just had an interview

so i wasn't gonna post anything about this because i initially went in there thinking that i was interviewing for a PC tech position. initially i was very nervous but when i meet the person im interviewing with i calmed down a bit. the first question he asked was to tell him about myself from when i was born to the present, which was no problem. The next series of questions he asked me about my career goals and the sort and then he got to the technical part. i wasn't really worried about that either because i was expecting PC related questions which there was only 2. but then i think he saw that i was persuing my IT degree and turned it up a notch then i got real nervous he had me working through network trouble shooting which i answered correctly to my surprise.

Then he asked the me the thing i was hoping he wouldn't, a subnetting question! i was like **** in my head, but luckily i have been studying for my CCNA. after about 3 mins of working it out on some paper i answered it correctly. heres the the funny part he says " of the 2 years i have been interviewing you are like the second guy to get the answer right" at that point i was speechless.

at the end of the interview he told me he was impressed by my technical skills. so now he is considering to a network tech position but i have to come back tomorrow to talk to some other people that are over the account that the company is outsourced to.

so my question is anyone been in this situation? what kind of questions should i expect??

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Comments

jryantech

Nice job

I'm curious to what Subnetting question it was?

Mishra

Good job.

Had someone tell me most people don't know what ping or telnet is so he was happy I knew it.
Had someone tell me that I've gotten the most questions right when it came to cabling and A+ stuff.
Had a side interviewer tell me he wanted me to come work for his Linux team instead of the Windows team I interviewed for. (I never got either job...)

Little ego stroking real quick but it is relavant to the topic.

gojericho0

Thats definitely a good thing you impressed him. Just stay relaxed for the interview tomorrow and make sure you get a good understanding what this position will entail.

Tech109

I'd say know your DNS and some basic TCP/IP stuff and you should be fine.

empc4000xl

Yeah I got a call for 1 job and the interviews said I had to much skill for the job. They are still looking to fill it.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/sad/760061529.html

Then I did another interview with another department and received praise on how well my T/S was and I should be hearing from them soon. By the time I got home the rejection e-mail was already in my inbox.

Flip side of that

I did a interview a few weeks later with another company. Heard the same type of stuff, and I will start working there in 3 weeks.

So it can go either way, so go with the idea that you want the job.

Phliplip112

jryantech wrote:

Nice job

I'm curious to what Subnetting question it was?

it was 10.0.0.0 255.0.0.0. he wanted a mask with 5 networks i came up with 255.224.0.0 i think i don't even remember now but i gave him the network ranges which he said where correct even though he just wanted the mask.

i am definitely curious about tomorrow though because im not sure if its gonna be technical or not. because i cant find any job listings for the company so im afraid they will be using stuff i have no clue about and for some reason i didn't even think to ask about it.

i did ask him if they use a lot of Cisco and he said they do but very little because the area in where i live not many of the businesses can afford the equipment and the services. so i was kinda like

on that aspect. i would really like to work in a Cisco environment i would hate to get the CCNA and not use it.

oo_snoopy

Phliplip112 wrote:

Then he asked the me the thing i was hoping he wouldn't, a subnetting question! i was like **** in my head, but luckily i have been studying for my CCNA. after about 3 mins of working it out on some paper i answered it correctly. heres the the funny part he says " of the 2 years i have been interviewing you are like the second guy to get the answer right" at that point i was speechless.

I was interviewing for an engineering position for and I heard the same thing. Personally I think if you can't subnet in your head you're a sorry case. It's not hard, and it doesn't take a math wizard to do it quickly.

undomiel

That's what subnet calculators are for!

Nothing wrong with doing it on paper. I can subnet in my head but I still prefer to use a calculator.

Phliplip112

oo_snoopy wrote:

Phliplip112 wrote:

Then he asked the me the thing i was hoping he wouldn't, a subnetting question! i was like **** in my head, but luckily i have been studying for my CCNA. after about 3 mins of working it out on some paper i answered it correctly. heres the the funny part he says " of the 2 years i have been interviewing you are like the second guy to get the answer right" at that point i was speechless.

