Entry level technical interview with tough questions

I just completed my first ever technical interview and it was much tougher than I expected. It's an entry level help desk position and my resume shows that I have A+ and studying N+ I have a few questions for experienced help deskers.

1. I was asked about fsmo migration roles and cal. I've never heard of either and told the interviewer that. Is this something an entry level help desker should know?

2. Also when answering questions like these is it better to be to the point or go into detail? For example: What is PGP? A. Encryption for email or B. Pretty good privacy that uses a public key on a server that is shared with recipients and is used for email?

3. I tend to get long-winded mostly due to past customer service training, is that a good or bad trait for help desk?

4. I had the time to use the internet for some of the questions but didn't. Would that be cheating myself/employer or taking advantage?

It was a good learning experience and still hope to be pursued although I missed 2 questions that I knew, one was a port question, other was vsphere and I've always seen it referred to as esx(i). I wasn't very well prepared for it, being my first time and all. At least with certifications you can practice test to get a sense of what's on the test, too bad that's not an option here.

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Comments

lsud00d

Don't worry about not knowing some of the answers; if you know all of the answers, it's typically the questions were softball'd or you might be overqualified.

I honestly doubt you'll ever have to migrate FSMO roles as a Help Desk employee--that's typically reserved for sys admin duties. That said, understanding what the FSMO roles are and what they do is good knowledge to have.

Also, not sure if CAL (client access license) or GAL (global address list). I think GAL would be more applicable here.

You should answer in a concise manner that shows you understand both the question and answer. If you feel yourself trailing, circle back to a summary point and conclude the answer/discussion.

TomkoTech

1.) No. While familiarity with AD and that is something I'd expect. Anything specific is not an "entry" level topic in my perspective.

2.) If you know the answer be general initially. If they ask for clarification then get specific.

3.) Long winded in what regard? A help desk engineer that spends 35 minutes on the phone with a client when the problem was solved in 5 isn't a good thing.

As for preparing for an interview. I usually start with the job ad. I go point by point in the job duties/roles and responsibilities listed and make sure to brush up on each topic. I also prepare to go over what I don't know and how it isn't an issue because I am doing such and such to learn/prepare for it.

After that I research the company itself and familiarize myself with what exactly they do. It will usually give a better idea of the role you would play.

techfiend

1. Thanks that is a needed boost to my confidence. What cert would introduce fsmo and cal/gal?

2. Okay I used the long answer, which probably introduced some mistakes but next time I'll be concise.

3. Not 30 minutes but for example choosing answer 2b and generally going a bit in depth with what's happening instead of being general, it might add a minute or so to the time. This isn't a call center relying on metrics fortunately and hopefully I will never be involved with metrics again.

4. Quick replies, I had added a fourth question in between the reply posted time and when I could see them.

5. Is vSphere often referred to as esx(i) in the field? A few years ago I helped a DC tech with esx issues remotely, installed and configured basic esxi a few times and have 2+ years of experience with XenServer but the vSphere word is new to me.

I researched the job roles a few times, which I regularly do and could handle it all with very little instruction. However except for exchange nothing related was asked in the tech interview which threw me off a bit. Also researched the company shortly after the HR interview and found out they were a very small company that supports SMB remotely and on-site when needed. Only found one review, on yelp, and it was very positive.

Nersesian

- 1. I was asked about fsmo migration roles and cal. I've never heard of either and told the interviewer that. Is this something an entry level help desker should know?

I read this and immediately drew a blank. If I was in an interview situation, I would have mentioned the concept sounds familiar, but would need to research it a bit to get an answer. I of course looked it up and remembered what it was and why I didn't remember it right off the bat. Others may disagree, but this is a bit of a reach honestly. I've migrated an AD structure once or twice but would need the MS tutorial to get back into it. I saw cal and assumed licensing, but they most likely said/meant GAL which should be in your general lexicon. So should CAL now that I think about it.

- 2. Also when answering questions like these is it better to be to the point or go into detail? For example: What is PGP? A. Encryption for email or B. Pretty good privacy that uses a public key on a server that is shared with recipients and is used for email?

The number one mistake folks make (myself included) is knowing what you're talking about and proceeding to talk yourself into a hole. If it were me, I would answer "Pretty Good Privacy which is an encryption standard used for a variety of applications" and leave it at that. Don't sweat these to much as the further you progress in your career, the less and less of thee you should have to answer. If I got this in an interview today I would deadpan my response and ask if all their questions are going to be in this format. My tone may or may not be a bit dismissive.

