What is the best or proper way to answer this interview question?

s-n-c-godfathers-n-c-godfather Junior MemberRegistered Users Posts: 4 ■□□□□□□□□□
in IT Jobs / Degrees
How can you solve with a problem that you cannot solve yourself ? (Help Desk /Desktop Support )

p.s do you tell them google it ?
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  • cyberguyprcyberguypr Senior Member Mod Posts: 6,927 Mod
    Let's start with how would you answer it.
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  • White WizardWhite Wizard Senior Member Member Posts: 179
    If this was asked by an employer, I feel the best response is to show that you have the initiative to try and resolve the problem yourself which might mean using google but that is not how I would directly answer the question.

    I would say something to the effect of: I would do my best to find a resolution using the internet/ textbooks/ etc and if I felt I could not solve it correctly or that I would be giving the client the wrong advice, then I would ask a colleague for help.

    I would stress that in the event I was unable to solve a problem, that I would be determined to find a resolution on my own time even if someone else solved it. ( personally, not knowing the answer to a problem really bugs me )

    Just my thoughts :)
    "The secret to happiness is doing what you love. The secret to success is loving what you do."
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  • googolgoogol Senior Member Member Posts: 107
    This is where you have to own up and be a team player, sometimes someone else has run into this issue before or a similar thing and may know..or two heads is better than one. Then same as internet/resources/etc as previously mentioned. They just want to know your thought process and how you go about resolving an issue. Do you gather data, then research? Colleague?
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  • petedudepetedude Senior Member Member Posts: 1,510
    Googol's got most of the answer.

    The other part of the answer is to use existing knowledge resources (e.g. help desk tickets, internal knowledge bases) to see if the issue's been encountered before.
    Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
    --Will Rogers
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  • kohr-ahkohr-ah Senior Member Member Posts: 1,277
    Like everyone said they just want to see how you find the answer:

    Depending on the problem I tell them "I would look through the Cisco documentation to find the proper solution I need or if it was an issue with a particular product check online to see if anyone else has had the same issue and work it to resolution"
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  • coreyb80coreyb80 Senior Member Member Posts: 647 ■■■■■□□□□□
    Google has and always will be my best friend.
    WGU BS - Network Operations and Security
    Completion Date: May 2021
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  • AkaricloudAkaricloud Senior Member Member Posts: 938
    I would tell them that I would start with the resources provided to me, be it a knowledge-base, coworkers, or other documentation and if that didn't work then move onto web research on various websites such as technet or Cisco's support forums.

    At this level it's not really about what you know but rather how you go about learning and using the resources around you. That's a very good interview question that can weed out those with poor problem solving skills.
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  • scaredoftestsscaredoftests behind youMod Posts: 2,780 Mod
    I say I look at my notebook if I have seen the issue before, ask around (if there is a group of IT people) or search for an answer.
    Never let your fear decide your fate....
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  • NutsacjacNutsacjac Member Member Posts: 76 ■■■□□□□□□□
    s-n-c-godfather wrote: »
    How can you solve with a problem that you cannot solve yourself ? (Help Desk /Desktop Support )

    p.s do you tell them google it ?

    Of course I tell them I'd use my Google-fu! There's a reason it trades at 1,100 a share. As was said, I check my OneNote, internal knowledge base, google... ask a co-worker.

    Basically it's a screener to see if you'd need your hand held.
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  • Dieg0MDieg0M Network Engineer Member Posts: 861
    I ask techexams.net
    Follow my CCDE journey at www.routingnull0.com
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  • RouteMyPacketRouteMyPacket Senior Member Member Posts: 1,104
    "Depending on the resources available to me, I would immediately begin researching for a resolution be it documentation or web searches. If i could not find a resolution within a reasonable amount of time, I would look to follow the set escalation path"
    Modularity and Design Simplicity:

    Think of the 2:00 a.m. test—if you were awakened in the
    middle of the night because of a network problem and had to figure out the
    traffic flows in your network while you were half asleep, could you do it?
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  • mokaibamokaiba Career Student Member Posts: 162 ■■■□□□□□□□
    s-n-c-godfather wrote: »
    How can you solve with a problem that you cannot solve yourself ? (Help Desk /Desktop Support )

    p.s do you tell them google it ?


    1. Check knowledge articles the company has on file. It might be in there.
    2. If allowed, ask a coworker.
    3. If allowed, google it.
    4. If two and three are not allowed then they probably want to you follow a chain of command (ie senior tech>manager) to help determine the answer.
    5. If the senior tech and manager are unable to answer it, they will probably make a ticket and forward it to development to resolve.
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