Applying for a new Job

[j1979]

i am applying for a job as an ADSL broadband help-desk operative, I have a broard knowledge of IT but am not specialised in any area.. does anyone have any advice on what I should learn before my interview?

[chuckskull]

Learning about the company itself is always a good bet for just about any interview. Learn their history, packages, missions statements and alike.

Apart from that brush up on your networking knowledge and acronyms. Though there's a good chance you'll be working from a script, it certainly wont hurt.

Finally anything else they've asked you to learn, if you got any bumpf off them when applying(some do, some don't) make sure, you know it all by heart, don't ignore it. I've known a few places that sent it out, not because it was of any use or relevance but just to see if the applicant bothered with it. There'll probably be a jobs section on their website too, troll through that.

Apart from that, stand up straight, smile a lot and good luck.

edit: One I forgot, have answers to the cliché questions before you even arrive, you know the ones; Whats your biggest flaw? What can you offer the company? etc.

[GoNz0]

if you have any IT experience your over qualified for the help desk, you may actually know what your talking about.

if on the other hand your only capable of reading questions 1 through 10 then repeating them you will get the job.

[j1979]

if you have any IT experience your over qualified for the help desk, you may actually know what your talking about.

if on the other hand your only capable of reading questions 1 through 10 then repeating them you will get the job.

i work already in a call centre... not where i want to be, but better than nothing. I have uni education in Computing and Management sciences, but not worked in IT for 5 years, apart from my websites.

[Behemoth]

I agree with GoNz0 on the above. I hate having to phone the help desk for any broadband provider because they are almost always reading from a script "I must not deviate I must read my script verbatim as instructed in my training"

That said the post that j1979 is applying for might be different.

[jim]

I just feign idiocy when I ring help desks, I find it makes life much easier.

[Behemoth]

I just feign idiocy when I ring help desks, I find it makes life much easier.

I find it makes no difference at all !

I had to phone plus net for someone once and all because the documentation supplied with their router was about as much help as a choclate tea pot in the respect that the user name printed in the documents was different to what the chap at plus net told me he was.

That said they were one of the better ones I've phoned, Pipex on the other hand lets just say they had me on the phone once for 1 hour trying to tell me the problem was my browser settings, nothing to do with the connection at all.

It turned out to be a nerfed phone line.

[kopite]

It depends which isp you are going for.

I`m biased as I work for zen but Our support are expected to know what they are talking about and dont follow scripts. They also wont patronise people who know what they are talking about.

I`ve dealt with Sky before and their 1st and 2nd line support where awful. I knew what the fault was before I even rang them yet they wouldnt listen to me and decided that the best way to fix a high open fault was by lowering the speeds.

I`ve also worked for Carphone warehouse as part of their talk talk business team and was depressed at the level of incompetency amongst the rest of the team and management.