I was recruited out of college by an software engineer shortly after graduation. The interview process lasted 2 months, with 6 interviews total.
1. The first interview is the most nerve racking. They will first go over your resume, and this is your chance to sell yourself. Do not be overconfident, but this initial part dictates how the rest goes. Talk about personal achievements, projects, and experience from internships/relevant past jobs. Keep it short but punchy.
They will ask questions relating to networking protocols, their usages and workings. I was asked about DHCP and STP. Be ready to explain concepts such as CAM Tables, what MAC addresses are, and how IP addresses are used to route information to other computers. Know OSI layers 2 and 3 well. Know concepts, applications, and how/why they work.
2. Second interview is a technical interview consisting of a whiteboard session where you and a member of the team have a network to troubleshoot. You ask questions, he gives answers, and you tell him what to do. If you completed any networking class where you had to identify real problems, this may be easy.
Scenario: A computer connected to a network cannot reach google.com, figure out why. Work from OSI LAYER 1 FIRST, then up through the levels for each device. Be ready to clearly explain your thoughts.
Hints:
Firewalls, DHCP, cabling issues, VLAN, IP helper, autoconfiguration addresses.
3. The third is a writing assignment. They give you a customer, his complaint and a screenshot of the problem. You aren't supposed to solve the issue, you are being judged on professionalism, communication, and compassion towards the customer. Format your email in a way that a big company would, where you tackle the following sections professionally:
a. we understand your situation and want to help
b. here's where you ask for more data based on what you see in the error
c. it looks like this could be the problem, here's what we think you could do
d. here are things you can do immediately
e. professional conclusion
They want to see how well you can write. The email should be substantial, consisting of about one page type 12 font 1.15 spacing (this is not mandatory). Act like you are actually formatting an email. Do not email your results back. Read the email they send with the prompt thoroughly, and submit within an hour. There is a submission portal where you upload the file. Append the email to the origin document with the problem statement instead of submitting a document standalone. You have one hour.
4. Interview 4, 5 and 6 all happened on the same day one after another. This is a technical section where it is similar to the second, but there is more wrong. Hint:
Rogue DHCP, VLANs, STP(!), cabling, DC configuration, backup DHCP.
WORK FROM LAYER 1 ONWARD. You have an hour and are not supposed to find absolutely everything, but supposed to get super close. This is where you can really demonstrate your problem solving ability. You are judged on how you ask questions, how you communicate with your interviewer, and the amount of things you solve.
5. Behavioral. Talk about your resume, your experience, and answer their questions. Never lie, give actual experiences from anywhere applicable and stick to the STAR method. 7 questions were asked, 4 scenario based, others customer relations. think "describe a time when" or "a customer calls and says this" and "what would you do when" and finally "how would you handle this scenario". Ask quality questions at the end and engage the interviewer.
6. Different person, same style as 5. Different questions from 5.
Recruiters and team members alike look for good communication, teamwork, and critical thinking skills. They want to know that you aren't ONLY good at technical things. You need to show:
1. you can work on a team,
2. your interest in the company,
3. the ability to handle yourself in customer engagement,
4. and the ability to keep cool, balanced and calm in tough situations.
The role is based on customer support, where you will be talking with customers via phone and email, so you should have a good voice, that when people hear, they feel at ease. You should be able to ask questions to customers in ways that evoke answers rather than frustration.
Be a communicator, team player, and optimist. You are the face of the company for when things go wrong, and they want to see that you understand that.
This is a ladder style interview. If you do not make it in one, they will not schedule the next. You must pass all to be considered for the job, so if you complete all steps well, you'll very likely get the job. Interviewers will express how well you are doing with nonverbal communications, and sometimes with small verbal hints at the end of questions. Hear notes being taken? That means you are doing fine.
This interview process takes time but is incredibly fair and judges based on your actual skills. Showing good skills is what they look for.