I was interviewing for an engineering position for and I heard the same thing. Personally I think if you can't subnet in your head you're a sorry case. It's not hard, and it doesn't take a math wizard to do it quickly.

i'm not sure if he even hired the people that got it wrong. me personally i have only been doing it for a year and i don't work with subnets everyday so i can only do certain parts in my head and was also nervous and wanted to make sure i got it right. im sure one day i will be able to do it in my head.

dan87951

oo_snoopy wrote:

Phliplip112 wrote:

Then he asked the me the thing i was hoping he wouldn't, a subnetting question! i was like **** in my head, but luckily i have been studying for my CCNA. after about 3 mins of working it out on some paper i answered it correctly. heres the the funny part he says " of the 2 years i have been interviewing you are like the second guy to get the answer right" at that point i was speechless.

I was interviewing for an engineering position for and I heard the same thing. Personally I think if you can't subnet in your head you're a sorry case. It's not hard, and it doesn't take a math wizard to do it quickly.

If you can't do it in your head "you're a sorry case" lol Ok! I have been working in this field for a while now and I only know a few guys on our team out of 20 or so that can do it in there head. I can understand if you are subnetting everyday on the hour sure, but to call someone a sorry case because they can't is laughable at best!! If you can subnet on paper in a reasonable time you are doing well!!

Good Job on the interview!

oo_snoopy

dan87951 wrote:

oo_snoopy wrote:

Phliplip112 wrote:

Then he asked the me the thing i was hoping he wouldn't, a subnetting question! i was like **** in my head, but luckily i have been studying for my CCNA. after about 3 mins of working it out on some paper i answered it correctly. heres the the funny part he says " of the 2 years i have been interviewing you are like the second guy to get the answer right" at that point i was speechless.

I was interviewing for an engineering position for and I heard the same thing. Personally I think if you can't subnet in your head you're a sorry case. It's not hard, and it doesn't take a math wizard to do it quickly.

If you can't do it in your head "you're a sorry case" lol Ok! I have been working in this field for a while now and I only know a few guys on our team out of 20 or so that can do it in there head. I can understand if you are subnetting everyday on the hour sure, but to call someone a sorry case because they can't is laughable at best!! If you can subnet on paper in a reasonable time you are doing well!!

Good Job on the interview!

/shurg

I learned how to do it once, I don't do it that often, but doing it in my head is well, quick.

Hex on the other hand, is

Phliplip112

well i thought this company was professional until i got to the second interviews, it was horrible. There attitude of 2 of the 3 guys was sorry it was very elitist type attitude questions about a network topology with just IP's and no mask info or any other info. I got a question where i had to troubleshoot why a PC couldn't connect to a server in that network and that all the other computers could connect to it. i said well all the IP's look good so the only thing i can think is that the wire is disconnected or the NIC is bad. he said nope thats not it, the default gateway of the PC is wrong. i said how do I figure that with the given information of just IP's and no other information other than what you stated in the question? his response was "you didn't ask"

!?!

there was a lot of foul language and sexual orientation jokes being tossed around by the interviewers 2 out of three where playing on their black berries while talking to me. i understand that it was past 5 pm and these guys wanted to go home but thats no excuse to be an ass. i hope they don't call them selves IT professionals because it wasn't very professional.

no big loss to me anyways its just a small company that handles PC and server issues while another company handles infrastructure.

it looked like this

networker050184

No offense, but I would expect you to ask questions in an interview also. You shouldn't just assume all information is configured correctly when its not listed. Asking questions and gathering ALL the information is the number one and most important step in troubleshooting.

The off color jokes are pretty inappropriate for an interview, but they may have been trying to ease the tension. Personally I would rather be joking in an interview then being up tight the whole time.

Good luck on the interviews!

empc4000xl

well look on the bright side. You started a layer 1. Which if they were real IT pro's they woulda noticed that you started with the cables, then lead you on your way to answering it correctly. As for them not being professional, its good you prob won't get the job. You don't wanna work with a bunch of slackers unless you are a seasoned professional and you are being hired to clean up shop. Just stay on the hunt and write down what you learned for next time.

Mishra

I think there is a nice lesson to learn. And that is what networker mentioned, make sure you ask all the questions you can think about before trying to answer the question.

