What questions to ask our interviewees ?

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by shalls, Feb 21, 2007.

  1. shalls

    shalls Bit Poster

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    Hi Folks,

    We are recruiting for a new Service Desk Operator (1st line support).

    I've been asked to help prepare some questions to pose to the unlucky individuals....

    It's been well over six years since I was recruited and I cannot for the life of me remember any questions that were asked !

    What would be some good questions to ask ?

    I'm struggling.....

    • Mr Jones has forgotten his password, what do you do ?
    • Duh : reset it ! :)
    HELP !!!
     
    Certifications: CompTIA A+ (Gee Wow !)
    WIP: MCSE 2003 (no hope me thinks !)
  2. Crito

    Crito Banned

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    You know, while I'm sure technical skills help, for first line support I think analytical skills and an even temperment are more important. Knowing the answers is useless if you can't decipher the question. And sometimes the clues you need are hidden between insults. :x

    Not sure how you'd interview someone to evaluate those traits though. I've only helped screen people technically myself -- you can pick Q's out of any A+ book for that I'd think.
     
    Certifications: A few
    WIP: none
  3. TheMagician

    TheMagician Nibble Poster

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    I got asked, "How do you deal with frustration?" which I thought was a good question and I didn't really have a decent answer at the time - although annoyingly, as you normally do, thought of a good one after I left.

    I got the job though :p

    I think it's appropriate because of the number of plonkers the successful candidate will invariably end up dealing with in a 1st line support position.

    Another one is asking them about their previous customer service related positions.

    edit: did not see this was a month old
     
    Certifications: MCSA 2012, MCITP: EA, SA, ITIL
  4. Leehaa

    Leehaa Gigabyte Poster

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    Try some kind of question regarding prioritising - eg:

    Scenario:

    In the last 30 minutes:

    An MD has just called you to say that they cannot access their Outlook,

    A user from another company has called to say that they cannot login - their colleagues cannot login either

    A user has called to chase up a call that you logged 5 days ago regarding not being able to access the Demo document on their shared drive that they need to analyse today in order to take notes for a presentation - you passed the call through to an administrator in second line, but you've just found out they're off on sick leave...

    Your team leader is out for the morning for a meeting at a different site...and all three customers are demanding you fix their issues now...:ohmy

    What do you do? :blink


    Also, if you can get your hands on any of the MCDST books, they may help prompt you for questions because there's an introduction to what makes a good first line support analyst in both...
     
    Certifications: MCP, MCDST, ITIL v3, MBCS, others...
    WIP: BSc IT & Computing, RHCE
  5. Slam

    Slam Bit Poster

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    The answer to that question is to delegate the work between the rest of the team.
     

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