help for interview please!

Tivoli

got an interveiw soon just a few quick questions for you guys

microsoft exchange server
1) is it an operation system or just an application that you can install on a windows pc
2) whats it for (think its just for internal email)
3) is it much harded to set up then say an ftp server

IT admin consulting services
what does this mean, is it just a posh way of sayin phone or remote support

thanks in advance

Blowfish

Is google down?

kdouglas

tbh if you dont know the answer to those questions, this job is out of your league

especially if you dont know how to use google (properly)

rymus

exchange is a corporate email server that runs on windows server but tbh if you're trying to blag though an interview for a job which specifies exchange as a requirement, you might as well not bother. Not trying to be nasty about it, but any interviewer will be able to pick out that you know absolutely nothing about it.

If it's a small part of the job, do some googling and become conversant with the main aspects of it and you may scrape through.

Other than that I'd agree with kdouglas. If exchange is listed as a core requirement, dont even bother...

Tivoli

nah, i'll be grand, just curious what it is, the pay is very low so they are not expecting an expert

google would be no use, i just wanted answers to the above question, not pages of m$ support documents

this job is out of your league

don't be cheeky, IT jobs are very easy, i blagged my way into one before and found most the lads in the department with degrees had no interest in anything but surfing the net

thanks rymus, so its an app you can run on a m$ server os that stores email accounts messages ect, so to set up an email for someone... is it just a matter of assinging a user name, password and a storage quota to the user?

aidan_walsh

don't be cheeky, IT jobs are very easy, i blagged my way into one before and found most the lads in the department with degrees had no interest in anything but surfing the net

Congrats, your experience is based on a ****e IT department.

irlrobins

aidan_walsh wrote:

Congrats, your experience is based on a ****e IT department.

QFT

Tivoli

focus people

god the ammount of time i have spent in here (and the windows forum) helping guys out with their pc problems, and the second i ask a question, your react like i am not qualified to know,



so ms exchange is an app you can run on a m$ server OS that stores email accounts messages ect,

does anyone use it here...if so to set up an email for someone.
is it just a matter of assinging a user name, password and a storage quota to the user?

feylya

Learn to use google first.

http://www.exchangemymail.com/exchangehosting_whatis.asp

youcancallmeal

Whenever I'm looking for layman's terms info on things my first port of call is always wikipedia, failing that webopedia is pretty good too.

Microsoft Exchange Server

Tivoli

Whenever I'm looking for layman's terms info on things my first point of call is always wikipedia, failing that webopedia is pretty good too.

Microsoft Exchange Server

feylya wrote:

Learn to use google first.

http://www.exchangemymail.com/exchangehosting_whatis.asp

great stuff thanks for the links,

@google comment
didn't think i would need google, i assumed that a lot of lads here use it daily and would be able to help me out.

sure almost every question on boards could be answered with "google it"


now any chance of an apology for some of the earlier posts :mad:

BostonB

Tivoli wrote:

...the pay is very low so they are not expecting an expert....

You'd be surprised what people expect for low pay. I'd have to agree with other posters, that you don't seem qualified. Really they are very basic IT questions.

That said you get jobs that advertise for a much higher skillset than they need or are prepared to pay for. Also theres no harm in trying, if nothing else you'll get experience of interviewing. if you're not in you can't win.

Tivoli

BostonB wrote:

You'd be surprised what people expect for low pay. I'd have to agree with other posters, that you don't seem qualified. Really they are very basic IT questions.

That said you get jobs that advertise for a much higher skillset than they need or are prepared to pay for. Also theres no harm in trying, if nothing else you'll get experience of interviewing. if you're not in you can't win.

basic when you know the answers, how often would a person who fixes pcs for small businness and home users see m$ exchange

Naikon

Tivoli wrote:

basic when you know the answers, how often would a person who fixes pcs for small business and home users see m$ exchange

Quite regulary I hope.

Besides, I am not even finished school(2 months to go) and to me those questions seem very basic, If you are going for a proper IT job, an elementary understanding of an application end-users use is recommended.

Dont go into the interview and expect serious consideration If for example you refer to TCP/IP as "that internet protocol thingy".
More than likely the questions you asked above would crack up laughter among the interviewers.

I may be a bit harsh,and it doesent help that I am not in IT(yet) but I am actually horrified at the prospect of IT staff surfing the net all day.

irlrobins

Tivoli wrote:

now any chance of an apology for some of the earlier posts :mad:

Nope, I think they were fair comments.

BostonB

Tivoli wrote:

basic when you know the answers, how often would a person who fixes pcs for small businness and home users see m$ exchange

Dunno how you'd avoid knowing what it is tbh.

Cuddlesworth

Naikon wrote:

but I am actually horrified at the prospect of IT staff surfing the net all day.

Depends on the company and workload, I browse when waiting on a report or loading screen/install.

Tivoli

I worked for over 3 years in the IT department in a large multination factory, I supported over 100 (20 unix and 80 win2k) computers, 80 barcode scanners and 40 printers, I fixed all network issues, windows and av updates, pc rebuilds. on unix killing and restarting processes, moving files to different directories, vi editing and all over telnet

set up an ftp server, and created batch scripts that i copied to all the workstations to allow me to easily install any app or patch onto a pc (without logging off) by just running a cmd from the start menu and entering the admin password. this was totally my own idea, i had never seen it used anywhere before this, and i had no programming experice, yet it still took me only 2 shifts to get a working model to demonstrate to the boss

in my spare time i did internal online courses, and ordered spares (its soooo cool to be able to spend an hour or 2 on komplett and if you boss calls over i dont have to minimize it


and wait for the best bit, i was the only person on my shift to do it, so i had no help with the above for 12hrs, i was very busy all day every day

and finally in this factory we used....................
lotus notes


now am i still under qualified!

