Preparing for a Computer Related Job Interview

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Technical Know-How is the Key

We all know some or most resumes can sometimes show more than what applicants do actually know. As most applicants want to get their resumes noticed by head hunters, they try to put information that can easily be noticed, something that can get them called for an interview.
They show up for interviews hoping they can "hack" it. Would claim that they are at higher scale or level of knowledge- either it is sheer
hallucination or over confidence, much that in the end a lot of time is wasted- for both applicants and interviewers.

Here are some tips for IT job hunters to help prepare for that next IT job interview:

1) Write what you know: Never ever put more than what you know on your resume or highlight what you know the most. It will definitely show
during interviews if you know your stuff and you will only put yourself in an embarrassing situation if you cannot answer any question that
would refer to a particular subject matter you claim to know but you do not.

2) Paper licenses are just that: There is a lot of paper MCSE's (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers) out there. They are oftentimes
overly confident that after passing a series of exams and getting their license that they can go for the kill. Unfortunately, passing the
exams is one thing, knowing from actual hands-on and practical experiences is another. It shows when applicants are getting their answers
from white papers or brain dumps found on the internet, what they do not know is that most of these white papers are still being contested
by experienced engineers who constantly question what they think are not accurate. Furthermore, when these applicants are asked to explain
further, they get lost. A lot of these so called paper engineers only passed by attending boot camps that share cheat sheets downloaded from
the internet. Believe me they know. Even some of those cheat sheets have the wrong answers. Possibly coming from a vindictive
examinee that failed and wanted others to fail too. Know that not everything on the internet is true!

3) Be Honest - If you do not know UNIX or Linux, do not claim to know that you do. Interviewers would not ask you if they do not intend to
ask technical questions to prove that you really know what you are claiming to know. If you are honest, chances are the interviewer would
even give you a break or would go easy on you. The interviewer may divert to another software or program that you honestly know and would
find potential in you if they see that you can answer questions based on your actual experience and would even give you a chance since you
can show that you are trainable and trustworthy.

4) Review and practice "real world" scenarios: It helps when you are currently looking for an IT job to review and practice at home or in
the lab.

5) Do your research: Go to reputable internet sites to find the answers that can help you with real world scenarios.
Again, do not just rely on reading, back this research with your own experiment by applying it on a computer.

6) Do not be too Agressive/Over-Confident: If you are in front of a panel of high level engineers, it is wise to show some humbleness
alongside your self confidence. Cockiness would just trigger more difficult questions from the panel. Cockiness is a definite no-no.
You are just signing your own death sentence if you show this to the interviewers. Sometimes it is enjoyable for high level or hardcore
engineers who do these interviews to pin you down and bring you back to mother earth to "teach" you a lesson. If you are asked to rate
yourself from a level 1-10 (with 10 being the highest) do not claim to be an 8 if you are not. You are just inviting the vultures from
inside these engineers to come out! If you are really an 8, it is true that they will challenge your knowledge by asking questions more
of that level to see if you are what you claim to be, but if you come out victorious you will definitely receive a lot of praises.

7) Be professional: I think this is the same with other jobs not only with IT. Make sure to show professionalism, answer appropriately,
show respect, and be on time.

8) Find answers to questions you did not answer correctly: It is always good to take notes and learn from your past interviews. If there is
a particular question that you could not answer, make it a point to find the answers afterwards. You'll never know when you will come across
the same question again on your future interviews. There is an example where a manager of a company had one candidate that they interviewed who even called after and told them that he did some research and was able to find the answer. It showed them how resourceful that person is.he decided to hire that person for a lower level job and he is now doing great and will be promoted soon. Now don't get me wrong, that everbody will hire everyone who would go home and find answers then call them back...this person answered everything except that one. So that made the decision to hire not a bad decision at all. It made them choose him for his character compared to the one who answered everything but showed lack of professionalism. It was a case where choosing between two evils you choose the better of the two.

9) Avoid arguing and challenging the interviewers' knowledge: This is related to being too Agressive/Over Confident. Some interviewees would even question the interviewers and poke fun or insults at them. Remember, we also do our homework and it is backed by years and years of experience. I am not saying they are infallible, but they certainly would not ask questions that they are not 100% sure what the answers are.

10) Do not bring slips/cheat sheets: This is one of my favorite no-no's. Job applicants bringing cheat sheets during an actual interview and
trying to find answers while in the presence of interviewers. There is nothing worse than having someone in front of you scramble for answers
opening folders, flipping through pages of papers just to give an answer. Hardly believable? It has happened quite too many times not to be
true. Bottom line: BE PREPARED!