googlemad Posted February 21, 2007 Posted February 21, 2007 Got a job interview as a ICT Technician coming up (Which suspiciously, also mentions A/V equipment, photocopiers and telephones!!!) and different to the interview I had last Summer at another company, this one involves a series of practical and written tests before interview. Could someone tell me if these tests will be basic 'Install this, modify this user that' etc or will it be more complicated than that? I eat, breathe and sleep computers but knowing my luck nerves will get the better of me and I will mess something up!
_Bat_ Posted February 21, 2007 Posted February 21, 2007 What is the pay like? My written test was fairly basic, even though I am ashamed to admit I only got 9/15. I did better then the other guy they were interested in though apparently, he got only 6/15 which is why I ended up getting the job.
googlemad Posted February 21, 2007 Author Posted February 21, 2007 About £13.5k > £15.5k depending on qualifications. I've had so many tests recently though (Specialist apprentice scheme) I am getting sick of the sight of them
SimpleSi Posted February 21, 2007 Posted February 21, 2007 The main trick in a practical is to not forget to state the b*&&£y obvious - if they say that a computer won't turn on - say I'd check the button seems to move, the plug is inserted properly at the back, the lead is plugged into the socket, the switch is turned on at the socket etc etc etc Treat the questions as real problems from real users and just go through the steps you'd do to try and fix it - if you get stuck on one - ask if you can move to the next problem because a few minutes not thinking about it can make the answer come to you Is this job in a school or somewhere else? regards Simon
_Bat_ Posted February 21, 2007 Posted February 21, 2007 I didn't do any practical tests at my interview... in fact they didn't even tell me I was going to have a written test. I don't know how normal that is, but they took me completely by surprise (shock) as I had never been for an interview for a technical job before. I can't remember most of the questions, but I remember one was "what is DHCP?", another was "what command would you type to see the full IP details of the computer" (ipconfig /all) and another was "Is the connector on a monitor male or female and how many pins/holes does it have" I earn £14,300
googlemad Posted February 21, 2007 Author Posted February 21, 2007 The job is in a specialist building College which mainly deals with apprentices. Those questions seem easy enough apart from the monitor one possibly! I recently studied and passed MCDST and Network+ so some of the knowledge from those is still in the back of my mind I guess. Thanks for the advice so far!
Midget Posted February 22, 2007 Posted February 22, 2007 My interview was like an interview with Denholm Reynholm from The IT Crowd.
_Bat_ Posted February 22, 2007 Posted February 22, 2007 My interview was like an interview with Denholm Reynholm from The IT Crowd. Lol mine was scary for me because up until then I had only had one person interview me and on one occasion, two people. For this job though there was four people, it scared me to death (even though that is probably trivial compared to what a lot of people here went through).
Guest Posted February 22, 2007 Posted February 22, 2007 Had a couple of interviews, tasks involved making a patch cable, joining a computer to a domain where the cheeky network manager had changed the TCP/IP setting, editing a gp and running gpupdate. Written tests involve what is DNS,AD, users and Groups. If the floppy light is always on what’s wrong, and some IP/gateway questions. Interview is also important, typical questions, how do would you prioritizs your work, how could you improve the schools ICT dept, if students were fighting what would you do. Describe yourself in 3 words.
edie209 Posted February 22, 2007 Posted February 22, 2007 At my interview they sat all the candidates in a room before the interviews started. So as you do I started talking to the others, and found to my suprise I was the only one with previous IT experience all the others were salesmen, science techs ect who had computers at home and thought a network would be the same to look after. One walked before the interviews, keep your chin up and you will be fine, I interviewed for a technician a little while ago and the standard was really poor. If you know your stuff you should be fine
Midget Posted February 22, 2007 Posted February 22, 2007 I interviewed for a technician a little while ago and the standard was really poor. Out of curiosity, was the pay also really poor?
googlemad Posted February 22, 2007 Author Posted February 22, 2007 Well it was an all day jobbie - I got through the tests and became one of the 'Top 5' so got an interview which I tried my best in so now I'll be stood by my phone for the next 24 hours waiting for the phone call to say I got the job (If a letter arrives instead its bad!) The written covered a broad range of stuff, practical was component naming (The difficulty being the components were ancient!)
maniac Posted February 22, 2007 Posted February 22, 2007 The best interview I ever had was for the Kent Messenger group as a techician. Unfortunitely I didn't get the job, but I did enjoy the experience. It was a group interview, which is something I'd never done before, but was a very interesting day as you got to meet who you were up against! The first task they got us to do?? Gave us loads of old newspapers, divided us into two groups and said 'build a giraffe, tallest one wins' What an amazingly good team building exercise! Needless to say ours won, because I stuck an exceedingly long neck on it! lol Know it's not really relevant to this post, but thought I'd share it anyway as it's always stuck in my mind! Mike.
edie209 Posted February 23, 2007 Posted February 23, 2007 Out of curiosity, was the pay also really poor? yes it was but then I'm in Plymouth wages here seem to be far behind the rest of the country.
Midget Posted February 23, 2007 Posted February 23, 2007 Out of curiosity, was the pay also really poor?yes it was but then I'm in Plymouth wages here seem to be far behind the rest of the country. There's your answer then, don't worry, Wales is just as bad, if not worse.
limbo Posted February 23, 2007 Posted February 23, 2007 I have interviewed and employed IT Technicians at varying levels on 7 different occasions over the last few years. I rarely ask technical questions because the personality is more important. we do all sorts of tasks to try and find out the kind of person before going on to a formal interview. The tasks have varied from Origami (to see how good people are at following instruction) to building newspaper towers (never though of doing it with giraffes though!). The reason I rarely as technical quesitons is because we all have different tasks that we do day to day over and over, yet they are not the same for all of us. I bet loads of you regularly change network cards or put in memory upgrades, whereas I have not done that for years because we buy kit that never seems to need this doing. So I could well appear uneasy wth these tasks just because it has been so long since I have done the. But if I can work out during the course of a day that someone is logical (always find the Rush Hour puzzle is a good way to test that with people) andhas the ability to learn quickly then do not need to worry if they can or cannot change a network card because I know I can show them and it will no longer be a problem. We also get candidates to do a quick training session with a member of staff to see how patient they are and whether they can explain things easier. By the end of the morning most people are so thrown by it, and enjoy it so much, that their real personalities come out. Although I should not really be saying all this - I am advertising for another technician in the next couple of weeks and I have just given away the interview process!!
googlemad Posted February 24, 2007 Author Posted February 24, 2007 I didn't get the job, oh well (They interviewed a previous employee which I guess added a bigger challenge!) Least I had a day out and got to experience pre interview testing! And I got down from 32 odd to 12 to 5 which wasn't bad!
Grommit Posted February 24, 2007 Posted February 24, 2007 I didn't get the job, oh well (They interviewed a previous employee which I guess added a bigger challenge!) Least I had a day out and got to experience pre interview testing! And I got down from 32 odd to 12 to 5 which wasn't bad! What position were you interviewed for ?
john Posted February 25, 2007 Posted February 25, 2007 I didn't get the job, oh well (They interviewed a previous employee which I guess added a bigger challenge!) Least I had a day out and got to experience pre interview testing! And I got down from 32 odd to 12 to 5 which wasn't bad! Its all expereience as you have said, so bad luck that you didn't get the job, but its good as you now know what to hopefully expect next time etc. and hopefully next time you will be lucky
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