However I do think they should have given you a little slack (and got more information for themselves) if they at least said 'thats not the problem, look further'.

jbaello

Sorry about your experience with the interview, I could almost say that whenever given a problem you always need to ask for questions and more information if it's lacking, the interviewer will think you have a good troubleshooting technique and you try to analyze things effectively since you sense on where they are trying to trick or test you, and this is good analytical skill.

Just my .02, goodluck on your future job interview

Phliplip112

networker050184 wrote:

No offense, but I would expect you to ask questions in an interview also. You shouldn't just assume all information is configured correctly when its not listed. Asking questions and gathering ALL the information is the number one and most important step in troubleshooting.

lf
this is true thats why i got a little mad at myself, he just asked the question and i answered to the best of my knowledge and for some reason didn't think to ask for further info.i troubleshoot better if im actually doing it than if im trying to imagine it in my head.i know i would wave done an ipconfig on the pc and noticed that

networker050184 wrote:

The off color jokes are pretty inappropriate for an interview, but they may have been trying to ease the tension. Personally I would rather be joking in an interview then being up tight the whole time.

Good luck on the interviews!

if thats what they intended thats not how it came across

well the jokes where more about the people being interviewed and where being said between the interviewers you could here them in the hall. While i was interviewing with the last guy the company manager pokes his head through the door and says hes leaving and to call about which person they interviewed they liked the most he then glanced at me and said to the guy "except for this guy because hes a known homosexual..."

yes he was talking about me, no im not homosexual, if i was i would be rich. im sure that would have been funny to me in any other circumstance, but i was already nervous as hell.

overall i think i did well for my very first technical interview i was ab answer direct technical questions but i know my Troubleshooting skills do leave something to be desired as far as networks go.

undomiel

If it helps I just got back from a pretty bad interview. They just hauled me out to ask me questions about what nslookup does and what ping does. Not even real troubleshooting questions. Then they just sent me along. Talk about a waste of my time. Just ask me the questions on the phone or send me an e-mail questionnaire. I'm ticked about it but I'm just shrugging it off and looking for a job somewhere else. I'm not putting all my eggs in one jar. So unprofessionalism happens. Time to move along!

jbaello

Phliplip112 wrote:

networker050184 wrote:

No offense, but I would expect you to ask questions in an interview also. You shouldn't just assume all information is configured correctly when its not listed. Asking questions and gathering ALL the information is the number one and most important step in troubleshooting.

lf
this is true thats why i got a little mad at myself, he just asked the question and i answered to the best of my knowledge and for some reason didn't think to ask for further info.i troubleshoot better if im actually doing it than if im trying to imagine it in my head.i know i would wave done an ipconfig on the pc and noticed that

networker050184 wrote:

The off color jokes are pretty inappropriate for an interview, but they may have been trying to ease the tension. Personally I would rather be joking in an interview then being up tight the whole time.

Good luck on the interviews!

if thats what they intended thats not how it came across

well the jokes where more about the people being interviewed and where being said between the interviewers you could here them in the hall. While i was interviewing with the last guy the company manager pokes his head through the door and says hes leaving and to call about which person they interviewed they liked the most he then glanced at me and said to the guy "except for this guy because hes a known homosexual..."

yes he was talking about me, no im not homosexual, if i was i would be rich. im sure that would have been funny to me in any other circumstance, but i was already nervous as hell.

overall i think i did well for my very first technical interview i was ab answer direct technical questions but i know my Troubleshooting skills do leave something to be desired as far as networks go.

This is completely unprofessional, specially they don't know the people they are interviewing, and they are already offending someone.

networker050184

Well, a joke like that is totally different than what I was imagining. A little light joking is nothing, but that is very unacceptable and dangerous as you could probably file a suit for that comment alone....

Guess I should take my own advice and ask a few questions before I assume things

gojericho0

Phliplip112 wrote:

networker050184 wrote:

No offense, but I would expect you to ask questions in an interview also. You shouldn't just assume all information is configured correctly when its not listed. Asking questions and gathering ALL the information is the number one and most important step in troubleshooting.

lf
this is true thats why i got a little mad at myself, he just asked the question and i answered to the best of my knowledge and for some reason didn't think to ask for further info.i troubleshoot better if im actually doing it than if im trying to imagine it in my head.i know i would wave done an ipconfig on the pc and noticed that

networker050184 wrote:

The off color jokes are pretty inappropriate for an interview, but they may have been trying to ease the tension. Personally I would rather be joking in an interview then being up tight the whole time.

