Interview test for assistant network manager - what types of technical questions do you think they w

Give 5,432 reasons why a LaserJet printer jams.

Give the meaning for all 80 error codes for LaserJet printers, and how you would fix each problem.

Carry this box of A4 printer paper through that heavy fire door, using only your index finger and left toe to open the door. Hold it open while ten people pass by without helping you.

Recover the CEO's print job after he's turned the printer on and off ten times.

Hold this hot fuser unit in your hand without crying for ten seconds.
 
Burly said:
Doing a bit of preparation here for interview.

I'm thinking TCP/IP and addressing. What else?
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TCP/IP IS addressing ;)

VLANS, switches, subnetting,basic routing at a minimum, depends on what they are looking for tho, some network manager roles are MSOFT domain admin roles, you would be well placed if you know the meat of the stuff tho as well as the frippery (MSOFT etc ;) )
 
bitslice said:
Give 5,432 reasons why a LaserJet printer jams.

Give the meaning for all 80 error codes for LaserJet printers, and how you would fix each problem.

Carry this box of A4 printer paper through that heavy fire door, using only your index finger and left toe to open the door. Hold it open while ten people pass by without helping you.

Recover the CEO's print job after he's turned the printer on and off ten times.

Hold this hot fuser unit in your hand without crying for ten seconds.
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LOL :D

Why can't the brightest network engineers fix basic printer tasks. Do you have any black art that you feel is going to be useful for us ?

Boring stuff.......

Describe the OSI model to the best of your knowledge.

Write a network service ..... in the interview :D
 
I suspect it'll very much depend on what sort of organisation the position is in. Did they put much detail into the job description about required skills? Or what kind of technologies you'll be working with?

I took up the very same title at the beginning of the year (having gone from Senior Technician) in a secondary school. The majority of the questions were regarding generic server technologies (Am I familiar with AD, DHCP, DNS, etc..) and quite a lot to do with the focus of the position (Web Design and Sharepoint). Despite the fact I had never even looked at Sharepoint before, I still got the job.
 
Got to watch out for the curveball questions:

There is a tree in the middle of the woods - it falls over and nobody else is around. How much would it cost to wash all of the windows in canary wharf?
 
Presumably you'll be asked things such as the ports used by well known services, such as DNS, SMTP etc. and basic networking concepts such as "how many hosts are there in a /20 subnet?". I expect you'll quizzed on your troubleshooting skills by going through scenarios such as "you can ping a server by it's IP address but not it's FQDN, what steps do you take to resolve this issue?". There may also be novelty questions, something along the lines of "in the event of a zombie apocalypse, where is the best place to find a weapon in an office environment?". These questions are ostensibly to gauge your problem solving skills, but in reality they're a test to see if you're a violent sociopath.

Good luck, and bon appétit!
 
Really, really depends on what size and type of company you're applying to, and what tech they use. If it's a smaller company I'd expect you to get more practical questions ("how would you make X change to Y hardware to accomplish Z") rather than more academic material such as the OSI model.

Can you give any more info?
 
Saundie said:
...............There may also be novelty questions, something along the lines of "in the event of a zombie apocalypse, where is the best place to find a weapon in an office environment?". These questions are ostensibly to gauge your problem solving skills, but in reality they're a test to see if you're a violent sociopath.
.
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:)

Nate
 
common one is:

entire class cannot work as the network is down
one student needs his password reset
headteachers printer doesnt work

which one do you deal with first and why.
 
Burly said:
high school position C2K
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In that case just tell them you know how to turn it off and on again and you'll get the job.

Seriously though it depends on their current level of expertise, IT in schools varys very very wildly. Some are utter pants, still running on split curriculem and admin flat networks, some are far more up to date running vlans, virtualisation and the likes.

If it's one of the former then my first suggestion should work, just don't wow them with buzz words, be simplistic and answer honestly. If it's the latter then you'll need to impress, but at the same time, if it IS the latter and you need to ask then you're probably applying for the wrong job.
 
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