Remember the IT Joke?
Remember how I used to joke about getting into IT section at work? Well today is my big break. I've got an interview at 11AM and even though I came prepared, and this would be my second interview here, my palms are still sweaty from just mentioning the big "I" word. Maybe Im nervous because I am not really confident that I can impress the interview panel - yes, a panel of three interviewers.
Let me give you a run through on the interview.
The interview is going to be 20 minutes only (so my answers should be on point), with four questions - three of which they have given us in advance to prepare from. Last night I took about 30-40 minutes to just come up with answers to Question 1.
Part of the question reads:
Tell us about your ICT qualifications and/or experience that make you suited to this role.
My answer:
I have developed the passion for IT since childhood. After graduating with a degree in Information Systems at Divine Word University, the areas studied equipped me with the required knowledge and skills in different areas of IT and IS to pursue my interest. These areas of study include:
- Computer Hardware - Desktops and Laptops
- Operating Systems Administration
- Network Management and Wireless Networking
- Database and Web Development
just to name a few.
Given my two and a half years experience working here has given me a fair idea of the work environment and the different levels of communication required to carry out daily tasks and the importance of the work carried out by the staff here.
I was invited on occasions to assist the IT team to carry out simple tasks such as work station setup - this involves ensuring all devices are set up correctly before staff can have access to each work station in 2018 (this happened during the movement of staff from the main building to the new building).
EXPOSURE: This experience was a great exposure to the type of technology being used here and the IT procedures involved in setting up work stations.
Currently I am volunteering my free time to assist the team on redesigning and redeveloping the current local intranet.
SKILLS: This requires patience (back and forth communication) and customer satisfaction (approval).
Having worked with the team has further motivated me to become a permanent part of the team.
With this experiences, skills and knowledge attained can be seen as a basis to provide high quality, consistent and effective services required for this position.
Question 2
Partly Reads:
Tell us about a time where you dealt with a difficult customer and what strategies you used to manage the customer.
I will just outline my answer:
Current job:
Angry client - documents not processed in time as initially advised. This was a fault at our end
My strategy - remain calm, apologise and take responsibility over the situation, re-assure client that issue has been flagged and the team responsible has been advised and are doing all they can to rectify, ensure this does not happen in the future by documentation.
IT Job:
Angry client - system faced technical error, demonstration of system failed.
My strategy - remain calm and re-assure client that we are working on a solution. Escalate and seek advise from experienced professional, resolve issue (overtime) client. Advice event committee to allow client to present demo. Ensure to document to avoid this in the future.
Question 3
Tell us about an achievement you are proud of (from work or study) when you demonstrated one or more of these skills: well organised, manage multiple tasks, identify problems and deliver solutions/improvements.
This should be my outlined answer:
PNGTIA project:
Was approached by a tourism association to assist with assessing the official website and give recommendations of improvements.
After a successful audit with a friend, we outlined detailed reports on the structure, framework, layout and usability of the website and what the association can do to improve.
This involved,
- careful analysis (to provide quality service)
- task delegation (which saved us time) and clear and
- concise reporting skills to avoid back and forth communication with the client.
As a result, we were re-engaged to carry out our recommendations to improve the website functionality. We've come across problems such as: We had no idea of the structure (back end) CMS used to initially create the site. In order to work on this, we had to research and learn about the new CMS and create test sites before we can begin working.
It was a successful project and the website is now live - I'd say this was one of my greatest achievements in terms of being able to provide up to our client's satisfaction.
Question 4?
I don't know what question 4 is going to be. But I hope it should come in line with the 31 common interview questions I've studied.
AFTER INTERVIEW:
Well, I went full on auto-mode and didn't quite go by the script written. It finished on time though - 20 Minutes on the dot - well, sort of.
Anyways, its unpredictable. You don't know how well you did until you get an advise afterwards. By the way, question 4 was a scenario that requires my thinking skills on how to troubleshoot a problem.
