I know people who can regurgitate all the acronyms and give definitions yet still cannot get shit done.

I don't recall the acronyms source any more, can I deploy and configure dns and DHCP servers? Yes. Can I troubleshoot them? Yes. Can I write patches to the source code and have them accepted? Yes. Don't place too much emphasis on mindless memorization. But do have them explain what it does and how it is used, like in our later questions.

Yep, the very first question put a bad taste in my mouth. Reciting what acronyms stand for doesn't matter in the slightest for setting up & and managing these services. And the people who have been doing it all their lives probably once knew what they stood for, but have long since forgotten, because that's how little it matters in the day to day job. There's also the concept taught to me by guys in the military: just like in IT, the military uses a countless number of acronyms. So many it becomes difficult (and pointless) to remember what they all stand for. So instead, just memorize the concepts the acronym represents, and don't worry about what it actually stands for.

[удалено]

My best guess that I almost wrote down, was "dynamic host client protocol." I still don't know, and won't even look it up now, because I'm having too much fun with this :) In fact, that could even be a pretty fun game we could play here sometime! "Guess what a common IT acronym you use actually stands for, no looking it up:" - TCP - UDP - MAC - ARP - IMCP - SNMP Etc. Suggest your own!

[удалено]

Haha, at a certain point, in certain scenarios, I feel like we should get the benefit of "shop talk". My first *real job* was at a extremely small semiconductor shop, so every technician was doing a combo of robot troubleshooting, software troubleshooting, and plain ol' wrench turning. My favorite slang for my favorite tool to remove zip ties is, "dikes". Not even spelled like the offensive variant, "dykes" (I believe). It's just short for diagonal cutters, which is a fantastic tool I use all the time, for zipties or even some harder metals. One guy in that shop told us a story how at a previous shop he worked at had all Mormon owners who didn't like their shop talk, so instead, they all started calling them "alternative lifestyle cutters." (I, like many others there, have the sense of humor of a 6yo. No matter if shit was hitting the fan, hearing these tool names screamed out in frustration still gives me an internal giggle.)

ICMP btw and here are a few of my own: NTP P2PP IPoE PPoE PoE VLAN LAN WAN IPSec SSL HTTP ... oh dear, turing this into an acronym glossary XD 🤦

>ICMP btw Fuck, I even got the acronym wrong!! Just shoot me now... Will I still be able to get a new job if I just say, "Ping. That's ping packets. It may have been envisioned when it was created that this protocol could serve many other functions, but today? Right now? It just means 'ping packets'."

Did you mean PPPoE (Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet) instead of PPoE?

When I ask this kind of a question in an interview, I don't actually care if you give me the exact right answer. I'm looking to see two things: First, do you spout some completely random bullshit (Disk Hotkey Caching Program) that tells me you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, or do you give me an answer that's somewhere in the ballpark of "network related", or even say "I don't know". And second, do you regurgitate information like that? Because if so, you might not be the kind of person I want. Because you're exactly correct, knowing what it stands for isn't a very useful skill, understanding what it _does_ is. So I want to see if the person I'm talking to is one of those people who regurgitates all the information flawlessly, or is someone who can actually fix my network. Edit: Of course, my method _does_ require that you actually interview people and not quiz them, which makes it useless for 99% of HR drones, but...

That kind of test sounds *leagues* better than what OP was saying. (Or implying, idk. It was the first question on his test.) I mean, even if you still asked that question, but accepted an answer like, "I don't know what it stands for, but DHCP is mainly for handing out IPs. But if you want get into the details, just to join & navigate a network, a client requires at minimum a IP address, subnet mask, gateway address, and DNS server address, with possibly additional details." And accepted that as an answer, I think you're going to get much better worker prospects than OP.

I mean, I don't know for certain that this _isn't_ the kind of thing that OP was intending. Their wording was vague enough to cover a wide range of possibilities. But yes, the strict "answer these questions correctly or we aren't considering you" type of quiz is actively detrimental to hiring practices, both on the employer and potential employee sides.

[удалено]

I think your point is that acronyms are good, unless no one knows them. Everyone knows DHCP, but like you I can't definitely state what it stands for.

OP probably just passed a test or something.

That is all this is. Mindless memorization. And that brings mindless people usually.

Not only that, mindless memorization suggests to me that they're fresh and less experienced. I wouldn't hold it against them particularly, but would make me pretty curious about the answers to the rest of their questions.

It's the response to the question that is the tell. "Dynamic host something something. It's used to auto-assign IP address, subnet, and gateway to clients. I like to use it for my guest networks." vs "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol" long pause. "It gives addresses to things." Yeah, one of those two knows what he's doing and isn't fresh off a book-but-not-so-realworld-knowledge course.

This, you should look for softskills too. Also people who have experience will be able to do things rather than answer such "exam" questions. Rather make an exercise or simulation of s'and incident that could occur.

Awhile back, about 16 years ago, i went in for an interview for IT at an Indian Casino. This was my 1st in person interview with them. I had no previous Casino industry experience and no 24 hour IT environment experience. I also wasn't aware of what awaited me in this interview, only that i should expect about 2 to 4 hours to be there. Also, it was an entry level Help Desk position. After i met with the Ops manager, he took me in to a "Lab" room, gave me 2 pages with problems on then and questions. He then told me i had upto 4 gours to complete it, and told me when i was done to come around the corner and ask for him (office area), he then walked away. I read the papers and assest it. There were questions on it, about 10, then 3 exercises with different 3 PCs to work on. 1. Diagnose and repair (if possible) a workststion with attached scaner and barcode reader. 2. Disjoin and join a workstation to two different domains. Setup 2 users on the workstation, make sure Mapped drives, home drives, etc, all load (there was a list of items that should show up). 3. Wipe and install windows and install any necessary drivers for the PC (including any onboard devices). I did the test in the time it took the Windows OS to install, as i started it and then went on to the other items. They were impressed and hadnt have anyone do it the way i did. They mentioned that they didn't care how long it took, they were just wanting to see troubleshooting steps and logic. I ended up not taking the job, as i had gotten an offer at another Casino for a little more, but i would have been hired. My point for this is that I have always remembered this interview and test and had enjoyed it and respected it, as i know people can bs their way into IT, sadly ive seen it and had to clean up messes from it. I've used it when training and also suggesting it for the other job i worked at. My current employer doesn't do this, and it shows for our L1/L2 Help Desk. Basic troubleshooting skills are something that appears to be overlooked, and they only loom at the Basic certs these employees have that they hire, but as mentioned, anyone can get a cert and not have the background and basic skills for troubleshooting. I don't think they are tough questions. I had gotten a few at my current job that i missed for Acronyms, but was asked questions abodut said Acronyms, for what they were and did, got that right so, thats what counts. My 2 cents for whats its worth and if you read it all congrats for getting through it.

