1st line IT support Interview
Discussion
Hi guys,
Somehow, i've managed to nab myself an interview for a 1st line support role in a company local to me. ( Networks/Remote and Onsite IT support )
I got their attention buy sleuthing my way to the information that allowed me to apply directly to the company directors. ( I said as much in my cover letter too. )
So before i go and give it my best shot.
Are there any gotcha's I should prepare for...
like having to do Fizzbuzz on a whiteboard for a Developer's interview.
Im not sure if they put more credence on the MCSE route or the CCNA route.
Thanks
Somehow, i've managed to nab myself an interview for a 1st line support role in a company local to me. ( Networks/Remote and Onsite IT support )
I got their attention buy sleuthing my way to the information that allowed me to apply directly to the company directors. ( I said as much in my cover letter too. )
So before i go and give it my best shot.
Are there any gotcha's I should prepare for...
like having to do Fizzbuzz on a whiteboard for a Developer's interview.
Im not sure if they put more credence on the MCSE route or the CCNA route.
Thanks
In my experience 1st line support is generally manning the servicedesk and doing low-level technical stuff (depending on the size of the organisation of course).
Anything really technical tends to get passed to 2nd possibly even 3rd line support.
If that's the case I wouldn't worry about MCSE\CCNA and I'd be wary about mentioning it at interview as they may think you won't be content with the 1st line support role. Once you're in the door then it's different of course.
If I was recruiting for a 1st line role I'd be looking for someone who has good interpersonal skills, a reasonable grasp of the appropriate technical skills, and an interest in the field.
Anything really technical tends to get passed to 2nd possibly even 3rd line support.
If that's the case I wouldn't worry about MCSE\CCNA and I'd be wary about mentioning it at interview as they may think you won't be content with the 1st line support role. Once you're in the door then it's different of course.
If I was recruiting for a 1st line role I'd be looking for someone who has good interpersonal skills, a reasonable grasp of the appropriate technical skills, and an interest in the field.
Thanks.
I know its pretty much just call centre grunt-work.. and im ok with that, ive spent most of my working life in call centres and using ticketing systems; Its an industry ive been trying to get into for as long as i can remember so ANY role in it, to me is the jackpot!
Im debating whether it's worth mentioning my Home hypervisor setup, and all the work i do volunteering Running my own CodeClub teaching kids coding and computing.
I know its pretty much just call centre grunt-work.. and im ok with that, ive spent most of my working life in call centres and using ticketing systems; Its an industry ive been trying to get into for as long as i can remember so ANY role in it, to me is the jackpot!
Im debating whether it's worth mentioning my Home hypervisor setup, and all the work i do volunteering Running my own CodeClub teaching kids coding and computing.
SystemParanoia said:
Im debating whether it's worth mentioning my Home hypervisor setup, and all the work i do volunteering Running my own CodeClub teaching kids coding and computing.
The trouble with any interview is that it's essentially a beauty contest, very much in the eye of the beholder. Consequently there is no right answer, only the answer the interviewer thinks I is right.If I were interviewing and someone told me about home labs and community coding, I would be very impressed, but then I too spent a good 10 years trying to get into IT. The trouble with that passion is that it may be interpreted that it will lead you to always be pushing for 2nd/3rd line support, or that you will move on if a better opportunity arises.
Personally, I'd play it by ear with that information. If they look like a progressive bunch then go with it.
When we hire First Line we're generally looking for people who are great with the customers. Yes, you have to know your way around Windows, basic fault finding and bit of basic networking is good if we can get it but at the end of the day our business is won and lost on the quality of our support and few companies do support really well.
If the customers like you because you listen, make the right noises and keep them informed of what's going on, that's 90% of the battle won and the technical stuff can be dealt with by Second and Third line colleagues. Our last few hires have had almost no workplace IT experience, but have worked in customer facing roles and have an interest in IT. In fact we probably have more experienced first line hires who don't last long than we do when taking on people who've worked in retail or similar.
I don't necessarily agree with the posters who say you might be frowned upon if you look like you'll progress beyond first line quickly, unless they are very small outfit. Good IT staff who are suitable to be put in front of customers are actually quite difficult to find and hiring senior techies is an expensive business. If you can hire someone as first line and skill them up it'll be cheaper than persuading someone to join you from somewhere else. I would absolutely mention your home stuff and coding club - that would go down really well.
So, show you've got a bit about yourself, you can hold a conversation, show you're keen to learn and that the customer is king and always comes first and you'll probably do OK.
One final thing - if you don't know the answer to a technical question, please reply succinctly that you don't know or haven't come across it before. People huffing and blustering a load of rubbish because they think they'll get away with it is route one to no pile in my experience. After 15 years as senior techie I've not seen everything, and never will.
If the customers like you because you listen, make the right noises and keep them informed of what's going on, that's 90% of the battle won and the technical stuff can be dealt with by Second and Third line colleagues. Our last few hires have had almost no workplace IT experience, but have worked in customer facing roles and have an interest in IT. In fact we probably have more experienced first line hires who don't last long than we do when taking on people who've worked in retail or similar.
I don't necessarily agree with the posters who say you might be frowned upon if you look like you'll progress beyond first line quickly, unless they are very small outfit. Good IT staff who are suitable to be put in front of customers are actually quite difficult to find and hiring senior techies is an expensive business. If you can hire someone as first line and skill them up it'll be cheaper than persuading someone to join you from somewhere else. I would absolutely mention your home stuff and coding club - that would go down really well.
So, show you've got a bit about yourself, you can hold a conversation, show you're keen to learn and that the customer is king and always comes first and you'll probably do OK.
