Tests During An Interview

MPNX2

Has anyone out there ever been asked to either work on a computer or take an exam during an interview? I was just wondering if this has ever happened. I have an interview tomorrow and was just trying to prepare for it and then I got to thinking if this has ever happened......Oh BTW it is a PC Specialist position....

Ghent

It's pretty much standard procedure for my company to hit our temps with a computer proficiency exam, but that's usually after the interview, during their training period. I have seen a lot of people lose their job though over failing to pass this exam.

viper75

Yes, my boss has had me "break" a few PC's to test the knowledge of potential hirees. It's very possible that you may get tested too.

TeKniques

A friend of mine just had an interview for a systems administrator at a local college and they did in fact give him an extensive "Face to Face" internview and then had him go take a written exam.

He was very surprised, but they probably want to definitely make sure you know your stuff. Good luck in your interview.

MPNX2

They told me over the phone the interview would take about an hour. So I was thinking that maybe that wouldnt be enough time although I guess I should just prepare for it anyway....

lazyart

I've been given "what if" scenarios plenty of times in interviews. The most interesting one had to be when I interviewed for EA Sports. They wanted to know what components I would use if I was building a top of the line gaming box. When I mentioned I would use a 9800 Pro instead of the GeForce 5700 (or whatever Nvidia's top card was this time last year) I told them it was because there were still serious issues with DirectX.

They ate it up. I ended up turning down their offer. Benefits were outstanding, but $24k and 12-14 hour workdays termed "not unusual" turned me off. They wanted someone to build machines of various configurations to use as test beds.

I invite those types of interviews. Helps weed out the "paper techs".

garv221

I've interviewed people before but its mostly straight foward questions. I heard "what if' questions before & standard tcp/ip questions.

keenon

i have had alot of what if questions and once had to do a 10 question test.. only time i have taken a long test 1 hr is when i have delt with temp services which i detest but that was early in my career..

Ten9t6

These are common. I have had one for each of the technical jobs that I have had. The worst one was a 2 hour white board session with the owner of the company. It was a fine line between answering the questions and not trying to correct him on things he thought he knew.

garv221

Ten9t6 wrote:

These are common. I have had one for each of the technical jobs that I have had. The worst one was a 2 hour white board session with the owner of the company. It was a fine line between answering the questions and not trying to correct him on things he thought he knew.

lol. I've been there, kinda have to bite your tongue or figure out a way to gracefuly let him know hes dead wrong.

skully93

lazyart wrote:

I've been given "what if" scenarios plenty of times in interviews. The most interesting one had to be when I interviewed for EA Sports. They wanted to know what components I would use if I was building a top of the line gaming box. When I mentioned I would use a 9800 Pro instead of the GeForce 5700 (or whatever Nvidia's top card was this time last year) I told them it was because there were still serious issues with DirectX.

They ate it up. I ended up turning down their offer. Benefits were outstanding, but $24k and 12-14 hour workdays termed "not unusual" turned me off. They wanted someone to build machines of various configurations to use as test beds.

I invite those types of interviews. Helps weed out the "paper techs".

I agree about paper techs! It sounds like it would have been a fun job, but the salary compared to the hours worked seem like a crock. It's pretty much were I'm at though . I get 12k 'salary' plus comission, which works out to be very little since they won't advertise at all. I bet I clear @ 20k, which is $9/hr. I don't have any big certs yet, but I do have some experience as a jr. Admin, so I find it at least a little insulting. Tech is fairly small here in semi-rural texas though.