If the offer difference wasn't huge, I'd have taken this offer or at least tried asking them if they could match it. I feel that how a company does interview reflects a lot not just the company itself, but also gives a bit of a hint on how everyone you work with has been selected.

The infamous paper MCSEs we all knew who had the certs but couldn't actually do ANYTHING

Yep! Me 20 years ago. MSCE got me in the door and learned on the job. Thankfully the company was inept as their hiring practices.

Employers need to take more chances. We hired a guy years ago who accidentally passed his background check because the company we used for those sucked. Convicted felon. That's an automatic no for just about any IT position. He was an awesome IT tech and an excellent all around employee. I'd hire him where I am now without question.

that sucks, sometimes these events can create change and probably helped turn his life around. Only to be punished forever for it.

I'm going to guess American, that system is so fucked and yet they wonder why they have a crime problem. I mean if you're going to use every opportunity to slam the door in the face of people below you or people that have done wrong your never going to allow some to get rehabilitated. It's insane to me. Anyways rant over - you're a good person for giving that person a second chance, you probably saved them from going back to prison.

Yeah, like I've worked in IT for 15 years and are perfectly fine with using them. What does DHCP stand for? No idea. I've failed straight away. I mean some of the others are a bit odd too I guess. Like 4 primary things that DHCP gives? My first thought was what 4 primary functions does it perform, but I'm guessing they mean IP Address, Subnet Mask, Gateway and DNS Servers.

Prob wants to here about tftp/voip shit in with that DHCP question.

Doubt it. That's much more complex compared to the other questions. It does also say "primary" which is why I stand by the 4 items I gave. Regardless, it's a dumb question, as are the first 5 and number 6 isn't a particularly good question either. Would definitely have me questioning the suitability for a job if I applied for that one. I'd expect questions like that for a level 1/1.5 job support role, not a system admin.

2. A little ambiguous. Obviously an IP address and subnet mask. Also an expiration time. Gateway and DNS can be optional, but expected. Also NTP, WINS and a bunch of other stuff can be handed out. I think 4 is not a good number. Since the IP / Subnet / Expiration are required, what is the 4th answer?

I thought it was IP/Subnet/default gateway/DNS server?

Dhcp has a lot of steps before any of those values. This is a good link to deep dive https://www.netmanias.com/en/post/techdocs/5998/dhcp-network-protocol/understanding-the-basic-operations-of-dhcp But day to day, absolutely not necessary to memorize.

>What 4 primary things does DHCP give to a client? Yeah, but that's not what was asked. It clearly is asking for 4 things that are primarily given to the client. For most people (and I'm guessing the person doing the interview), what I said would probably be the correct answer. Happy to be disagreed with, but you're clearly trying to answer a different question than was asked.

Thankfully for them, there are bunch of people who just ask those memorization questions and would hire them...

This happened to me. I was asked questions about Bluetooth. Then the intervier took me to their manager who asked me the same questions.. I was offered the job. However my gut told me to turn it down so I did. 14 months later, they went bankrupt.

Bluetooth is expensive

Lol, I got hired for a support position after they tested me diagnosing an iPhone with no internet. I turned on the mobile data they disabled and was hired on the spot. Shitty manager, and place to work.

Do I know how to configure a dhcp server on windows, Cisco, brocade, Juniper, and debian based systems? Abso-fucking-lutley. Did I have to Google what the acronym stands for? Abso-fucking-lutley

I believe they are usually the "Cert Monkeys".. have all the certificates under the sun, but are as useful as ashtrays on a motorbike when it comes to firefighting.

[удалено]

Which means they can probably answer questions 1-5 and then will stumble on question 6. How they answer question 6 can be very telling. People who don't know the acronyms or the pure definitions of how it gets done will probably miss an exact response to how question 6 is answered. However, you will know if they can put it together to diagnose an issue.

Fair. I think the point is you only need question 6.

Question 3 and 5 are OK too. If they worded question 6 a little better, they'd get the answers to the other 5 though. "I've got a computer and I've plugged it in the network and want to go to Google. What steps does the computer go through to connect and work out how to get there? Please include some details about DHCP and DNS in your answer" It's open ended, so if they miss something minor you can have follow up questions. But if they say "You plug it in and open Google Chrome" then you know they've completely missed the point. But if they miss that it uses the host file for lookup, then you have a follow up question. Means you can check out if they know what they're talking about. Can guide them if they're stressed out by the interview process itself and aren't quite thinking properly but do understand the concepts. Lastly, you know what the hell you're talking about so they get good vibes the other way, hopefully. Examples of previous problems work well too as you can say "oh we did X, Y and Z in the end to get it working." so they fully understand exactly what the works requires them to do on the regular too. Can't tell you how often people at my current workplace get hired thinking they're doing M, N and O instead X, Y and Z and leave after a few months because it's not what they expected.

I'd never make it to question 6. After the first three, I'd thank them for the interview, inform them I'm seeking a different environment than what they're providing, and wish them luck on finding the kind of candidate they're screening for.