- 3. I tend to get long-winded mostly due to past customer service training, is that a good or bad trait for help desk?

This is a self correcting problem unless you're one of those people who just. love. to. talk. This of course is fine, but don't sit next to me. The biddies will love you.

- 4. I had the time to use the internet for some of the questions but didn't. Would that be cheating myself/employer or taking advantage?

I don't mean this in a pejorative tone, so don't take it that way. There is no such thing as cheating unless you're in some sort of ethical testing situation. This is a utilization of resources. You would be foolish not to use the internet. Half of a help desk position is learning how to Google effectively which is not a skill most have right out of the gate.

techfiend

1. The interviewer was giving the answers after I answered, which was helpful. The CAL answer was just something to do with terminal services, that was his answer. I have used terminal services dozens of times but never heard of the acronym but I see it's pretty common. Another question I could have answered correctly if it used terms I recognized, like remote client license.

3. I don't really chitchat about most things, I have conversations and such but when I'm helping someone out I don't go off in another direction all of a sudden. I'm just not that great of a oral communicator without visual aid when it comes to tech, but really striving to get better. This position seems to heavily rely on remote control software though, which is a plus for me. Before my customer service positions I was a blunt speaker, I'll work on finding a good medium.

4. Thanks, I'll remember that next time. I did spend a bit of time trying to lengthen my answer to give me some time to think of the answer. Googling is great but I've been able to do quite a bit without it lately, I like taking on challenges when it's not a crucial situation.

elTorito

5. Is vSphere often referred to as esx(i) in the field? A few years ago I helped a DC tech with esx issues remotely, installed and configured basic esxi a few times and have 2+ years of experience with XenServer but the vSphere word is new to me.

They are known to be used interchangeably, but vSphere is broader in the sense that it's a suite of products that includes components like ESXi, vCenter Server and so on. ESXi itself is just the operating system (hypervisor) that is installed on physical host servers to run virtual machines.

TomkoTech

CAL is what you purchase for users who access the terminal server. Client Access License. As far as certifications this would probably fall under the MCSA Server X certification.

Using Google is not cheating. As a matter of fact when I first got into the IT industry when asked in interviews questions like "Given problem X you don't know the resolution, how do you go about resolving the problem?" my answer was ALWAYS along the lines of "I would use Google to figure it out." More often than not interviewers were impressed with the answer as most people apparently pull out bullshit for that question. Google is your friend. You can never know everything. Google does.

vSphere is easier to say than ESXi. But no they aren't really the "same". As elTorito stated vSphere is more than just the hypervisor.

loxleynew

Asking about FSMO roles in an entry level help desk position..... ? red flag lol. I can see the CAL or GAL question as that's more desktop support low end stuff.

If you don't know an answer just say sorry you don't know it. If there's only a few of these "don't know" questions and you still want the job, you could find the answer and reply in the thank you email with the answers to show initiative. Honestly I find that stupid, but I have known people to get a job because of that.

techfiend

Speaking of thank you emails. I had an HR interview Friday, was accepted to technical interview yesterday. At the end of the technical interview I was told I'd be contacted by the weekend and next step would be face to face interview. Should I be sending a thank you email at this point?

I told the interviewer I knew of vmware esx(i) and player but not of vsphere. I still feel I missed some really easy questions like https port and the current mac version, I said mountain lion and didn't know the version number. I don't use a mac and don't follow version numbers outside of windows and a few linux distros. Would knowing general linux administration in bash count as being able to generally administer mac osx?

The job listing lists MCP preferred which seems would involve CAL and maybe FSMO for MCSE(?) but MCP is such a broad term.

I will be happy when I know a definitive answer from this position as I have a few other job listings bookmarked from yesterday/today and have another contractor calling me. None of them are big companies but I do see assist in system administration in one of the roles which is interesting. I'd apply to them now but I'd like to avoid juggling multiple job opportunities/offers again, if possible.

MeanDrunkR2D2

Sending out a thank you email is a good thing, even for the first stage phone interview. The only times that I haven't have been situations where I don't have the interviewers email addresses or the email address of anyone to contact at the company.

Nersesian

I'm not the end all be all of interview protocol, but I'll offer my suggestions.

- Should I be sending a thank you email at this point?

