Upcoming Job Interview

crip1087

Hello! I have a job interview coming up for a ISP Tech Support job and I wanted to know if anyone has any advice for me?

It pretty much came as a suprise since my resume was somewhat terrible in my opinion and I am only 17 years old but hey, I have nothing to lose right?? I'm kinda wishing I would get this job cause I really need it to help pay for college which my current major is Computer Science, I have only passed the A+ Hardware exam and plan to take the A+ OS exam within 2 weeks to complete the certification. I have a high school diploma and took a A+ class and a CCNA class in my high school(Its one of the only schools I know about to actually teach classes like this in high school)

So anyone got any advice for a young unexperienced person like me? This isn't my first interview but it is my first IT interview, so what should I expect to be asked?

filkenjitsu

You wil be ok. I did Techsupport at an ISP. Here is what you will do on a daily basis GUARANTEED:

Help customers setup Outlook Express (80% time) or Outlook (20% time) to recieve POP3 and send SMTP mail and also troubleshoot sending and recieveing mail inside of those programs. So you could practice all the settings under Outlook express and Outlook at home under the accounts tab. Know what all of the setting in there do. One thing most ISP's do now is Authenticate on outgoing port 25, so know how to setup a username and password authentication inside of Outlook and Outlook express (both easy) for outgoing SMTP mail.

Help Customers with Modem install problems. Know Device manager and how to install and uninstall USB drivers and how to properly install USB drivers when windows installer is saying it is missing this file and that file. You will have to know that Windows installer tends to reset to the default directory during installs, so make sure to know how to point the installer back to where the actuall driver folder is and to click on the .ini file for it to continue installing drivers. Sometimes you have to do this multiple times during installs.

Know how to install TCP/IP on Win 9x machines. Know how to uninstall and reinstall the network Stack on 9x machines. Basically all that entails is unchecking the network option under add remove windows components, restart, check it again to include all networking features in add remove windows components, then restart again. This fixes strange issues with TCP/ip on 9x machines.

Know how to set Internet Explorer back to all defaults, clear cache, clear cookies, set home page, remove plugins (java, flash, etc) within the Tools/internet options dialog in IE. You will do this a lot. It used to fix no surf issues all the time.

Concerning the IE and Outlook issues, after to work at this place for a year learning about these programs and doing basic xp troubleshooting, you will be able to pass the MCDST with NO PROBLEM AT ALL. So That might be a cert you might want to look into studying that will cover 80% of what you actually have to do on this job. I am telling you, the MCDST XP study guide is the PERFECT studyguide to show you exactly what you will want to know and what you will have to use on a daily basis with ISP tech support. I passed it alone with just this experience.

Know how to us MSCONFIG and SAFEMODE to uninstall and disable startup applications such as spyware and resource hogs like music match jute box, etc that EVERYONE has installed on their computer that they never used and just slows down their computer so much that they think their connection rate is bad.

Know how to use regedit to look in Local Machine/Software/microsoft/windows/Run folder so that you can manually delete Registry startup keys for all of those junk OEM programs that never go away. Also can help remove spyware and viruses. ( I think I got the path right above)

Know about service.msc (go to run, type in services.msc) It shows all of the running services and shows what may or may not be causing a problem for the customer (service Wireless Zero Config needs to be running for a laptop or wireless desktop XP or 2000 machine to be able to use it's wireless connection... you will see this a lot in an ISP tech support job)

Know how the names of and how to remove popular spyware and viruses. This would be something good to bring up in the interview since 70% of your calls may be spyware related. A good place to start is here. http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407 (Read all of this, it is a great guide)

Here is a link to the main spyware/virus forum - Go over it and read it before your interview, I think they will like that you have heard of the stuff that affects so many of their customers - http://forums.majorgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php?s=39977e2c8bf11913c51b905e690dcb56&f=35

I am serious that when you know all of the above stuff and know when to use it for the customer and get familiar with the ISP's CPE (customer Premesis Equipment) you will be able to get a tier 2 position EASILY in the company as most people just follow the given troubleshooting guide and not care to learn more to troubleshoot the escalated customers.

Everything I just told you above is used on a weekly basis where I worked (DSL Tech Support). If you read over these concepts and understand this stuff for the interview it will help you. Even if it is not a technical interview at all (my DSL tech support interview was not technical at all as they provide training) It would be good for you to bring up some of these topics to the person interviewing you as they know what the frontline agents actually have to do and would be impressed that you would be able to get out of the floor and be a quick learner, etc.

Good luck man! remember to pray before your interview also, because God is always there for you when you need him!

filkenjitsu

OH yea, Almost forgot the important stuff!!!


Know ipconfig /release, /renew, /all, commands as you will use them on a daily basis.

Know how to repair connections inside of the Network connections folder in XP. (right click on network connection, click repair)

Know Tracrt command (tracert yahoo.com) to measure the milisecond response time on hops through the network.

Know how to remove Ghost devices under safe mode (drivers installed, but hardware no longer attached) these ghost devices can conflict with driver reinstalls and new hardware installs. They should show up in device manager when you are in safe mode.

cdad2000

Confidence my friend, go in there strong. Dont be nervous, keep that no sweat mentality. Remember, they need you. Good luck buddy. No sweat.

crip1087

Hey thanks alot for the advice!!! I'm feeling more confident now!

filkenjitsu

how did it go?

qsub

Let them know you like learning. Especially if they ask you about something you don't know about.