Ten Commonly asked Questions in IT Interviews
IT interviews can be hard to come by and you want to be prepared when it’s time for the interview so you can make the most of the opportunity.
Here are some commonly asked questions that I’ve been asked while I was interviewed for IT positions.
Be sure to practice these questions with a friend so you know what to say in the interview and don’t leave long awkward pauses, but make the answers your own so that your responses come off as genuine and not over rehearsed.
- Tell us about yourself.
- This is where you can give a brief overview of your education, work experience, and your plans in the industry.
- Keep this under a minute so you don’t accidentally ramble and your interviewer doesn’t get bored or lost.
- How much do you know about our company?
- Interviewers will ask this to see if you’ve done your research before the interview and to see how much they need to explain about their company and the job description.
- You don’t have to know everything, but it’s good to know the company’s industry, their geographical footprint, and how long they’ve been around.
- What computer systems and programs do you work with?
- They want to know if you’ve been working with computers, phones, servers, that type of thing.
- It might be worth mentioning if you’ve worked mainly in the Windows or MacOS environment. Also mention any software you’ve worked with a lot, like the Microsoft 365 Suite or Active Directory.
- What is your troubleshooting process/ How do you solve an issue you don’t understand?
- Interviewers ask this question because IT is basically just problem solving. Explain how you would approach a problem to which you don’t know the immediate answer.
- This is my guide for troubleshooting issues and you might want to give a brief overview of it as your answer: https://hannahjudith.com/how-to-solve-an-it-issue-you-dont-understand-yet/
- Tell us about a time you helped a user with an IT issue.
- Have an exact situation planned to talk about that demonstrates your both customer service and technical skills.
- Keep this short as well so you don’t ramble.
- Interviewers will also ask a few technical questions to make sure you know the basics of the field.
- Common questions here are : “What is an IP address?”, “Can you compare DNS vs DHCP?”, “A laptop’s screen will not turn on, but the power light and the keyboard lights are on, how would you troubleshoot?”
- Do your best to research those questions and other IT basics relevant to the position you’re applying for.
- If you don’t know the answer to a question, say something along the lines of “I don’t know the answer off the top of my head, can I look it up and get back to you?” This shows that you are willing to research solutions, which is a good quality to have when working in the IT field.
- How do you keep up with the latest tech?
- This question is meant to get to know you and see what aspects of the tech field interests you most.
- You might bring up that you read tech blogs, participate in online forums, or follow tech professionals on LinkedIn. (Be specific with the names of the sites, forums, etc.)
- You can mention current topics, like AI, or net neutrality (casually so as not to start an argument) to get a conversation going.
- Why do we want you on our team instead of someone else?
- This one is a question that I can’t answer specifically, because this is your personal selling point and strength. It is a good idea to be genuine in your answer, but here’s one example that’s tailored to the IT field.
- “I take the tickets in the queue that are most urgent or left behind and that other people might avoid instead of leaving it for the next person. Even if it’s something that I don’t entirely understand, I’ll work on it until i find a solution.”
- How do you prioritize work tasks?
- In an IT environment, tickets are constantly flowing in. They can be for issues affecting just one person, or a ton of people. They can involve complete work stoppages for users or just simple annoyances. Your employer wants to know if you can prioritize properly so you can optimize your time and work on the most urgent tasks first.
- You might say something like “I prioritize first by how many people are affected, what percentage of their job is impacted by the IT issue, and how long their ticket has been in the queue.”
- Any questions for us?
- Have questions ready for your interviewer just in case they ask this question. This gives them a chance to know if you’re interested in their company, just like they are interested in you.
- Too many people brush off this question and it comes off as disinterest.
- Good questions here are “How big is the team I’ll be on?” or “What projects are you working on?” or better, if you can ask something about something that came up earlier in the interview that the interviewer sounded passionate about, ask for more information on that. Having a natural conversation will help you connect to the interviewer and help them get to know you.
I hope this helps you prepare for your next IT interview. Best of luck!
