Returning to IT (Career)

[Iain M]

Hey,

It's been a while since I've posted here! Check in quite often though...

I've been invited to an interview for an IT Admin position and was hoping for some interview tips or ideas of things to lookup?

I've not been in a dedicated IT role for about 10 years and am excited at the prospect of getting back into it

[Galant]

Hope it goes well for you.

Admin in what sort of environment/role/industry?

[Iain M]

Thanks Galant. It's at a college, and seems to be a general all-round IT role; technical support, configuring/installing business, server and database software.

[jimbouk]

Brush up on some behavioural questions and have some situations clear in your head for when you've done well, dealt with conflict, etc. I have a notebook with a list of one liners open during interviews which stops me panicking when they ask something non technical. STAR responses might help focus the response and stop rambling.

Tech wise, hopefully the job spec will point you towards the right tech stacks.

[virtuo]

If you'll be doing work with databases/data then brush up on GDPR - they'll love that if you can drop it in the interview.

[Zak33]

well hello stranger , nice to see you hanging out here

You know I can't give IT support advice.. but you COULD take a notepad out of your bag at the beginiing, but in doing so pull out:

A display port cable,
A DVI cable
A USB3.1c cable
3 or 4 USB Pen drives, all neatly labelled
A standard PSU kettle lead
AND a clover leaf lead/figure 8 lead . you choose.
A small roll of CAT7
A crimping tool
Some rj45 connectors
A cable tester
A dozen cable ties neatly secured in a jiffy bag
A photo of The Queen
A photo of Michael Gove, peppered with holes from a dart
A stapler, and some paper clips
Paracetemol/Neurofen/Aspirin

and a plug for a sink. This last one is a talking point.. make your own story up.

[Galant]

I have a couple of friends doing similar work in schools. They find the teachers quite pragmatic and friendly, but the funding can be issue - one guy in particular finds himself having 'stretch' solutions to maintain older kit etc.

I don't recall either of them mentioning any particularly unique or challenging aspect to it (except the creative, flexibility some times required), and they both seem to enjoy it as a place to work. The environments can vary quite a bit though.

Might be worth trying to get an idea of exactly what sort of environment you'll be entering - is it relatively 'well-kept' or more of a case of 'wild kingdom', so to speak?

[AGTDenton]

Have a butchers at the latest A+ / Network+ / Security+ books/ebooks
Not because you don't know it, but because practices change.
Just as a basic example, 10 years ago you'd have had antivirus software installed on your server feeding any connected devices, an admin would have to maintain the software versions and definition updates distributing those to the clients. Now you would typically have the cloud feeding all your devices. Similarly with Emails few schools & colleges want to invest time & money hosting their own Exchange or Linux equivalent, many are shifting to cloud Email management.

[rich835]

Traditional IT is sadly diminishing. Everything is going Cloud, usually with Office 365 and Azure.
I've had to make this transition myself, I really do miss the old days. It's all meetings and project plans, would love to roll my sleeves up again, slap some servers in a rack and build an Exchange cluster. The job is boring compared to the old days, but fortunately still pays well :-)

[Iain M]

Thanks for all the responses guys, they're exactly what I needed now I don't feel like I'm going in blind! <3

[Iain M]

Not long back from the interview, think it went well although there are a couple of things I could have expanded on. I'll hear back by the end of next week

[Zak33]

We keep our fingers crossed

[cheesemp]

Good luck!

[Iain M]

I got the job!

[Disturbedguy]

Congrats!!

Now comes the "I'm typing my password in correctly, but it says its wrong. I know what my password is!!"

[Iain M]

Congrats!!

Now comes the "I'm typing my password in correctly, but it says its wrong. I know what my password is!!"

Cheers! Yeah back to all that haha