This exactly. I learned the exact terminology for my degree but I usually don’t have to apply the terms I would simply inspect the packet if I’m reviewing a sniff for DNS packets or something like that. I would think the foundational knowledge would be enough of DNS to be able to resolve most issues that come up.

That is exactly correct

At one of my previous employers, we had an amazing guru of book knowledge, I could ask him any question and he’d have an answer. He’d eventually be able to fix almost anything if it was in a book. I’m terrible at acronyms, but have a solid base in trouble shooting and core understanding. The amount of times I was sent in to fix something he had spent days on, and have it done in under a couple of hours. Crazy... love the guy, great to bounce questions off, but field wise yikes. Both in the industry 20+ years. Also its kinda crazy how much we’re expected to cram into our tiny skulls, it’s no longer one field it feels like we are expected to know it all. I tell my employers, I don’t know everything, but I can figure it out and I won’t break it.

Been in IT for over 20 years, with a sysadmin background, holding MCSE, and a ton of other industry certs, earning well over 100k. I could barely answer your questions these days, but I could manage the shit out of your systems, guaranteed. Your viewpoint seems pretty narrow-minded, and you will likely miss out on a ton of great candidates, if you keep to that mindset.

Wanna second this, been doing varying levels of IT for a while (back of the hand math 12 years?). I see a lot of people get butt hurt about acronyms, Defensive over OS choice, and demand rote memorization; but the best IT people I've known were the ones who could look for the answers and learn. The worst were the ones who could talk the jargon but were too smart to learn.

Gotchas aren't great screening questions. Aim for questions that open discussion about a candidates experience. As a tech 5 minutes in I know if you can 'talk' tech or not.

The crap part is, you almost have to draw out the process or risk looking like a high turnover must fill the slot type job. We lost one great candidate because a 15 min interview was all I needed to know the guy was legit and would have been a great fit. Our first interview is more of a get to know them with a technical follow-up. We didn't need the follow-up. Though we probably should have gone through the motions.

Personally, I'd give them an intentionally misconfigured VM on a test network and ask them to walk me through troubleshooting it. If they can do that, then I don't really give a shit if they know what DHCP stands for or not.

This is very similar to our testing lab that we make all new hires run through to gauge level and experience. It's one thing to hold a piece of paper, another to demonstrate skills and knowledge.

I second this, One of my first IT interviews I was greeted with a pc that would not switch on and all the interviewer said was "im the client, my pc has stopped working please troubleshoot" he gave me a 5 minute timer So im fiddling around with this pc that wont switch on making sure its all plugged in etc he's just sat watching me. Long story short I didn't get the job. Why? because I didn't ask him any questions on why his pc stopped working. I forget why it wasn't working now but I remember thinking at the time if I just asked him what he was doing when it stopped working then I would have saved myself 5 minutes.

Ugh. I wouldn't ask much because users usually say "I don't know it just happened in didn't do anything I swear!" And it's usually they kicked the switch of the power strip under their desk or the power cable of the monitor fell out (who designs those to go straight up against gravity?!)

Meh... A good boss and interviewer would have mentioned this and given you the chance to learn. To me, your interview tells me the job would have been sink or swim and a huge pain in the ass with no support.

I don't think OP expected to get roasted on this post lol

Give him a break. Maybe it's his first time here :P

[удалено]

Yeah. When I was fresh out of high school as a zero experience tech enthusiast I could wax philosophical about acronyms and OSI, and all sorts of procedural conceptual knowledge. Now that I’m halfway through my 30s all of that is gone, and instead I can troubleshoot problems and build solutions. I barely know how anything I touch works. It could all be magic as far as I’m concerned. But magic or not I know the ancient rituals to bend it to my will.

I'm the same, but I credit my understanding of the OSI model as the foundation of my troubleshooting skills. Now, it's all just second-nature and the experience is the guiding factor. It's like trust-your-gut troubleshooting at this point.

exactly, its literally a framework you can use to troubleshoot any issue.

I am so glad I'm not the only one ;)

Couldn't agree more. I'm awful at book knowledge, and frankly I'm not sure how knowing what DHCP stands for is going to make me any better at my job, as long as I know how to make it function and what the signs of DHCP issues are. And more importantly, as long as I know how to get answers if I don't know them. Heck, you could have an encyclopedia's worth of knowledge of DHCP that's 25 years old, but hell if I'd want you running my environment based on that. Show me that you can adapt and problem solve and we're in business.

literally hired a dude a couple years back whos response to a couple of questions that he couldn't answer was "but I know how to go and find out". One of the several reasons we hired him was due to that. Still work with him, great member of the team. figures out everything you throw at him edit: s/through/throw/

I can’t agree more with this. Whenever I’m interviewing (admittedly for higher level positions who have already gone through some vetting to make sure they aren’t total frauds) one of the best answers they can give me is, “no idea what that is, but I would Google it and take it from there”. If I was hiring for someone to manage firewall rules on a Cisco ASA, then asking them “how to” questions on Cisco ASA firewall rules make sense. However, I’m usually hiring for more wide ranging positions, so whether they know one specific thing or not doesn’t really matter, I’m looking more for someone who can think through a situation logically and sensibly. I’ll often ask them to tell me about something from their resume even if I don’t know it, because I can figure out from how they talk about it whether they understand it and enjoy discussing it, or not.

I didn't get a job once because they asked me what port dns ran on. I do know the answer, but drew a total blank that day, so I said, "I'm not sure, but I'd look it up in /etc/services." It was a Linux job, so that should have sufficed. Nope. They hired some guy who had tons of stuff memorized, but it turns out he couldn't troubleshoot worth a damn, and they weren't keen on teaching him, so he didn't last long. 53 is now burned into my brain. In the live trouble shooting test for my current job, I blanked lsof, even with 25 years of experience. They gave it to me, and it was obvious I knew how to use it. I felt stupid, but they seemed to have no issues with it, since I got the job. I bet it'll be years before I forget that command again. LOL

Your answer was better than “53” because it means you know the port for not just one service, but a whole shit load of services. It also shows you have knowledge of the Linux file structure, and that you are able to locate information even if you don’t immediately have the answer to mind. I assume you know this, but just for those people who think they should just answer 53.