One final thing - if you don't know the answer to a technical question, please reply succinctly that you don't know or haven't come across it before. People huffing and blustering a load of rubbish because they think they'll get away with it is route one to no pile in my experience. After 15 years as senior techie I've not seen everything, and never will.
Edited by quinny100 on Wednesday 20th September 20:18
Brilliant! thank you.
Ive spent the afternoon messing about with Active Directory for the first time ever, figuring out how to create/remove and reset the password for users as I figure that will be the most common request.
Im used to the linux way of doing things...
so some readjustment is required
Ive spent the afternoon messing about with Active Directory for the first time ever, figuring out how to create/remove and reset the password for users as I figure that will be the most common request.
Im used to the linux way of doing things...
so some readjustment is required
Congrats on the interview Leigh!
1st line means different things to different companies. Ultimately it's phone work with some basic diagnostics and (essentially) good notes taking to pass on for escalations. I don't think at that level they'll mind whether you're doing MCSE or CCNA, but either will certainly show that you are keen.
You should be able to answer well on 'competency' style questions (tell me about a time you dealt with an angry customer...), and it would be good if you can run through some basics like password reset, spotting simple things like CAPSLOCK being on preventing login, password expiry etc. Basic network skills like ping, ipconfig, router lights and such.
Definitely mention everything you do at home, that only serves to impress and show how keen you are (which is most of the battle).
Fingers crossed for you.
1st line means different things to different companies. Ultimately it's phone work with some basic diagnostics and (essentially) good notes taking to pass on for escalations. I don't think at that level they'll mind whether you're doing MCSE or CCNA, but either will certainly show that you are keen.
You should be able to answer well on 'competency' style questions (tell me about a time you dealt with an angry customer...), and it would be good if you can run through some basics like password reset, spotting simple things like CAPSLOCK being on preventing login, password expiry etc. Basic network skills like ping, ipconfig, router lights and such.
Definitely mention everything you do at home, that only serves to impress and show how keen you are (which is most of the battle).
Fingers crossed for you.
In my experience for a 1st line analyst they will just be looking for someone with the right personality that will fit into the team. Some companies do it differently, they will either have a technically trained and tool equipped desk with a high FTF rate, or they will be looking for more scripted customer service, but log and flog kind of stuff (yes that is a contradiction). Try and figure out what they are looking for or concentrate on proving you can do both. I should warn you that it can be hard work but rewarding if you want to get your foot into the door and start your IT career, depending on the company some of them will coach you off 1st line into other roles after a couple of years..
Edited by davebem on Wednesday 20th September 21:16
I feel the interview went well.
I didn't try to BS my way through it, and held my hands up to not knowing the finer points of troubleshooting a cisco router/firewall.
They were very friendly and asked alot of questions about me and what i do in my spare time, so I ended up telling them about my volunteering and home server.
they seemed to be happy that ive been willing to get my hands dirty with lots of technologies, even if only in a very superficial way.
The role will be initially a helpdesk role, but they want the successful applicant to progress to client site visits, with a future potential of being sent to international clients in Dubai and Australia ( rare )
I did tell them im more than happy to put my hands into my own pocket for training, and asked which training fork would help me flourish in the role MCSE vs CCNA. they said that basically i'd need both, but at the same time, most of ways of working i'd learn in them wont apply 'in the field' due to various constraints they didn't want to bore me with.. but mostly client demands.
They are a 100% windows shop, so Im spending tonight backing up my random network data, and will blast a copy of windows server 2016 onto my server so i can get some experience of something a bit less 'niche'
having to migrate it every 180 days will be a chore, but will hopefully teach me about the process and eventually learn how to quickly automate the process in the future.
If all is well, ill be asked back for the 2nd stage technical interview where they will dump a load of equipment on me and ask me to trouble shoot it!
I didn't try to BS my way through it, and held my hands up to not knowing the finer points of troubleshooting a cisco router/firewall.
They were very friendly and asked alot of questions about me and what i do in my spare time, so I ended up telling them about my volunteering and home server.
they seemed to be happy that ive been willing to get my hands dirty with lots of technologies, even if only in a very superficial way.
The role will be initially a helpdesk role, but they want the successful applicant to progress to client site visits, with a future potential of being sent to international clients in Dubai and Australia ( rare )
I did tell them im more than happy to put my hands into my own pocket for training, and asked which training fork would help me flourish in the role MCSE vs CCNA. they said that basically i'd need both, but at the same time, most of ways of working i'd learn in them wont apply 'in the field' due to various constraints they didn't want to bore me with.. but mostly client demands.
They are a 100% windows shop, so Im spending tonight backing up my random network data, and will blast a copy of windows server 2016 onto my server so i can get some experience of something a bit less 'niche'
having to migrate it every 180 days will be a chore, but will hopefully teach me about the process and eventually learn how to quickly automate the process in the future.
If all is well, ill be asked back for the 2nd stage technical interview where they will dump a load of equipment on me and ask me to trouble shoot it!
Edited by SystemParanoia on Friday 22 September 22:26
Edited by SystemParanoia on Friday 22 September 22:31
HantsRat said:
They really require both qualifications for a 1st line role?
I asked that question in relation to guiding my future development within the company.As they're not huge roles are said to become rather fluid.
But they are expanding hence the current interview opportunity.
not heard anything back from them yet
But i spent this weekend tearing down my Linux server(s) and starting fresh with an all windows setup so i can get practice on systems i'd actually be using.
Got Hyper-V core on the bare metal, and stacked everything else on-top of that.
The role doesn't seem like a true 1st position to me. Atleast a 2nd line role to me. I've worked in a number of companies and 85% of them are log and flog with a small attempt in fixing the issue (say spend 5 minutes on it, but only after 10am etc)
Hopefully the role works out for you though
Hopefully the role works out for you though
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