"Hands on tasks" for interview day

[IT_Master]

Just make sure you set the swtich up not to autodetect and fix that....



Worse break the network cable (either with the bend radius method or cutting and recrimping a connector on incorrectly or with one of the internal cables shorter so it dosn't work) so they can't do the "click" test on the network cable.


Ooh i got asked those terminolgy questions when we were doing my TAFE RPL stuff... then the person randomly asked me "how many active satellites are there in the GPS operating constellation" well..........

This is very easy. But there's an issue...I totally forgot how to do subnetting OMG I need to do more revising

[znova]

OK you win

Just finished Cisco academy for the second time(had to do it again as part of my degree) and because it's such an integral part of the course I just forgot it's not exclusive to cisco. Got indoctrinated!



Anyway you probably have enough suggestions to last you a few interviews!

[mac_shinobi]

which leaves the nine that aren't wrong with it:
4. It's not a Mac
5. It's still not a Mac
... and so on

I presume numbers 4 and 5 are the cons list ?

[mac_shinobi]

Hang on a minute, I don't know how to do that!

(reminds me of the "do you mean an African or a European Swallow?" in Monty Python)

Same here lol - any links or advice on how to do the above ?

Ask them to repair a pc with an UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME.
(I wrote a small app that would set this up. )

Ask them to troubleshoot the network connection of a pc.
With the subnet mask set at 255.255.255.252

1. Have you got a copy of that app - if so can you upload it ?

2. Am guessing they will have another pc to hand to see what subnet the current network is on or how would they know what subnet mask to set it to ?

[torledo]

Cross over cables and subnetting are not cisco!

yes, but many a budding IT tech's first exposure to crossover cabling and subnetting is via the ccna, due to it's proliferation as a part-time course of study at colleges FE and as part of uni degree courses.

these things have that association with 'cisco' via the ccna for many, many people.

if this vacancy is for a part-time position and the pay is commensurate with having applicants with limited or no experience, it doesn't seem particularly fair to expose them to stuff that they may not have done previously and weeding out people based on prior knowledge, and more importantly knowing the ins and outs of subnetting isn't important for a junior position.

At my first IT job i didn't know the ipconfig /release and /renew commands - ping was about the only command i knew, joining domains, net use commands all that shit i didn't know.....i watched more senior officers use ipconfig as the most common method to first troubleshoot ip address/dhcp issues at the client side. Did i have a thorough understanding of dhcp did i even know how to setup a basic dhcp range for a dhcp server.....no. similarly i didn't know anything about subnetting beyond knowing what subnet values the organisaiton i worked for used. that's all i needed to know for what i was there for.

the role of a junior tech is about learning on the job and in many cases gaining the practical understanding to aid a better grasp of theory later. not the other way round. If you can find someone with more of a headstart then great, but it's by no means the end of the world to give someone able and eager to learn the opportunity.....people have to start somewhere. ofcourse if given details of the task beforehand could be a useful guide to distinguish people eager to research and able to use their initiative to solve a problem from those who can't be asked.

[torledo]

This is very easy. But there's an issue...I totally forgot how to do subnetting OMG I need to do more revising

many experienced techs do just that. that's why testing for it as part of a process for recruiting for a lowly part-time tech in a school position is pretty meaningless in my view.

[pcman]

To be honest I would get a PC, disconnect the HDD, the CD drive, the RAM, molex connectors etc. Pretty much everything and see if they are capable of been calm and collective and working out where they go.

I know it is all plug and play so to speak and you can see where it fits, but if they just calmly plug it all back in and get the machine to boot (or close to booting) you have your trainee.

As you want someone who can remain calm under pressure and has common sense.

In a desktop environment, ask them where to look for network connections, printers etc.

Then up it a bit and ask how to find out the ip address of your machines (cmd prompt) and how to share a folder.

If they don't know this, ask them to find out how on the internet.

Also you could ask them to try finding something more in depth using the internet if they knew how to find the ip address and see if they can find what you're looking for. All basic stuff with a bit of medium stuff to see if they have any experience.

If you want something written, then stick with the suggested priority questions already posed to you.

[srochford]

many experienced techs do just that. that's why testing for it as part of a process for recruiting for a lowly part-time tech in a school position is pretty meaningless in my view.

If you give the person access to the web and ask questions like "what subnet do you need for XXX" or "how many network addresses can you have with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.224" then it seems more reasonable.

I've been doing stuff like this for years but, while I can sit down and work it out, it's a lot easier to find a subnet calculator on the web and use that. In a real job, you'd always have access to web based info so checking to see if someone can use that seems reasonable.