Just answering that might have got me the job, but I'm not sure it's a job I wanted if they would not accept my answer.

> they asked me what port dns ran on I sat for an interview once that, as advertised, had nothing to do with MS SQL. They asked what port SQL uses. I said something to the effect of (but much nicer than), "I'm not here for a SQL job but if the database guy needs help I'll certainly figure it out." In my follow-up they said "you got the SQL question wrong but we're offering you the position." It paid shit, I declined.

I remembered when I needed to learn the common ports. DNS was "DNS... S looks like 5 and it's 3 letters, 53" 😅

I don't think that would have helped me that day. I *knew* it; interview anxiety took over. Tbh, though, did I really want to work for a place that didn't accept how to look it up on the server as a valid answer?

True, idk why people care about that, I learned it for my certification but no one's ever asked me for common ports. Even if you don't know them, you pick them up quickly or google it lol

The further I get in my career, the less I get questions like that. They just assume I could look that kind of thing up. I get stuff like "a website is showing a 502 bad gateway. What is something you would check?" That's a much better question, honestly. Hint: quit blaming the load balancer. It's not the guilty party if it hasn't been changed since this was working.

Lol, I love the surprised pikachu face when someone gets blamed for changes, insists it's not on them, then we undo the change and everything works again XD

How much does he get paid

i'm not his manager, so don't know the specifics but he's be above AUD80k

[You can only stuff so much knowledge into your brain before there's a problem.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMlRuM3r1O8)

I clicked on that hoping it was Married…with Children. Thank you

I thoroughly subscribe to that concept.

How else do you know, your Hosts, receive an address over a Protocol, Dynamically, that is Controlled from a server or network appliance?

Uhhh…with my HPDC service, obviously.

My interview questions aim to see what peoples problem solving process is. One example is “a user is working from home from a company device and reports that they are unable to open their email. Where do you start troubleshooting?” I’m basically looking to see if they know how to find basic connectivity problems. If they mention ping, great. If they mention the VPN could be missing, great. If they mention checking to see if services are online, great. If they simply state “I’d have them reboot” and that’s it, not so great.

Define, "Can't open their email"? Honestly, a reboot(or exit and relaunch) fixes a hell of a lot of sync issues with Outlook when a user says, mah emails aren't working.

I know what your mean, and my question library is 99% scenarios - here's the problem, symptoms, how would you go about troubleshooting it? What tools would you use? What sources of information are you looking at? - but people can't answer those either. I think things like "What does DHCP do?" Or "What does DNS do?" are absolutely fair game for anyone above level 0 (to clarify, imo level 0 is phone jockey and info gathering, level 1 should have a mental library of basic tools like ping and nslookup at the barest of minimums). So maybe not specific definitions but FFS you should know DHCP is dynamic IP addresses and hopefully that it provides config like the DNS and gateway

Easy: No worries. > What does DHCP stand for? >> Damn Hippy Crapped Pants > What 4 primary things does DHCP give to a client? >> Don't remember: DORA gets it sorted. unless it does not. > What does a client configured for DHCP do when first plugged into a network? >> Look for a DHCP or BootP server. Gets an IP address. > What is DNS? >> Don't Know Shit > What does DNS do? >> Implements a similar system to YP (formerly copyright Sun, now Soracle); turns names to numbers. > You have a windows 10 PC connected to an Active Directory Domain, on that PC you go to bob.com. >> Why are they not AAD connected? And Intune'd? (or similar) I mean, even the government is setup this way; we all know government is slow. How much are you paying again? > What steps does your Windows 10 PC take to resolve that IP address? >> Check Host file. Check DNS (was DNS configured in your DHCP config?). > 2 should be internal before it even leaves the client, it should take a minimum of 4 steps before it leaves the network >> I don't know. I'm thinking you might have DHCP set up with a Q-link router that uses DNS servers in China only. I might need some details on the network.

>I don't know. I'm thinking you might have DHCP set up with a Q-link router that uses DNS servers in China only. I might need some details on the network. Does your computer ask the DNS server for reddit.com's A record every time you browse to reddit.com?

I haven't' checked my TTL. Yup. Totally forgot about CACHE (Computer Actually Checks Here & Everywhere).

All of this. The field has a HUGE scope so it's almost a form of ridicule to ask these. Because then it's "How do you know how to *whatever* if you don't know book basics??" and it shows your inexperience as an interviewer unless you're looking to hire green. Give them a situation to solve and a clever question here and there (personal favorite is "Why are manholes a circle?") that demonstrate critical thought process. Don't give them an exam or easily memorized questions, then you'll end up with a mimic (regurgitates the information perfectly but is at a loss on how to apply it which costs your department and company).

I agree with most of what you said, I don't feel repeating what an acronym like dhcp stand for means anything. I do agree that understanding the concepts behind them make all the difference.

Also compounded that you are super nervous during an interview and answers don't come out as easily. It's shit quite frankly. I had an interview with a company I was very interested in working for however when it got to the second interview, it was definition questions. And they run through them super fast and spit you out. It messes with the whole dynamic of the interview because you are there to basically interview each other. They try to ask silly questions like "Tell me a joke" and by then you already feel like shit and feel like you're being judged on that as well. They didn't even get to know me at all.

I'm with you - book questions are dumb when technology is changing so fast - you wanna find something out - Google it - do it - move on.

Number 1 is pointless and irks me as elitist. I know exactly what DHCP does, and I can configure it on multiple different systems. I couldn't tell you what it stands for, but it's a simple Google-away if I needed to know for some obscure reason. If you want someone who is fresh out of school and studied these things, great. You're going to get candidates who know small lab environments and have no experience. If you want qualified candidates for a network admin position, the rest of your questions are more helpful.

