interviewing people

I've always found this interesting process. meeting people. Trying to judge them both technically and personally in 60 minutes is a challenge. A few notes from the interviewer side of the table.

1) Please don't put down something on your resume as a talent or skill if you've never really done it. Especially if it is in the job descriptions or requirement. wow. If you have familiarity with administering exchange, be prepped for some decent questions or quickly define what you've done! What have you done? what are the server types? ever done clustering? how about policy rules? what have you done in powershell? those are the starter questions. I'm going to try to gauge your depth of knowledge. The thought process is, do you have enough basic knowledge to start. ok, how much do i have to train you on our products. what skillset do you bring that i don't have on my team. <--extra bonus points for you here.  

2) Be ready to tell about your successes on a recent job or project. Why was it a success? To the company? to you?

3) Be ready to tell about where you either failed, or not done your best and what you learned. Seriously. we are all in tech. If you administer, design, maintain, or implement large systems its likely you've had a few learning moments. An example: I've had my contractors send a directional bore for a fiber run through geo-thermal system on the coldest day of the year knocking out the heat. Not good. Lesson I learned was to gather exact details! the info i had wasn't precise about -which- northside parking lot had geos under them. I also learned that geos go up and down between 36-48" and our bores at 48". last, i got the best pick me up that day from our construction sup..."if your 20k issue is the biggest we encounter in this project, I'll be estatic"

4) I'd say be ready for an oddball question or two, but prepping for that is hard. Just be prepared for an awkward, weird, unusual question. Its to put you on your toes. catch your reaction. 

5) have questions for us. Anything. Ask about the work environment? how often are weekends? how often unscheduled weekends? Do you like working here? what do you do to assist with family life such as work from home or comp time, etc? Does your office do anything to keep it fun and friendly? Remember, you want to find out if you want to work for us too!