Frustrating interview Q & A

Alright, so I have missed out on two jobs recently due to two questions in particular, so I thought I would share my experience and what I might do better next time and then invite everyone to do the same.

1. This was a local job with a chemical company fortune 500 level, local systems admin, I felt like I was at a disadvantage because I didn't have enterprise level Vmware experience and enterprise storage experience, I.E. San.

Question: what is your biggest downfall or what is the thing most wrong with you?

This is a question I don't have a good track record with, because I have tried to be completely honest and most people don't interpret the honest answer well, the real answer is I run, run, run, If I am not working then I am out playing (poker, shooting pool, dating, traveling etc) I don’t always let myself rest as much as I could. I feel like this answer may have been the kiss of death for me in this particular interview.

Solution: I will answer this question with; I am a perfectionist; which is true to some extent I am hard on my self and have high expectations whenever I take on a task; even if the task only warrants a quick and dirty solution; I usually lean towards wanting to implement a ten year solution; what can I say I believe in scalability.

2. This was a job I really wanted in Las Vegas as a windows system administrator again I felt like I was at a disadvantage because I don't have experience with Storage area networks (I understand the concepts and could spec out a solution and order all the right equipment, but have never been hands on or implemented it).

Questions:

1. The interviewer started by asking me to tell him a little about my self, I have been working in IT for five years and worked up from consulting work to mid level admin to my last post as a senior level admin.

I have been hit with this question several times and feel like this is a normal question, but I haven't nailed it yet. During an interview you transition from so many different topics it's hard to give a concise answer that properly highlights your experience; while trying not to go off on a tangent.

(a lot of interviewers hate long winded answers, even to these mile wide questions, I have had several interviewers get frustrated when I give them the unabridged version; that’s what makes this question hard)

Solution: I plan to script an answer for this question and memorize the script or read directly from it for phone interviews, will also consider finding a book dealing specifically with IT interview's and maybe writing a book for interviewers; might make a million off that idea)

2. The kiss of death for this interview I believe was when I failed to answer one particular question, I feel like I nailed his AD FSMO roles, and group policy questions, and could semi answer the one SQL question he asked, also answered correctly his exchange question but wasn’t the exact answer he wanted,)

The question was if a user goes to an extremely large building what method would you use to dynamically assign a printer that is close to the user. This is unfortunately an area where I don’t have a ton of experience and I answered by assigning a script to that buildings site and have the printers map over to the users that way, the interviewer kept drilling and apparently my answer was incorrect, I respond well I haven’t had a lot of experience networks that geographically dispersed, this frustrates me because I could find the answer for this in ten minutes and implement it in a very short time, I KNOW I could.

So the recruiter gets their answer today, slinuxuzer does not have the necessary experience in enterprise environments and would not provide and immediate value to the team.

This sent me into orbit as I really wanted the job and feel like I got hit with some unlucky questions, granted they were legit and I couldn’t answer, but no one knows everything off the cuff and any good admin has to do research daily.

Solution

? You tell me? I guess I can work harder and research these specific questions I got hit with, but I work pretty damn hard at my profession spending 1k hours a year or more studying

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Comments

laidbackfreak

ok no worries here, I'm a little buzzed so dont worry if it dont make total sense :-

1) standard question and while I like your first answer I can see why it's not met with a positive response. Your second answer is much better, needs tweaking slightly to take the the edge of it but otherwise good :-

2) "So the recruiter gets their answer today, slinuxuzer does not have the necessary experience in enterprise environments and would not provide and immediate value to the team."

Standard response from a company to dismiss a candidate from sounds of it you did ok. BUT chances are they got some guy who nailed every question by the book, best practice etc..., dont take it personally and dont worry about it enjoy the interview and try to learn from it too.

joey74055

I feel for you and I also understand where you are coming from. Keep your head up! You will get the right job for you eventually. Technical questions in interviews are sometimes really hard to answer esp for a sys admin role because there's a whole gammet of questions you can be asked. Not everyone has done it all nor be expected to answer every question right. It would be nice if the interviewers first asked if you know how to do this or that, in the event you answered you didn't, would spare you the pain and misery of having to try and muster out an answer. But be it as it is, all you can do is go in prepared, answer the questions you can and let the chips fall where they may. Keep your head up and keep looking, it happens to everybody! As far as the biggest weakness question (you gotta love HR questions) this is a catch 22 question, a loaded question. "Weakness! What? I'm here to sell myself to you not tell you that I struggle with this or that", lol. But again, such is life in the interview world. Good luck to you in future interviews.

miller811

Check out the info at this site.
It will better prepare you for these questions that you will receive everytime.