One problem though - I did not put any referees of my current job there. Oh well, guess I have to go with the old referees. They will definitely contact these guys and my lecturers will be like, all these years and finally he has an IT Job interview.
Anyway bats, wish I could share the excitement with you.
Let me give you a run through on the interview.
The interview is going to be 20 minutes only (so my answers should be on point), with four questions - three of which they have given us in advance to prepare from. Last night I took about 30-40 minutes to just come up with answers to Question 1.
Part of the question reads:
Tell us about your ICT qualifications and/or experience that make you suited to this role.
My answer:
I have developed the passion for IT since childhood. After graduating with a degree in Information Systems at Divine Word University, the areas studied equipped me with the required knowledge and skills in different areas of IT and IS to pursue my interest. These areas of study include:
- Computer Hardware - Desktops and Laptops
- Operating Systems Administration
- Network Management and Wireless Networking
- Database and Web Development
just to name a few.
Given my two and a half years experience working here has given me a fair idea of the work environment and the different levels of communication required to carry out daily tasks and the importance of the work carried out by the staff here.
I was invited on occasions to assist the IT team to carry out simple tasks such as work station setup - this involves ensuring all devices are set up correctly before staff can have access to each work station in 2018 (this happened during the movement of staff from the main building to the new building).
EXPOSURE: This experience was a great exposure to the type of technology being used here and the IT procedures involved in setting up work stations.
Currently I am volunteering my free time to assist the team on redesigning and redeveloping the current local intranet.
SKILLS: This requires patience (back and forth communication) and customer satisfaction (approval).
Having worked with the team has further motivated me to become a permanent part of the team.
With this experiences, skills and knowledge attained can be seen as a basis to provide high quality, consistent and effective services required for this position.
Question 2
Partly Reads:
Tell us about a time where you dealt with a difficult customer and what strategies you used to manage the customer.
I will just outline my answer:
Current job:
Angry client - documents not processed in time as initially advised. This was a fault at our end
My strategy - remain calm, apologise and take responsibility over the situation, re-assure client that issue has been flagged and the team responsible has been advised and are doing all they can to rectify, ensure this does not happen in the future by documentation.
IT Job:
Angry client - system faced technical error, demonstration of system failed.
My strategy - remain calm and re-assure client that we are working on a solution. Escalate and seek advise from experienced professional, resolve issue (overtime) client. Advice event committee to allow client to present demo. Ensure to document to avoid this in the future.
Question 3
Tell us about an achievement you are proud of (from work or study) when you demonstrated one or more of these skills: well organised, manage multiple tasks, identify problems and deliver solutions/improvements.
This should be my outlined answer:
PNGTIA project:
Was approached by a tourism association to assist with assessing the official website and give recommendations of improvements.
After a successful audit with a friend, we outlined detailed reports on the structure, framework, layout and usability of the website and what the association can do to improve.
This involved,
- careful analysis (to provide quality service)
- task delegation (which saved us time) and clear and
- concise reporting skills to avoid back and forth communication with the client.
As a result, we were re-engaged to carry out our recommendations to improve the website functionality. We've come across problems such as: We had no idea of the structure (back end) CMS used to initially create the site. In order to work on this, we had to research and learn about the new CMS and create test sites before we can begin working.
It was a successful project and the website is now live - I'd say this was one of my greatest achievements in terms of being able to provide up to our client's satisfaction.
Question 4?
I don't know what question 4 is going to be. But I hope it should come in line with the 31 common interview questions I've studied.
AFTER INTERVIEW:
Well, I went full on auto-mode and didn't quite go by the script written. It finished on time though - 20 Minutes on the dot - well, sort of.
Anyways, its unpredictable. You don't know how well you did until you get an advise afterwards. By the way, question 4 was a scenario that requires my thinking skills on how to troubleshoot a problem.
One problem though - I did not put any referees of my current job there. Oh well, guess I have to go with the old referees. They will definitely contact these guys and my lecturers will be like, all these years and finally he has an IT Job interview.
Anyway bats, wish I could share the excitement with you.
Comments
Post a Comment