Interview Questions for IT Position

Gerri · January 2004

Does anyone have any good IT interview questions they'd be willing to share?
The position is primarily desktop support, installation of PC's (hardware & software), telephones, blackberries, etc.

Cinderella · January 2004

I have hired for a couple of desktop support positions. I always like to ask what they do / feel when an internal customer is especially upset about their computer/whatever not working. I have received some surprising answers to that question. I also like to ask them what they would do if they were working on someone's computer (who can't do ANY work until they are finished) and a VP/other high up walks by and tells them they need their assistance with THEIR computer. Again, I've gotten some surprising answers to that one as well.
Cinderella

Don D · January 2004

As with any position in the company, HR can always ask the typical questions that will give us a feel for how the employee might fit the organization or all those odd tangents we get into from the HR angle; however, if you're wanting to establish qualifications, no. We just hired a person who sounds like exactly your scenario. Our corporate IT people are in CT and supervise the position. But, even if they were down the hall, I would defer questioning about qualifications and skills to them. If I were to ask the questions Cinderella suggests, I don't know what I would do with the answers. No matter which way the guy answers, it will depend entirely on the culture and the expectations of the department head as to what the tech will be able to do with his time or services. No computer tech or other support person has the authority or autonomy to decide independently how they will perform their job and how they will support others. Having done this for many years, I will tell you that I always, always tell the candidate up front if I know very little about the precise technical aspects of the job being recruited. I see that as a strength, not a weakness.

Cinderella · January 2004

I disagree. I'm a recruiter and it's my job to communicate and consult with the hiring manager so that I know the tech requirements, and other requirements for any position I'm hiring for. I don't know the tech requirements inside and out / backwards / forwards like the hiring manager does (especially if it's something that is very senior or specialized like an IT configuration and build engineer). However, the recruiting model at my current and last company have been such that the recruiter prescreens resumes and conducts phone screens and sometimes even the first interview alone. Then the hiring manager does the second interview (sometimes I'm there, sometimes not) and gets a more in-depth feel for technical qualifications, team fit, etc.

One of the reasons I feel I am a good recruiter is that I know my hiring managers pretty well -- and I know their teams pretty well too. I can usually tell right off the bat if a candidate will fit within the particular dept. I'm hiring for.

This, of course, is probably different at smaller companies due to the cost of having a recruiter and a workload to justify them being there.
Cinderella

Gerri · January 2004

Cinderella,

I too, recruit the way you do. Thus my request for interview questions. The IT department asked me to develop interview questions for them - so I was hoping to find a few with some of you on this board. I already have the questions regarding customer service (internal) and a lot of good behavioral questions. What I need specifically is some tech questions. Yes, my IT people could come up with them, but they view that as my job. Do you have any "tech" questions you're willing to share?

Cinderella · January 2004

Honestly, the really, really technical questions should be coming from the hiring manager unless you are a technical recruiter and you know all of that stuff. My question is, is the hiring manager that unwilling to participate in hiring his or her own employee? There is no way recruiters can know EVERYTHING about every job, it's just not possible.

The interview questions will depend on what systems you use (NT, XP, 2000, Linux, etc), and the level of this position (Tier I, II, III, etc).

I'd just call the hiring manager and ask for five or six job specific technical questions. I recall a couple I used at my former company:

1. An end user receives an email with an attachment from someone outside the company (that is believed to be a reliable source) and cannot open the attachment. What could be wrong and what steps would you take to solve this problem?
2. An end user logs on to their computer and a window pops up saying they have a virus. What is the first thing you would tell them to do?
3. An end user receives an error message when attempting to log on to the Internet via Internet Explorer. What could be the problem and what steps would you take to solve it?

Cinderella

Interview Questions for IT Position

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