policy.

troys3

I know what you mean, I work for a bank. They don't pay crap, nor do I ever get an attaboy, even when I save them thousands. The requirement we have for help desk is they must have ten fingers and have a heart beat.

keatron

dan87951 wrote:

Applied for a local job went in and handed my resume in person within 15mins the HR department was calling me back to arrange an interview. I had my first interview on friday everything went well thought she liked me well. I have B.S in Computer Science and experience throughout school from 2000 in various computer/networking jobs. After the first interview she calls me for an assessment that she would like me to take on Monday. So for the whole weekend im brushing up on network theories, security, and basic MS stuff. I walk in there on Monday thinking im prepared and im handed a test that tests my vocabulary, math skills, and sentence structure. After were done taking the test she asks is there any other questions. I ask what are the exact job details as there was only an overview on careerbuilder and she begins to explain (I wanted to make sure she remembered me by asking good questions). She replies and the genius next to me says so will this help desk position require talking to people over the phone? The look on the HR person’s face was priceless. Anyways the point is why do companies give such stupid tests? I was expecting to talk to the IT department and have them pick my brain instead I get a basic test from highschool, not only that but the vocabulary part had words on it I have never heard before! Alright venting off, off to the next interview! Just remember fellas be prepared for anything...

As most of your job will probably consist of talking on the phone with end users or communicating with them via email or IM, creating sentences and communicating effectively is extremely important.

dan87951

Guess that was your attempt at a put down?!

Olajuwon

dan87951 wrote:

Guess that was your attempt at a put down?!

Don't worry about people who try to bring you down in such hard times. Remember that most of us are here to support you in your journey.

sprkymrk

The moderators on this forum don't attempt to put people down, I think you both misunderstood his point. He just stated that in a help desk position communication is very important, especially when your end users are profesionals (like bankers and rich customers) and so "banks" will typically test your skills in communication.

I personally hate seeing help desk staff that reply to my trouble ticket with answers worded like this:

Did u try resrting the service? If u cant not restrt the srvc then modify reg with dword changed to1 and reboot it to restrt srvce.

If a help desk person can't create an image of professionalism in someone's mind, the user will only become more frustrated and have less confidence in the whole organization.

borumas

sprkymrk wrote:

The moderators on this forum don't attempt to put people down, I think you both misunderstood his point. He just stated that in a help desk position communication is very important, especially when your end users are profesionals (like bankers and rich customers) and so "banks" will typically test your skills in communication.

I personally hate seeing help desk staff that reply to my trouble ticket with answers worded like this:

Did u try resrting the service? If u cant not restrt the srvc then modify reg with dword changed to1 and reboot it to restrt srvce.

If a help desk person can't create an image of professionalism in someone's mind, the user will only become more frustrated and have less confidence in the whole organization.

I agree, end users do not like it when you make them feel stupid, remember you are being paid to be the computer expert and in most cases you could not do their job either just like they can't do yours. I hear techs all the time complain about people and then I find out those people are usually degreed and most have masters or doctorates and some tech who hasn't even recieved an associates thinks the end user is dumb because they can't change their proxy in IE by themselves, lol.

oldbarney

borumas wrote:

sprkymrk wrote:

The moderators on this forum don't attempt to put people down, I think you both misunderstood his point. He just stated that in a help desk position communication is very important, especially when your end users are profesionals (like bankers and rich customers) and so "banks" will typically test your skills in communication.

I personally hate seeing help desk staff that reply to my trouble ticket with answers worded like this:

Did u try resrting the service? If u cant not restrt the srvc then modify reg with dword changed to1 and reboot it to restrt srvce.

If a help desk person can't create an image of professionalism in someone's mind, the user will only become more frustrated and have less confidence in the whole organization.

I agree, end users do not like it when you make them feel stupid, remember you are being paid to be the computer expert and in most cases you could not do their job either just like they can't do yours. I hear techs all the time complain about people and then I find out those people are usually degreed and most have masters or doctorates and some tech who hasn't even recieved an associates thinks the end user is dumb because they can't change their proxy in IE by themselves, lol.

People skills - a much sought-after attribute. Except for my short stint as a contractor, I've supported the IT requirements of non-IT, mostly graduate degreed professionals for over 6 years. Those users are valued customers, and should be treated as such.

The last thing any CEO wants is an internal revolt against the IT department.