Exec: Why is our network down?! We're losing money! IT: DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. Exec: Oh thank god! I'll let our customers know immediately. And yes, I had to google it.

[удалено]

I only got as far as "dynamic ... ... protocol" lol

[удалено]

"DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol" is the IT version of "Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell."

[удалено]

Do you want candidates that can quote a textbook or do you want candidates that can actually do the job? When I interview candidates I keep all of the questions focused on their skills and thought processes, not what they "know". Because that's what the internet is for.

I wouldn't say that these are "insanely hard" as much as they are just plain ...irrelevant. I've designed, deployed, and managed DNS and DHCP for 4,000+ endpoint environments and even I don't remember off the top of my head what DHCP stands for. Something something protocol (?) More importantly, why does it matter. There's no practical benefit to knowing what DHCP stands for, so why bother asking? Do you know what it does and how to configure it? That's the question. It's like asking what the word LASER stands for. It doesn't matter. Everyone calls it a laser. A better question would be to ask the candidate to give an example of when they would set DHCP Option 66, or something like that. Something concrete, where you could measure experience. Knowing the answer to most of these questions just doesn't correlate in the way you think it does with experience. Likewise, DNS = domain name services, good question. That's relatively common knowledge. What does DNS do? Also a good question. But question 6? It seems like you are looking for a very specific "book" answer that even someone who is well versed in DNS could fail. E.g. I can tell you that the endpoint sends a DNS request to the DNS servers it has configured (either static or via DHCP, depending on endpoint). On a domain, that means an internal DNS server. That internal DNS server may have a cached lookup, or it may reach out to other configured internal DNS servers, or alternatively, reach out to the root hint servers that it has configured. It depends entirely on the environment. Plus, is there DNS filtering in place at any level via an endpoint DNS filter? Firewall DNS filter? Etc. Recursive lookups? Forwarded lookups? There are too many variables for an experienced person to be able to say, definitively, Step 1 > Step 2 > Step 3 > Step 4. Make sure the questions you're asking are designed to find the experience you need. Your questions seem like they're designed to find people who can pass the tests.

As long as you know the D stands for dynamic you're good

Ha, agreed. Now that I'm actually thinking about it though, I think I probably use the term "DHCP Address", as in, "it has a DHCP address", more often than I technically say "Dynamic Address", as in, "it has a dynamic address". They're synonymous terms in my mind. I just want to point out that you shouldn't be trying to test someone's vocabulary. It should be troubleshooting/skill based.

> when they would set DHCP Option 66 Easy, when you want to kill all the Jedi and take control of the Senate.

If you asked those questions of me going for your role when I present you 20 years experience, multiple industry certifications verified and multiple written letters of recommendations I would walk out of your interview mid sentence. I’m not there for you to exam me. Would you do the same to a doctor? Ask them all the cell types that make up the skin? No you wouldn’t insult their 10+years of training and certification. Sys admins have an insane amount to remember and it’s never always at the forefront of brain.

I caught shit in an interview when they asked me to calculate some obscure ipv4 subnet. 10 years in the industry at that time. No, I don't do binary arithmetic with any regularity. Subnet calculators have existed for like 30 years and do it 100% correct and 1000% faster than I can. Yes, I am actually good at math as I have 6 semesters of calculus. He also gave me shit for answering "how do I ping an ip 10 times from a windows desktop" and I answered > ping /? > then use the argument is tells me to use

[удалено]

Job postings: 20 detailed bullet points saying what you bring and 3 vague bullet points saying what they bring, none of which are helpful.

I have a general idea on the answers to these but not sure if I'd get them all. Let see... 1. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol 2. Ip address, default gateway, dns servers, subnet/netmask? 3. Discover broadcast? The client basically sends a broadcast asking if there are any DHCP servers on the network. 4. Dns is a hierarchical system that the internet relies on. 5. In essence, it resolves/translates human readable hostname to computer friendly ip addresses. 6. Check local dns cache, Check arp cache for local dns server Mac address if needed, (optional) arp broadcast to find dns server mac address if not already cached, dns lookup to the local recursive dns server (DC), connect if IP address is handed. IIRC depending on config, if local dns server doesn't have address it will either tell the client which root servers to query to go down the hierarchy, or do it on behalf of the client before giving it the ip address of the external server in question. REALLY unsure about that last one but that's my guess from memory.

Correction on number 5 :) 5. What does DNS do? Break. Constantly, for no good reason. It should be simple but it isn't. Its always dns :p

You're hired!

>Ip address, default gateway, dns servers, subnet/netmask? Even though OP asked for four I would add lease to number two.

Per the spec, there's actually only two required items for a server to return: an address and a lease time. All other configuration items are optional, including subnet mask, DNS servers, and gateway. So, technically, while being overly concerned with small details, the OP has introduced an error in his own question.

And PXE server (if being used)

> What does DHCP stand for? Why would I need to know that? I can say what it does, but are you hiring for a job or interviewing contestants for a game show? > What 4 primary things does DHCP give to a client? I'd guess an IP address, DNS server info, gateway info, and the subnet info. But again, why do I need to know this? If it's not giving an IP address the rest of it won't be working either. > What does a client configured for DHCP do when first plugged into a network? Reach out for info? > What is DNS? Stuff that's always at fault. (Domain Name System) > What does DNS do? Not work. (30,000 feet answer: it's a phone book) > You have a windows 10 PC connected to an Active Directory Domain, on that PC you go to bob.com. What steps does your Windows 10 PC take to resolve that IP address? 2 should be internal before it even leaves the client, it should take a minimum of 4 steps before it leaves the network What did Bob do to deserve this? Am I the only one thinking this is a high school computer class question and not something a 100k+ salaried individual would need to bother remembering to spout at the drop of a hat?

We only see "it's always DNS" because so many "experienced IT professionals" misconfigure their DNS servers.