To suceed, you must be prepared in advance.

Hope it helps you next time or someone else.

HR Interview Questions

BigTex71

Answer to the what is your biggest downfall question:
"My biggest downfall is that I am terrible at interviewing for a position, comparatively speaking. I get a little nervous, but who doesn't during a big interview with a potential employer? This is in direct contrast to my actual ability to go above and beyond and excel at anything I attempt in my professional career on the job."

Zartanasaurus

slinuxuzer wrote: »

A
Solution: I will answer this question with; I am a perfectionist;

This always strikes me and most people I know as a completely BS answer.

slinuxuzer

Like I said its somewhat true, meaning maybe 20% true and 80% BS, but keep in mind this is a BS question, I dont feel comfortable describing my faults to a perfect stranger.

miller811

slinuxuzer wrote: »

Like I said its somewhat true, meaning maybe 20% true and 80% BS, but keep in mind this is a BS question, I dont feel comfortable describing my faults to a perfect stranger.

The question is what is known as a eliminator .... do you understand why?

Read the link I posted above, there are over 50 questions that you can expect to receive, and they also describe what the purpose of the question is and how to answer it properly to get the next level.

WillTech105

miller811 -- nice link. I just to happen to be going on two interviews tomorrow so this will definitely help!

Zartanasaurus

slinuxuzer wrote: »

Like I said its somewhat true, meaning maybe 20% true and 80% BS, but keep in mind this is a BS question, I dont feel comfortable describing my faults to a perfect stranger.

Do you feel comfortable not getting a job?

unclejohnny

We were talking about that dreaded question at work today, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" I wondered, how the hell are you supposed to answer that? You don't want to appear to be a shiftless layabout, but you can't say that you would like to be an astronaut either. A guy I work with said that you should say something like, "I hope to be with a growing company in five years where I will have increased responsibilities." This keeps you from looking like a lazy slob, and by not mentioning management you don't threaten the interviewers to their position.

Just thought that was a good way to handle it. We were discussing it because we are on a long contract that ends next week, so we have incentive to sharpen our interviewing technique.

Good luck to all of the job seekers out there.

miller811

unclejohnny wrote: »

We were talking about that dreaded question at work today, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" I wondered, how the hell are you supposed to answer that? You don't want to appear to be a shiftless layabout, but you can't say that you would like to be an astronaut either. A guy I work with said that you should say something like, "I hope to be with a growing company in five years where I will have increased responsibilities." This keeps you from looking like a lazy slob, and by not mentioning management you don't threaten the interviewers to their position.

Just thought that was a good way to handle it. We were discussing it because we are on a long contract that ends next week, so we have incentive to sharpen our interviewing technique.

Good luck to all of the job seekers out there.

Where do you see yourself five years from now?
TRAPS: One reason interviewers ask this question is to see if you’re settling for this position, using it merely as a stopover until something better comes along. Or they could be trying to gauge your level of ambition.
If you’re too specific, i.e., naming the promotions you someday hope to win, you’ll sound presumptuous. If you’re too vague, you’ll seem rudderless.
BEST ANSWER: Reassure your interviewer that you’re looking to make a long-term commitment…that this position entails exactly what you’re looking to do and what you do extremely well. As for your future, you believe that if you perform each job at hand with excellence, future opportunities will take care of themselves.
Example: “I am definitely interested in making a long-term commitment to my next position. Judging by what you’ve told me about this position, it’s exactly what I’m looking for and what I am very well qualified to do. In terms of my future career path, I’m confident that if I do my work with excellence, opportunities will inevitable open up for me. It’s always been that way in my career, and I’m confident I’ll have similar opportunities here.”

Firemarshalbill.com

My previous boss asked all his direct reports about the 5 year goal in a meeting. Some said they wanted to move to managment some gave other goals. I said I like being a senior network design engineer. He told me that I should have goals blah, blah blah.