No. If you're not contacted over the weekend, touch base with the HR rep and ensure they know you're still interested. The follow-up/thank you is reserved for reminding them you're still interested during the dead time between final interview and you filling out tax paperwork.

- Would knowing general linux administration in bash count as being able to generally administer mac osx?

Depends on who you ask. If you're asking me, then no probably not. If you're going to be administrating Macs, then you need to be familiar with stuff like this off the top of your head, which tells me you don't admin Macs on the regular. No sin in that of course, but if I say I can drive a stick but can't tell you how to engage reverse, saying I don't use reverse much isn't going to cut it.

- I don't use a mac

Yeah...you might not want to bite off more than you can chew here. On the upside, the new Macs are difficult to work on from a hardware perspective, so you might have dodged a bullet here. I love Mac hardware, so-so on their software and loathe the whole "cult of Mac" which means I tend to throw some shade over to the neckbeard in Starbucks writing the great American novel...but I digress.

- I'd apply to them now but I'd like to avoid juggling multiple job opportunities/offers again, if possible.

They do tend to run together. I recommend recording your application history in a spreadsheet where you can jot down application dates, contact names and follow up requirements.

hustlerb01

those questions shouldn't have being asked in a an entry level role!

techfiend

I shouldn't have wrote administrating macs, its more support and I don't think it's a large part of the job. I have very little experience with osx, I would if it wasn't so locked down and hardware being so expensive. I've read the osx is basically linux, does the shell use the same commands?

I must have done well enough as I was invited to a face-to-face interview. Now I have to come up with some more questions. So far I have asked about the company culture and attire, continuing education, room for advancement, if any selling or metrics were involved (nope), and how much travel is to be expected (occasional local on site). Some I am planning on asking about; typical day/week, individual/team work, upcoming projects, expectations after 30 days. Any suggestions?

When the interviewer says something for instance, the job includes some vsphere support. When they pause is it appropriate for the interviewee to say they have some experience with esx but not with vsphere? This is something I regularly do and sometimes think it might be interrupting and waiting for them to end listing what is involved would be better, although at times I won't remember everything.

Also is it common to take a paper holder (leather?) with questions and take notes during an interview. 1 guy did this at my last interview, a group interview which was also a first. I think he won the job testing cisco routers, he was attending college with no certification but will be taking a ccna class while I had an aas degree and had been studying ccent for 2 months. I have a feeling that note taking won him the position, any thoughts on this?

RouteMyPacket

techfiend wrote: »

I just completed my first ever technical interview and it was much tougher than I expected. It's an entry level help desk position and my resume shows that I have A+ and studying N+ I have a few questions for experienced help deskers.

1. I was asked about fsmo migration roles and cal. I've never heard of either and told the interviewer that. Is this something an entry level help desker should know? No, this was a stupid question by a typical IT tard who wanted to stroke his own ego. FSMO roles are completely outside of a Help Desk role, that is however a perfectly valid question for a System Administrator interview.

2. Also when answering questions like these is it better to be to the point or go into detail? For example: What is PGP? A. Encryption for email or B. Pretty good privacy that uses a public key on a server that is shared with recipients and is used for email? Sounds good to me "PGP offers privacy and authentication for multiple forms of data communication, i.e., Email.

3. I tend to get long-winded mostly due to past customer service training, is that a good or bad trait for help desk? No need to open a can of worms, answer it to the point and if asked to elaborate then go on.

4. I had the time to use the internet for some of the questions but didn't. Would that be cheating myself/employer or taking advantage? Depends, in the real world being able to search is a skill in and of itself and I swear to you many "IT Pros" lack this fundamental skill.

It was a good learning experience and still hope to be pursued although I missed 2 questions that I knew, one was a port question, other was vsphere and I've always seen it referred to as esx(i). I wasn't very well prepared for it, being my first time and all. At least with certifications you can practice test to get a sense of what's on the test, too bad that's not an option here.

Answers in BOLD above.

At the end of the day, you know what you know. It is quite easy from an interview perspective to see who knows what they are talking about those that have no clue. I would be looking for someone who can immediately say "I'm sorry, I am not familiar with that" in response to a question rather than some dummy making a fool of himself due to ego.

You can always learn but if you are an egotistical douche, I won't tolerate it. i'll take the people seeking knowledge over the "I know everything" crowd anyday.

techfiend

Do you suggest the interviewee mention they'd google it if they didn't know? I really do rely on it quite a bit but occasionally try without to improve my problem solving.