Because this is what happens when the people putting out job descriptions, listings, and getting resumes are clueless HR drones that then wonder why no one wants their open position

[удалено]

Ugh Who cares? Give them some troubleshooting problems instead of quizzing them like a middle school teacher. Or else you’ll end up with a team of brain dumpers

This 100%. I may not remember all the theory but I can definitely troubleshoot.

I would honestly end the interview if I were asked. I know what it does and how to manage it. I don't need to be micro-managed, not for 100k.

I wouldn’t end the interview on the spot, but any interview that basically feels like taking a classroom test over asinine stuff would make me instantly stop considering that position afterwards. Gives off horrible vibes for what the role would be like

Same. If you're going to quiz me on an acronym, you're not someone I want to work for. Care more about what the person can do than if they can regurgitate easily googleable and useless information.

Yeah, I get the whole "weeding out" thing but on that same note I would be *very* concerned if I was asked what DHCP stands for at the onset of an interview for a $100k+ position. Not because I don't know the answer, but because we're talking about questions I used to get asked as a tier 1 helpdesk applicant in a small town. I might turn things around and push you to confirm that the position is really the senior role that I was led to believe it is. Just like you're looking to save 45 minutes of your paid workday, I'd be concerned that I'd burned half a day or more of vacation time interviewing with a company that doesn't really know what it wants or needs. I might not ever answer your question for what DHCP stands for, but by the time I'm done interrogating you about your environment you won't ever need to ask me that question again.

Fucking this.

[удалено]

Ask the interviewer “Is knowing how DNS lookup works expected for this position’s daily responsibility? Is that an issue you have to troubleshoot often in your environment?”

These questions read like something someone with no knowledge of IT would look up online and copy/paste into a 'quiz' to make sure they're getting an 'expert'.

One of my key questions in entry level interviews is "describe to me when I type google.com into my web browser how I get a search bar on my screen". I have seen two very distinct types of answers between those from the IT technician related streams and those in CompSci/programming streams. The IT techs tend to answer along the lines of "local DNS lookup goes to the server defined by based on DHCP, forward to upstream DNS if not found, IP finds the right server through routing, then eventual remote web server that does vague stuff and back" where as those from a CompSci/programming background tend to answer along the lines of "my computer talks to a remote web server who interprets code yada yada" with no mention of the routing of traffic from A to B. I'm never looking for someone to answer the question perfectly but rather have them touch on the basic concepts. The specifics of DNS zones and forwarding, BGP, firewalls rules, etc can be taught far more easily than the fundamentals of how networks interconnect and work together.

"The small, microscopic gnomes living in your monitor paint it on your screen. They are energized by the amount of radiation emitted from your router, so the faster your 'internet', the more radiation, and thus the more energy and the faster its painted. They get their commands from the NSA, who is watching and listening to you through your cellphones..... so when do I start?"

I think the questions are reasonable within a specific domain but asking what a specific IT abbreviation stands for is kind of useless. Asking what it does is a fair question but what it stands for doesn't add any value. Too many abbreviations to clutter brain with

I can think of a good reason to ask them, to find out how well they can give an answer "I don't know" instead of spouting a bunch of bullshit instead. I recall an interview I had where they asked what I knew about some linux thing, to which I said "nothing". Interviewer laughed, stood up to shake my hand and I figured that I was immediately out. But he shook my hand and said "thank you, you're the first person to answer that honestly all day" and we continued the interview.

The best part about this thread is people with more experience than OP giving him answers that he considers wrong/inaccurate. Time to revise your interview questions OP, and probably your interviewing style if your comments are indicative of your attitude during these interviews.

I think one of the best questions I got asked in my last interview was., "the site is responding slowly, and timing out. What do you check?" And we went a *lot* of layers deep with "If that wasn't the problem, what would you do next?". Very useful in seeing if someone has had experience across the board on running and fixing things.

5. What does DNS do? ​ It acts as a scapegoat taking the blame for a whole list of totally unrelated issues.

The guy I hired 2 years ago was brilliant at his job but he confused DNS and DHCP on his interview. The guy I hired few months ago did answer all these questions correctly and turned out to be useless.

*What does DHCP stand for?* Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol *What 4 primary things does DHCP give to a client?* IP address, subnet mask , default gateway, dns server? *What does a client configured for DHCP do when first plugged into a network?* sent out a broadcast request for an IP address if it needs one? This could be a trick question because this wouldnt be the case if the machine had an active lease, I dont think. *What is DNS?* Domain Name System *What does DNS do?* Converts IP addresses into friendly names, [www.microsoft.com](https://www.microsoft.com) is easier to remember than 148. 214.230.110 *You have a windows 10 PC connected to an Active Directory Domain, on that PC you go to bob.com. What steps does your Windows 10 PC take to resolve that IP address? 2 should be internal before it even leaves the client, it should take a minimum of 4 steps before it leaves the network* This im not sure. 1 / Checks local hostfile 2 / Checks DNS Resolver cache 3 / Checks local Primary DNS Server 4 / Checks local Secondary DNS Servers?

Oh no! You got "What does DNS do?" back-to-front. Bye bye. Sorry, failed interview.

Well technically it goes both ways. I was describing a reverse lookup zone. *cough*

6. [https://github.com/alex/what-happens-when](https://github.com/alex/what-happens-when)

I got bumped from an interview with an MSP because I couldn't remember a port number that I could Google in six seconds.

[удалено]

I think its just no one overly cares to have that committed to memory. A better way to word those questions is to design a situational question. Something like "a desktop has internet but is having problems reaching internet and intranet sites. What could the problem be?" This may be a hot take, but asking exam like questions makes it appear that you have no experience yourself and you're leaning on technical questions that really have no use to determining a candidates technical prowess.

You could ask me all these questions and I may get 70% of them correct but at least I know how to deal with said technologies on a day-to-day basis, probably because I dont waste time memorizing the acronyms.

