Practical IT exam. What to expect?

[Pig benis]

Hi folks,

I am very pleased to say that after months of trying, I have an IT interview. This is going to be my second one with them, as my first one went really well.

My knowledge is pretty good, but I haven't had to sit a practical test before. What would I be expected to do? The MD who interviewed me said that it wouldn't be too complicated, but he wanted to see how I tackled tasks and that I could use google if I got stuck.

Now I want to do my very best on Friday, hence me posting on here.

Thank you,
P.B

EDIT - Major fail as I haven't mentioned the job role. It will be similar to a 1st line help desk position

Edited by Pig benis on Tuesday 24th April 20:59

[n3il123]

Probably something along the lines of can you plug it in, log on, answer a phone and google the answer to 11 across in the sun crossword?

[Podie]

Practical tests here usually involve diagnosing the duff component in a PC, and replacing it.

Could be RAM, processor, drive, graphics card, etc....

[shtu]

Pig benis said:

It will be similar to a 1st line help desk position

Then you're looking at fairly basic stuff - plugged in, switched on, network settings (how to get it to pick up an IP address), browser settings, straightforward stuff. They may throw a simple hardware fault at you, like an unseated cable or similar.

What they will be looking at is two things,

- The point you get stuck with your own knowledge.
- How you progress beyond that.

Even if you can't fix it, if you can narrow it down and say "it seems to be this" and be able to hand on the problem to someone else with all the relevant information, that'll do.

First line is about dealing with the simple stuff - password resets, turn-it-on-and-off-again stuff - and about capturing information to pass on to second line. If you can show you have the nous to do that, all good.

Top tip - cut + paste error message to google. But don't reach for that first, as they need to see you demonstrate your knowledge.


Edit - Should have said, as it's an interview and test for a first-line job, any test will be *simple*, as they don't have time to give you hugely complex stuff to diagnose, so make sure you think that way too. For example, if the machine won't connect to the network, check the cable is plugged in before worrying about mac addresses and stuff.

Edited by shtu on Wednesday 25th April 10:44

[lestag]

Pretty much as the others have said.
Don't panic on fixing it in 3 seconds, they may well be looking at how you go about things, so be methodical and systematic.
Also if it is a 1st teir helpdesk thing and they are "role playing", don't forget to ask questions of the "client" (if your allowed to) to gain better understanding of the problem, before diving in.

Oh and GOOD LUCK!!

['Yadi]

IT Support gets very dull if you always have the answer to everything. It's about being able to find the solution quickly. As others have noted if I were the interviewer in that situation I'd be looking for evidence of basic diagnostic skills, a logical approach and the ability to communicate effectively what you've concluded.

Back in the mists of time when I sat the second 'technical' interview for my first 1st Line support desk job the three interviewers sat in a different room from me with a phone link between us whilst I played 20 questions to try and work out what one of them was holding ( I didn't guess correctly but that wasn't the point of the exercise) I then had to come up with as many alternate uses for the object within 2 minutes (it was a Bic biro lid)

The IT questions were the ones normally used to find the people who have 'qualified' but have never had to deal with IT users in the real world. Go for the simple answers first - i.e. if the PC has no network connection don't try and blow the interviewer away discussing the transport layer in TCP/IP - look around the back and make sure the network cable is plugged in after the user decided to move desk without assistance.


Good luck with the interview

[Pig benis]

Thank you for all the advice, it has really eased my mind.

I have done some good prep for the interview and will report back tomorrow evening, or Saturday afternoon if everything goes well tomorrow

[jjones]

never underestimate the stupidity of the "caller"

so always start with the very basics.

some tips here:
http://www.briteccomputers.co.uk/forum/chit-chat/i...