Good luck on the interviews!

if thats what they intended thats not how it came across

well the jokes where more about the people being interviewed and where being said between the interviewers you could here them in the hall. While i was interviewing with the last guy the company manager pokes his head through the door and says hes leaving and to call about which person they interviewed they liked the most he then glanced at me and said to the guy "except for this guy because hes a known homosexual..."

yes he was talking about me, no im not homosexual, if i was i would be rich. im sure that would have been funny to me in any other circumstance, but i was already nervous as hell.

overall i think i did well for my very first technical interview i was ab answer direct technical questions but i know my Troubleshooting skills do leave something to be desired as far as networks go.

I would have walked right out and said call me if you guys ever grow up and learn to manage a real company

dynamik

gojericho0 wrote:

I would have walked right out and said call me if you guys ever grow up and learn to manage a real company

I would have said something along the lines of, "Hey! You promised not to tell anyone about last night!"

networker050184

dynamik wrote:

gojericho0 wrote:

I would have walked right out and said call me if you guys ever grow up and learn to manage a real company

I would have said something along the lines of, "Hey! You promised not to tell anyone about last night!"

Not to try to bring this way off topic but I can't help myself......

"That's not what your wife said last night!"

gojericho0

Phliplip112

networker050184 wrote:

Well, a joke like that is totally different than what I was imagining. A little light joking is nothing, but that is very unacceptable and dangerous as you could probably file a suit for that comment alone....

Guess I should take my own advice and ask a few questions before I assume things

yea i figured that i would post the context of the jokes because i guess i didn't convey the potential seriousness of the jokes. one fellow interviewee said he was asked if he could take notes, talk on the phone and type on the keyboard at the same time he told the interviewer "yes" then was asked could you do all that and masturbate. i believe he said he didn't respond to that question. so at least i wasn't the only one that got the rude comments.

i believe that they had pretty much picked the person they liked already and played around with the rest of us because they had to.

but im gonna leave it at there if they ever came to this site they would know who they are. they never will because they all had know it all IT attitude so they probably don't seek to expand their knowledge. which is why im here :P

kripsak

Sounds like to me these guys wanted to test the interviewee's if they could fit into their job culture. I used to work with a bunch of guys like that, always with the obscene jokes. It was funny at first, but once they dried up with the same old material it was a pain.

The guys there were very experienced and very technical, but they were a bunch of donkeys. One guy had CCIE, which was the Director of Operations for that office. But the manager there was the ring leader of lewd jokes, always instigating crap, wasn't a healthy work environment.

networker050184

I love to joke around, even off colored, in the work place but there is a time and place for everything. An interview is not the time or place for this IMO.

snadam

networker050184 wrote:

I love to joke around, even off colored, in the work place but there is a time and place for everything. An interview is not the time or place for this IMO.

+1000

zen master

Phliplip112 wrote:

networker050184 wrote:

Well, a joke like that is totally different than what I was imagining. A little light joking is nothing, but that is very unacceptable and dangerous as you could probably file a suit for that comment alone....

Guess I should take my own advice and ask a few questions before I assume things

yea i figured that i would post the context of the jokes because i guess i didn't convey the potential seriousness of the jokes. one fellow interviewee said he was asked if he could take notes, talk on the phone and type on the keyboard at the same time he told the interviewer "yes" then was asked could you do all that and masturbate. i believe he said he didn't respond to that question. so at least i wasn't the only one that got the rude comments.

i believe that they had pretty much picked the person they liked already and played around with the rest of us because they had to.

but im gonna leave it at there if they ever came to this site they would know who they are. they never will because they all had know it all IT attitude so they probably don't seek to expand their knowledge. which is why im here :P

There are different interview types that HR employ, one of which is the 'stress interview', used to determine how the employee acts under pressure. I think this is what happened here.

networker050184

benevolent dictator wrote:

There are different interview types that HR employ, one of which is the 'stress interview', used to determine how the employee acts under pressure. I think this is what happened here.

I don't think there is one HR department in the world stupid enough to tell their employees to sexually harass candidates in an interview.