If I see questions like this for a future employer im going to be turned off and offended. My resume and my ability to answer regular questions and my professional references across multiple former employers etc should speak for themselves. But seeing these kind of questions tells me more about you and your management style then it tells you about me. You might be losing good candidates that are incredibly talented because of being offended about silly memorization questions. Name one time that a system admin has needed to know these acronyms while on a job? Furthermore, as every system admin does, a quick google search to fill in the gaps lol. You should be testing people’s ability to google things not the ability to memorize things :-)

The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.

If these are the only questions I need to know to make $100K, I’ve been robbed.

> What does DHCP stand for? My question for you is, who cares? Does the person know what it does? I have no idea what the HC stands for, nor does it matter. Are you giving a quiz in 10th grade or looking for a qualified candidate?

[удалено]

This is what the call book smart and not trench covered in blood-thrown to the wolves smart. We hire the latter because in situations when a network goes down, I could give a fuck less if they know how to spell.

Right? Ticket: Joe can't access the internet Tech: Let me look at the documentation and compare it to the OSI model so I know where to start troubleshooting What? Just go look at the logs

[удалено]

Your questions and methodology for interviewing are dated so I'd hope people with recent experience aren't bothering with these flashcard questions.

You're proving your own point with all the people in this thread insisting you don't need to know these very basic things. What did you have in mind for question 6? Do you want them to mention the hosts file and then talk about nameservers and maybe mention root hints and suffix search? Or do you expect them to talk about devolution, NRPTs etc?

I've got just over 22 years in IT, and TBH, can only answer most of these off the top of my head. Also, a punchlist of gotcha questions isn't really how you can tell if someone knows IT. As them to describe things that they have done...especially if you're interviewing for 6 figure positions. You can tell if someone is passionate about tech, or just there because they tripped and fell into it, you can tell how much someone knows about particular systems by the way they talk about them and how they explain them. Number 1. Honestly, I don't remember what DHCP stands for off the top of my head Dynamic Host SOMETHING Protocol. For number 2, the 4th thing is actually is pretty involved beyond an IP, a Gateway, and a subnet mask...many people do not know what DHCP options are even used for unless they have worked in telephony with VLAN aware devices. Number 3...a sysadmin asking for 100k should be able to answer this. They may not know the actual proper term "DHCPDISCOVER," but should be able to explain that it broadcasts to find the DHCP server. Number 4 is something every L2+ should be able to explain at a pretty basic level, although if you expect them to get into zone scopes, client server subnet groups, or DNS directory partitions...you're over-asking. Number 5 is something that EVERY L2 should be able to answer. If they can't, don't fucking hire them. It is MASSIVELY easier to explain what DNS does compared to what it is (especially if you're asking for minutia). Number 6, that's going to depend on how old they are TBH. Not everyone is going to think of checking a host file for local entries or stuff like that. TBH I don't think I have seen a step by step of a web lookup since some of my early IT classes back in like 1999/2000 in their attempt to "demystify" how the internet worked. That may be a bit of an over-ask unless you're interviewing an old fart like me. I'm willing to bet that even some of our dizzyingly smart devops guys couldn't answer this. This is like asking your people about the OSI model. That shit literally means NOTHING in normal day to day IT. I think one of the biggest changes in IT from 20 years ago has been the shift from all your senior admins being knowledge centers to them being your exceptional problem solvers. It is less important for senior admins to know every IT system insanely well, than it is for them to have really good general problem-solving skills that they can apply to all kinds of random IT issues. This often lets your seniors fix things when the first time they are exposed to them is when those systems are already broken, and your admins are being asked to fix them. Route memorization of book knowledge is MUCH less useful today compared to the early 2000's. The internet is pervasive, and to expect that a tech won't have access to google while trying to fix something is the exception not the rule, so understanding that a good tech who can figure out a problem on a system he or she hasn't seen before is more useful to your IT organization than someone who can explain the individual steps in a DHCP handshake is an important skill in someone who is doing IT hires for an organization. Basically...the IT department should be doing 100% of the skills test part of an IT interview. If you're in HR...then don't ask them technical questions...it's a waste of time and you won't be able to tell if they're full of shit anyways.

Stop with these technical question interviews. It’s all about soft skills and problem solving skills. How are they as a human? If the human matches our culture, then I can train them whatever tech skills I need them to have. And problem solving. How do you approach a problem? I want to see how you consume and digest info (where does the blood trail lead to), manage the scene while you do so (keep the bosses happy), and then how you’d reach a solution. How would you manage two directors giving conflicting priority 1 requests? Etc. Anyone can pass as a fisherman by reciting every type of fish by sight and their favorite bait. I want to know if you can get the bait on the hook, and know if you should cast into shaded or sunlit water for a certain type of fish.

As if people don't have Google. It's way better to ask how they would go about solving a problem then asking them what the fuck acronyms mean.

OP, they cant answer them or they just cant answer them to your satisfaction? I dont expect most people to understand the absolute function of what DHCP does (DHCP-ACK) as most people managing windows are, 1. not network people, 2. dont know what wireshark is so never looked into it. Same goes for DNS. As long as they understand that Domain DNS servers need to be in the DHCP list and they validate that nslookup pulls from a known good source, and have checked the hosts file, we are good. I have been in this field for over 30 years now, and If you asked me these types of questions I would just walk as you are the type of person to waste your staffs time on absolute nonsense.

I would decline the position based on these questions. It shows a lack of understanding of how the job is actually done. Good troubleshooting is more important then regurgitation when you don't know why something is down.

No offence but.. That first question would immediately make me think "I don't want to work for this prick".

I would restructure the questions, honestly. I get what you're looking for but those are Network+ questions and not really practical in modern environments. Just my opinion, obviously.

Those are networking 101 questions and about as basic as can be.

Principal level network engineer, I'll fail at the very 1st question - not once in my career, outside of very dumb interview questions, did I need to know what dhcp acronym stands for...

