Interview practice questions aimed at 1st/2nd Line Support

MrXpert

Over the last couple of years, i've been to lots of different interviews ranging from 1st to 2nd Line roles and along the way I have collected real interview questions most of which may seem standard stuff. I have had nearly 20 IT interviews in the last 2 years and a bit and I noticed a lot of them ask very similar questions but worded a bit differently. I noticed there's a lot of people around trying to break into IT or perhaps going for a career change and I know how that is especially if you are not used to these sorts of questions. I have found it helpful in building up a questions base because then it prepares me better before interviews.

So I decided I want to share what I have gathered up because I think had I had this same level of interview experience as I do now, 2-3 years ago, I think I would have been better prepared and less nervous. I have left out the more technical questions because in my experience these usually come in the form of written or practical things you need to do. I sincerely hope this helps someone who is worried about interviews, needs help preparing or anything really.

1. Your last job was for xxxxxxxx. Can you explain what you did there and why you left?
2. What was the last book you read and what did you learn from it?
3. Why do you want to work for us?
4. Give an example of a difficult customer service issue you resolved
5. Give an example of a project or task which you managed from start to finish? And explain what you learnt from it and what improvements you could have made or intended to make next time
6. Give example of something you have learnt quickly and what resources you used?
7. What software programs in previous roles have you learnt in the work place?
8. In your previous roles, have you ever done anything to change company strategy?
9. Explain what you intend to do in the future?
10. What contributions can you make to us that will encourage us to hire you?
11. What is your greatest weakness
12. How do you deal with difficult or stressful situations?
13. What is your greatest strength
14. If 10 tickets come into the system with the same priority how would you deal with them?
15. Give an example where you went the extra mile?
16. How do you make difficult decisions?
17. Explain the process of what happens when a customer phones in to ask for help and what information you would record and what questions you would ask?
18. What makes a good team? Or what are the benefits of working in a team?
19. What is the difference between a problem and an incident? (ITIL)
20. What is the difference between equality and diversity?
21. What does professionalism mean to you?
22. Give an example of how you undertook personal development?
23. Do you consider yourself to have good problem solving capabilities? If so why and what approach would you take?
24. How do you organize yourself?
25. You receive the address 169.254.x.y what does this mean and how would you fix it
26. How would you install software on 100 pcs that were delivered?
27. There are two different companies using the same WAN infrastructure. What technologies are involved to ensure both receive bandwidth for what they need?
28. A customer phones in very angry and wants to speak to your supervisor. How would you deal with this?

rensational

From MrXpert's list, these are the ones I've gotten:

Your last job was for xxxxxxxx. Can you explain what you did there and why you left?
What is your greatest weakness (otherwise asked as something you need to work on)
What is your greatest strength

So, don't look at the list and freak out, although it's a great list. But my experience has been these interviews are nothing to really sweat and you get a few questions, no more than about 5 or somewhere around there.

I had one interview where it was basically all networking questions, but they were incredibly basic. One question was similar to MrXpert's #25, but more along the lines of "If someone calls you and says they can't connect to the internet, how would you check for an IP address?"

Another question was "what is DNS?" Those are all I remember right now.

I also have gotten questions like #7, but they are very specific, i.e. "Have you used Active Directory?"

Personally, I think once you get to the interview process, unless you're being asked questions that test how much you know, you'd be surprised that how friendly you seem and how well you speak might actually matter more than anything else. That might just depend on how much the employer cares about work experience, but at both of my level 1 jobs I have felt like they would hire someone who didn't have the background or experience if the customer service-type personality, in particular, was there. So, I was able to get my first level 1 job without experience or any certs, especially since I could answer those networking questions.

About7Narwhal

What is your greatest weakness is probably one of my least favorite questions of all time... Else, I can say that I have seen most of those types of questions and agree that this list, while not in its entirety, will most likely be brought up during a standard interview.

NetworkVeteran

About7Narwhal wrote: »

What is your greatest weakness is probably one of my least favorite questions of all time.

::shrug:: We all have weaknesses. I am a lot of things. I am not a lot of things. I've drawn that question a couple times, and don't mind telling them which is which, so we can better determine if we're a good fit for one another.

For level 1 support, this is a great list of questions. For level 2 support, I'd expect these plus more technical ones.

What was the last book you read and what did you learn from it?

Now that one would bug me. Say, I'm using that in my next interview!