Interview Negations – Salaried Overtime / Afterhours Support

pwjohnston

We have all had that question posed to us in the interview:

“IT is a 24/7/365 job and this job MAY require overtime or after hours support. How do you feel about that?”

It MAY require overtime and after hours support, HAHA! Of course this comes with the territory of anyone who in a managed systems / administration job, but what is the right answer?

What are the appropriate questions to ask in the interview so that the company knows that you’re willing to work with them, but won’t be taken advantage of?

I’ve worked for companies that once they find out you will work overtime know that you’re salaried and take advantage of me and I’ve worked at places that don’t require very little.

How do you determine what is an appropriate amount of overtime or after hours work?

What type of remote infrastructure do you feel is standard regardless of the network size?

What ratio do you anticipate of on site support vs remote support?

How do you expected to be compensated for overtime and after hours work? Be it time off, bonus, other?

How does what the company tells you about overtime and after hours support reflect in your asking salary?

dynamik

I would start a dialog based on those questions you just posted. I wouldn't simply give a yes-or-no type of answer. I'd say that I'm flexible and would do my best to help out in an emergency or other special circumstances, but I don't want to be taken advantage of either. Just ask those questions and decide if it's worth it for you.

If you want to gauge it solely from a monetary perspective, figure out what you'd be making hourly and compare that to what you're making now (if you're salary, figure out an estimate of what your hourly rate is). Looking at nothing more the dollars/year isn't that helpful. I could double what I make now by getting a second job and working twice as much, but that would obviously not be worth the extra income.

Kasor

Remember as IT, we provide support to our client to ensure their daily operation is running normal, enhance business flow and overall performance.

So, set your mind as support staff and their perspective on the job. If you are working 40 hrs a week on average. How much OT that you think a normal can do? Additional 10 hrs (2 hrs per day) + few hrs on weekend will be OK. You don't want to work over 60+ hr per week.

Site support and remote support are all depend on the business objective and your duty. Do what you need to do to get resolve the problem.

Basic they are looking for your organization and coordination skills about being a staff. Can you handle stress....etc.

Think and think before you answer the questions. They are not difficult, but just look into the question from differen perspective.