need interview advice for a senior position

slinuxuzer

Guys, I have made it passed the phone phase and am on to the face to face, currently working as a systems admin / virtualization admin. The new position is for data center architect and is my dream job with 2k more per month and international travel. I am likely going to be younger and have a few less years in the field than the others they might face to face.

That being said this is in a very small area where I usually don't brush up against alot of competition, but this job has a big salary, so I am nervous about who is going to come out of the wood work. I feel like as far as my tech skills go I will be at least very competitive and possibly in front of the others, they are looking for alot of vmware implemenation experience to include nexus 5K and 1k, site recovery manager, blades, storage, etc. I have all that.

I am concerend about a few things. They use EMC and netapp, I have only used netapp, they use fibre channel for vmware storage, I have only used NFS in production, also it wasn't listed in the job add, but they are looking for Cisco UCS blade experience, where I live literally non of the shops have UCS. To cover these points I am planning on making the point of using the UCS and EMC simulators to come up to speed quickly.

When they ask the usual why should we hire you vs someone else I am going to explain that I am not looking for just a job I am looking for an opportunity to better myself and my company at the same time.

The only other thing that makes me nervous is during the phone phase I was asked straight forward simple tech questions, usually I rely on the tech side of the interview to "make" the interview for me, so I get the feeling this may be more soft skills focused, and thats where I get socially awkward sometimes and unsure where to steer the conversation.

I am hoping to hear tips and advice from some of the more senior guys that have been in this spot before, this is huge for me, this is the next step up and I want it bad.

Thanks in advance.

DigitalZeroOne

Relax - It's easy to say, and it seems like a no-brainer, but it is very important to relax during an interview. Make sure you don't down-play your skills, don't say that you've only worked with NFS during the interview. Say, you have worked with NFS, "I see your company uses fibre, and it sounds like a nice change and challenge switching from NFS to fibre channel." Also, and this is just my personality, if you can find some way to throw a joke in during the interview - if it's not your personality, then don't do it - but a little comic relief can go a long way.

Also, if you don't know something...say you don't know, but tell them that you always have fun finding the answer.

Good luck!