BostonB

Naikon wrote:

Q....
I may be a bit harsh,and it doesent help that I am not in IT(yet) but I am actually horrified at the prospect of IT staff surfing the net all day.

You'll find most of the answers to your IT problems, especially in software development, on the net. Its a vital tool.

petes

Tivoli wrote:

I worked for over 3 years in the IT department in a large multination factory, I supported over 100 (20 unix and 80 win2k) computers, 80 barcode scanners and 40 printers, I fixed all network issues, windows and av updates, pc rebuilds. on unix killing and restarting processes, moving files to different directories, vi editing and all over telnet

set up an ftp server, and created batch scripts that i copied to all the workstations to allow me to easily install any app or patch onto a pc (without logging off) by just running a cmd from the start menu and entering the admin password. this was totally my own idea, i had never seen it used anywhere before this, and i had no programming experice, yet it still took me only 2 shifts to get a working model to demonstrate to the boss

in my spare time i did internal online courses, and ordered spares (its soooo cool to be able to spend an hour or 2 on komplett and if you boss calls over i dont have to minimize it


and wait for the best bit, i was the only person on my shift to do it, so i had no help with the above for 12hrs, i was very busy all day every day

and finally in this factory we used....................
lotus notes


now am i still under qualified!

And after all that you still hadn't even heard of Exchange?

Oh and I wouldn't say IT Admin Consultant Services is a posh way of saying telephone or remote support.

If they were looking for helpdesk technicians they would have said so.

aidan_walsh

Tivoli wrote:

I worked for over 3 years in the IT department in a large multination factory, I supported over 100 (20 unix and 80 win2k) computers, 80 barcode scanners and 40 printers, I fixed all network issues, windows and av updates, pc rebuilds. on unix killing and restarting processes, moving files to different directories, vi editing and all over telnet

set up an ftp server, and created batch scripts that i copied to all the workstations to allow me to easily install any app or patch onto a pc (without logging off) by just running a cmd from the start menu and entering the admin password. this was totally my own idea, i had never seen it used anywhere before this, and i had no programming experice, yet it still took me only 2 shifts to get a working model to demonstrate to the boss

in my spare time i did internal online courses, and ordered spares (its soooo cool to be able to spend an hour or 2 on komplett and if you boss calls over i dont have to minimize it


and wait for the best bit, i was the only person on my shift to do it, so i had no help with the above for 12hrs, i was very busy all day every day

and finally in this factory we used....................
lotus notes


now am i still under qualified!

I don't see how you can equate "I can do all this stuff" with "That makes me qualified for that stuff that I have already proven a lack of basic knowledge of". So yes, you are still under qualified for what you have told us the job is.

Ginger

My old company had 10 employees and we had an exchange 2003 box. A lot of small companies can get it through the MS Action Pack or by buying SBS 2003 because that is what it is there for.

You would be surprised how many companies will use Exchange. As a programmer I had to be familiar with it because I was using CDO and linking directly to the stores.

On the whole thing of setting up users, usually what you do, is when you set them up in the AD, you click a tab and assign them a mailbox most of the work is done there for them as they will use Windows Auth to connect to their mailboxes (there are other ways to connect as well)

If you feel like you should go for it, download the trial of Exchange 2003, Windows Server 2003 and install it and see how you go. At least you will be able to have said you have seen it without lying!

IT Consultant has different meanings from things like contracter, consultative decision maker/influencer to IT expert in a particular field.

Some companies do use the naming structure of consultant for tech support but as 2nd/3rd level support.

Anyways.. best of luck with it, if you decide to go with it. Personally if you submitted the CV to me without the required Exchange experience you wouldnt probably get to interview.

irishpartyboy

OP, if a requirment for the position is Microsoft Exchange, then you are underqualified. I've seen plenty of people blag their way into IT jobs they're not qualified to do.. some things you can blag and wing it, but when something goes down, you'll be expected to have some clue in trying to resolve. Usually they are found out pretty quickly in any company that's decently run.

So when you say IT jobs are easy, that's a ridiculous generalisation.

Ginger

I think the whole thing with help for the interview, OP, is that you have got your answer.

I wouldnt base your experience on how you yourself said you blagged your way into a job. If you can blag your way in, what does that tell you about the level of experience of the interviewer or the manager of the department?

There is nearly always 1 office IT expert who knows enough to get most people out of trouble on their machines but when it comes to network deployments, enterprise applications and the like they are out of their league.

Be aware if you do blag into the job and cannot actually do the job you will probably get sacked

Tivoli

thanks ginger, very helpful posts,

after all that i am not going to take the job!

because
they could not give me a straight answer when i wanted to know the work hours, sounds like the place closes when the last guy finishes


petes did you see my lotus notes comment, its an equivalent to an exchange setup

Cuddlesworth

Tivoli wrote:

petes did you see my lotus notes comment, its an equivalent to an exchange setup

Its a very very bad equivilant, one most good companys left in the dirt years ago.

Tivoli

krazy_8s wrote:

Its a very very bad equivilant, one most good companys left in the dirt years ago.

god i though it was okay to install setup and use, but its expensive because lotus charge for every email address and its storages size


but what i meant was i didn't use exchange because we had notes, thats why i knew little about it (had an idea it was for mail)

Archytas

This has been hilarious... Ha ha ha ha ha.

I'm sorry but even if you're only using one technology you should be learning about others. We use Exchange Server but I know about the alternatives and what they do, and I'm willing to bet so do others in my place around here.

This has also been slightly embarrassing...

irlrobins

Right I think the point has been made.