I think the more advanced questions was an overqualification check like others have mentioned. While I first started to try to fake an answer to see if I was on the right track, I never was, I think he appreciated the honesty of saying I don't know.

I read recently on here that tier 1 help desk is more about customer service/personality then technical knowledge and that the latter can be learned while the former can't at least not easily.

TomkoTech

This should help you get over the the need to "try" and not use google.

techsupport.jpg

techfiend

I'll make sure make use of it OTJ and try to stay away from what the boss thinks I do.

Is an interviewee taking notes and reading from written questions common? I'm thinking about doing this, might come across as being more interested. My SOP is keep eye contact.

techfiend

Just got back from my face-to-face interview and it was not what I was expecting at all. I was asked questions like name a time when you took responsibility for someone else's mistake and name a time when you agreed with something that went against your ethics. I was prepared to answer the typical strength/weakness, why I should be hired, etc. but not this.

The first question I spent 5-10 seconds thinking and about 5 of those seconds were silent. Then I bs'd my way through the question and a had another 2-3 seconds of silence in another question. These were especially difficult because I don't have much recent work experience because of a medical issue. Should I mention this on my thank you letter?

After the questions were over, I was given time to ask questions, after 1 question, 2 out of 3 excused themselves. Good or bad sign? The guy that stayed answered my questions but he had to think a few seconds on one which made me a feel more comfortable with my earlier answers.

At the end I had said I wasn't quite expecting such questions (mistake) and he replied "I know we've thought about making them a bit easier". Is this a bad sign?

As for thank you emails, should they be short or long? How much time to wait to send? The internet seems pretty split on these.

nachodba

I had some interesting questions at my interview, the most interesting being:
If you had to evacuate your house and you could only grab 3 items (no pets, people, etc), what would you grab?
My answer was the tub of my mothers photo albums, my laptop and my PS4.

The important thing with odd questions like this is to actually be honest, even though this isn't a technical question, you need to keep the story straight in case a question comes up in the future.

techfiend

Since I made up half of the answers I probably won't remember it. I would have rather answered that off the wall question then these. I could blurt out something without a long moment of silence, which was very uncomfortable to everyone in the room.

However I'm not sure the job is for me, it looks like they mostly work alone dealing with clients all day. I would rather work with a small group of people with little to no interaction with client/customers. Thinking GS repair tech -> NOC -> Network Engineer. Is this a realistic path that avoids customer facing?

tkerber

If you don't want to deal with clients or customers you may want to rethink the field you're in. In all seriousness there is not one job that will remove you from clients, customers, users, etc.. They're the reason most of us have jobs. If you don't like dealing with people your best bet is to be a Unix Administrator for some large fortune 500 company, Server Administrator, or maybe Programming / Development.

If you don't mind I'm curious where you interviewed... I'm also in the TC.

techfiend

I do know someone, who is kind of a mentor to me, that has made an IT career without dealing with clients in the networking field, he's now making a killing in a development position in a network company and has 0 customer facing. He was able to get his foot in the door in the early 90's when almost anyone that was interested in the field could get in. He has 0 education and 0 certs which doesn't make a great mentor. Also know a business analyst that has no customer facing, he came from a programming degree.

The thing with me is I'm not a very good communicator and have moderate social anxiety which has increased with age. I have done the sales/customer service role and wasn't good at it, luckily that was only a small part of my position. When it comes to people I'd rather get to know them to feel comfortable around them instead of uncomfortably dealing with strangers all day. I don't do well around large crowds either. I worked briefly in a large store, after the probationary period I asked and was granted a transfer to a smaller store which was great for me.

I have applied for IT jobs that had no customer facing with a cisco reseller, that was looking for cisco certified entry levels, it was initially a tester job but they have posted more advanced positions like sys admin that could have been a possible promotion. A sys admin for a small company would be a good fit for me in the future however I think I would be a better fit on a cisco cli among a small group of people but unsure how to get there.

Another problem is I'm in the northern TC which is more trades jobs. A lot of the IT jobs I'm seeing are in Bloomington, Edina, Richfield and to get there I'd have to take either 35W\E or the 94 beltway either would take 90+ minutes one way during traffic hour, something I'm not prepared to do unless it was a position that could support a mortgage in that area, which is asking a lot. Medtronic is the big one in this area but besides some horrible business practices lately, they have horrible hours for entry level jobs. 12A-12P or 12P-12A Fri/Sat/Sun is what I've seen.

I'll PM you.