I was immediately [EMAIL="pi@#!ed"]pi%$$ed[/EMAIL] off. I said to him I have been a senior manager, a fire chief, etc. I hold 2 graduate degrees 1 in engineering and 1 in management and multiple certs and I like what I am doing.

I almost said - I do not need some one that has been a manager for 1 year and has a BS degree in photography who just read about 5 year goals in his managment 101 book telling me how to be a better engineer. Fortunately, the off switch between my brain and mouth kicked in

miller811

Firemarshalbill.com wrote: »

I almost said - I do not need some one that has been a manager for 1 year and has a BS degree in photography who just read about 5 year goals in his managment 101 book telling me how to be a better engineer. Fortunately, the off switch between my brain and mouth kicked in

Most people do not appreciate the honesty of straight talk....

Learned that the hard way a time or two.

Turgon

slinuxuzer wrote: »

Alright, so I have missed out on two jobs recently due to two questions in particular, so I thought I would share my experience and what I might do better next time and then invite everyone to do the same.

1. This was a local job with a chemical company fortune 500 level, local systems admin, I felt like I was at a disadvantage because I didn't have enterprise level Vmware experience and enterprise storage experience, I.E. San.

Question: what is your biggest downfall or what is the thing most wrong with you?

This is a question I don't have a good track record with, because I have tried to be completely honest and most people don't interpret the honest answer well, the real answer is I run, run, run, If I am not working then I am out playing (poker, shooting pool, dating, traveling etc) I don’t always let myself rest as much as I could. I feel like this answer may have been the kiss of death for me in this particular interview.

Solution: I will answer this question with; I am a perfectionist; which is true to some extent I am hard on my self and have high expectations whenever I take on a task; even if the task only warrants a quick and dirty solution; I usually lean towards wanting to implement a ten year solution; what can I say I believe in scalability.

2. This was a job I really wanted in Las Vegas as a windows system administrator again I felt like I was at a disadvantage because I don't have experience with Storage area networks (I understand the concepts and could spec out a solution and order all the right equipment, but have never been hands on or implemented it).

Questions:

1. The interviewer started by asking me to tell him a little about my self, I have been working in IT for five years and worked up from consulting work to mid level admin to my last post as a senior level admin.

I have been hit with this question several times and feel like this is a normal question, but I haven't nailed it yet. During an interview you transition from so many different topics it's hard to give a concise answer that properly highlights your experience; while trying not to go off on a tangent.

(a lot of interviewers hate long winded answers, even to these mile wide questions, I have had several interviewers get frustrated when I give them the unabridged version; that’s what makes this question hard)

Solution: I plan to script an answer for this question and memorize the script or read directly from it for phone interviews, will also consider finding a book dealing specifically with IT interview's and maybe writing a book for interviewers; might make a million off that idea)

2. The kiss of death for this interview I believe was when I failed to answer one particular question, I feel like I nailed his AD FSMO roles, and group policy questions, and could semi answer the one SQL question he asked, also answered correctly his exchange question but wasn’t the exact answer he wanted,)

The question was if a user goes to an extremely large building what method would you use to dynamically assign a printer that is close to the user. This is unfortunately an area where I don’t have a ton of experience and I answered by assigning a script to that buildings site and have the printers map over to the users that way, the interviewer kept drilling and apparently my answer was incorrect, I respond well I haven’t had a lot of experience networks that geographically dispersed, this frustrates me because I could find the answer for this in ten minutes and implement it in a very short time, I KNOW I could.

So the recruiter gets their answer today, slinuxuzer does not have the necessary experience in enterprise environments and would not provide and immediate value to the team.

This sent me into orbit as I really wanted the job and feel like I got hit with some unlucky questions, granted they were legit and I couldn’t answer, but no one knows everything off the cuff and any good admin has to do research daily.

Solution? You tell me? I guess I can work harder and research these specific questions I got hit with, but I work pretty damn hard at my profession spending 1k hours a year or more studying

I think you did well. Sometimes you think you stink the joint out and still get an offer. Actually think you answered ok here. If it doesn't pan out dont worry about it. Interviews are a very blunt tool anyway.