Interview format and approach, any tips?

stakey

I have an interview with a hosting company for the position of Network Operational position.

Whilst the topics covered by the job are known to me this will be my first interview for a job post uni graduation, can anyone advise as to the format of the interview:

technical?
interpersonal?
problem solving?

Would be very helpful as it would help me to brush up on one or two things that I haven't played about with in about a year or two...

Should I dress formal? Shirt and tie, trousers? Or suit...??? again not really sure of the approach one takes to these fun events :rolleyes:

leeroybrown

Interviews vary depending of the company/people giving them.

I recently sat an interview consisting of one person going through my CV and asking questions related to my experience and educational qualifications, another asking technical questions directly related to the job and my skill set, and a third who asked some HR style questions about my reasons for moving jobs in the past. Most interviews that I have sat have taken a format along these lines but the direction/style of the questions and the level to which the answers were probed/pursued has varied. I have also sat one 'behavioural' interview, which was an interesting experience.

My advice would be to know your technical stuff well and make sure you can talk around any weaknesses that may be exposed to them. It may also be worth while to think about some of the standard interview questions that are asked. While some seem pointless, answering them well will make you look prepared.

As for your attire, wear a suit if you have one. Failing that wear a shirt, tie and trousers. It's always worth wearing a suit as interviewers will probably expect it in most companies.

Eoin

leeroybrown wrote:

As for your attire, wear a suit if you have one. Failing that wear a shirt, tie and trousers. It's always worth wearing a suit as interviewers will probably expect it in most companies.

Absolutely, I would think that anyone going for a job in an office environment should wear a suit to an interview, unless explicitly told it isn't necessary.

AARRRGH

Yes, wear a suit.

You're probably in the same boat as most technical people - the IT questions will be grand, but you'll have problems with the "HR" questions.

Tell me a little bit about yourself? Something that's not on your CV...
Greatest attribute? Weakness? (for the weakness one I always pretend I'm a bit of a Roy Keane - I expect 100% from myself and others. If someone is slacking, it bothers me.)
What's your dream job?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Name your greatest achievement and why?
Tell me about a problem you recently had to face and how you tackled it...

IMO, they're the difficult ones

Make sure your appearance is PERFECT. They will notice if you have tomato ketchup around your mouth... Nice fresh breath. Full stomach. Nice clean body and clothes... Get there early. And remember, the people interviewing you are probably nervous too. They understand interviews are not normal situations. So just relax...

Good luck!

Eoin

dublindude wrote:

You're probably in the same boat as most technical people - the IT questions will be grand, but you'll have problems with the "HR" questions.

OP - search this forum, I think these questions came up before, and there were some good answers.

dublindude wrote:

Tell me a little bit about yourself? Something that's not on your CV...
Greatest attribute? Weakness? (for the weakness one I always pretend I'm a bit of a Roy Keane - I expect 100% from myself and others. If someone is slacking, it bothers me.)
What's your dream job?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Name your greatest achievement and why?
Tell me about a problem you recently had to face and how you tackled it...

IMO, they're the difficult ones

The "weakness / bad attribute" question is a hard one to answer, someone suggested something like "I am bad with names", I think this is a pretty good one. The "I work too hard" answer is a bit old at this stage
I might use the answer above, but certainly would mention Keane by name given his history with dealing with management

For the 10 year one, I would say what my 2 year plan is. Although not really answering the question, it shows that you know your short to medium term plans are. Maybe you can answer it by saying "My plan in 10 years is X, and to do that I would be aiming to do Y in 2 years time, and Z in 5 years time"

dublindude wrote:

Make sure your appearance is PERFECT. They will notice if you have tomato ketchup around your mouth... Nice fresh breath. Full stomach. Nice clean body and clothes... Get there early. And remember, the people interviewing you are probably nervous too. They understand interviews are not normal situations. So just relax...

Good luck!

^ what he said

stakey

thanks folks, will take all of this on board...

will pull out the ol' suit and read up a little before next week...

ta ta