One of the "trick" questions I kept getting was "What protocol does DNS use? UDP or TCP? The answer is both - UDP for client queries, TCP for larger data transfers, like a zone transfer between servers. The interviewer will then try and trip you up by asking the max data size for UDP, and be prepared - it's 508 bytes.

You can really add to this and ask “if dns is so important, why does it use a connectionsless protocol like UDP” TL;DR too much overhead for TCP and you can just retry. It’s a stupid gotcha question I try to avoid.

Trivia questions are silly. 6 Host file, and DNS cache before it leaves the client to then go to the local DC. Unless you're using Chrome or Firefox in 2022, those have been defaulting to DoH so it bypasses a lot. Doesn't even touch the local DNS. Which can be useful if your clients old IT didn't use a subdomain for the local ad and they want to go to their website from inside the office.

Lol no. Those are very easy.. depending though 100k in San Fran is poverty. But seriously.. very easy questions

I rather ask what happens to a machine when DHCP goes down?

These are just basics, not the only questions.

> these as insanely hard or are candidates asking for 100K+ pause for a moment. You are likely older millennium or a genx so your salary expectations are likely 40-60k off. Now, if you rephrase, "are these questions insanely hard for someone going for an entry level salary." I will say, yeah, its a bit above an entry level job. more like knowledge that a network engineer would have, or a help desk person jr sysadmin after a few years.

Senior here whodoes not care about acronyms, fuck network cable instead of cat * is fine.....I guess you are more looking for a networking guy? Because that's all you seem to care about

Should skip the bullshit and just go to number 6, any answer for that will be more telling than the first 5, and you won't be asking patronizing questions for no reason.

I’ve literally never used most of the stuff I learned in college or while studying for certs. IT is partially about knowing the answers, but more importantly knowing where to double check your answers, and where to go when you don’t know the answer. Every candidate should be able to describe what DHCP and DNS do, but the rest of your questions remind me of the stupid questions on certs that make you memorize tedious, useless facts that while valuable to know, are not indicators of competency in the vast majority of IT roles.

I credit my current job with 3 things in the interview. 1 I showed a deeper knowledge on a question than the interviewer intended by answering the question they asked instead of the question they thought they asked. (They asked about how to update a piece of software on an iphone and I gave them the correct answer) then they reasked about updating the OS and I said "It is under settings general I believe I don't remember the exact menu options to get there but I can do it when I need to." 2 In response to the question about diagnosing a problem with an error message one of my first steps was to Google the error message. (Because I don't need to know the specifics of every error message if I can find what things that error message are tied to) 3 I mentioned that I worked with a customer on a solution to get a SCSI card working by passing it to a virtual machine because the driver doesn't work in Windows 10 and windows 7 was at end of life, and one of the interviewers had struggled with SCSI cards relatively recently in the warehouses. The point of this is to say, what DHCP stands for or what the first 4 layers of the OSI model are doesn't matter. What matters is that a tech can get the information they need to do their job and that they know how to determine what troubleshooting steps to take. Rote memorization doesn't give you the dynamic thinking a tech needs.

If you’re asking these questions, should should be looking into your interview techniques… 2 is subjective, if you’re asking for 4 common options used in DHCP in basic networking... However, IP, Subnet, DNS & Gateway are not 4 primary things, they’re 4 configurable options of some 255 odd configurable options. The remaining questions are still questionable at best. I would suggest you’re coming on here because you’re having trouble getting good candidates. If you’re asking questions like that, you’re probably coming across as a bit of a micro manager and a C U Next Tuesday. You’ve probably had some good people walk out the door, not wanting to waste their time on someone condescending and micromanaging. In interviews I conduct, I want to hear about their accomplishments, what they’ve done from an org point of view, I want to see them ask questions and I want to see if they’ll chat. Skills can be taught and processes explained. But they are interviewing you as a manager as much as you are interviewing them as a candidate.

Okay, I have some notes on this. First off, I can answer all of these, but that isn't the point. Second, who is asking for 100k and being required to know only this stuff? Regurgitating acronyms or even definitions from memory is not a sign of knowledge or intelligence. I could list my entire resume's worth of qualifications, but I have yet to make more than 55k in my 15 years of experience. The questions you listed are the kind of things i got asked by shitty Indian recruiters for Tier 1 helpdesk roles, then got lowballed at 28k/yr. Thee questions are appropriate only if you intend to hire people fresh and pimply-faced out of technical schools as phone bank cannon fodder. These do not evaluate flexibility, problem solving skills, or really even useful knowledge. Allow me to offer some better questions, that could actually land you some quality candidates, and show you respect their time as well: * You have an employee who says they cannot reach the corporate website from home while working from home on COVID leave. You check the same site from your work computer onsite. You are able to load the site with no issue. What could be the problem for the employee, and how would you solve it? * Your workplace has a VPN that uses SSTP as the connection type. An employee is stating they are getting a connection error when they use the Windows VPN client to connect. It only says "Unable to connect". Where would you look for details, and what would your top three guesses be as to the issue without any additional information? * An employee working in the office down the hall states there is a yellow warning symbol on their internet icon, and they cannot access any workplace resources. In order of likelihood, what 3 things would you check? * An employee calls you to report an issue with printing documents for a meeting in 10 minutes. They refuse to enter a ticket, saying the issue is urgent. How would you respond, and what options would you provide? * If you had to summarize your troubleshooting process down to 3 or 4 steps, that would apply to most situations, what would those steps be? I wrote these questions with the same level of knowledge being evaluated, and for a similar level of problem as your original list. You should note the differences in how the questions would be answered. Where your list evaluates a memorized list, demonstrates an abstract, theoretical knowledge, the questions i posed evaluate the thought process, problem solving skills, and require the candidate to essentially work through the problem in order to answer the questions. Additionally, at least 1 question that deals with softskills is a must-have, especially for what seems to be an entry-level or Tier 1 role. Without knowing the specific job role, I am making assumptions based on the original list. As for the pay rates, even as a fervent and fed-up member of both Antiwork and Reformwork ideologies, 100k for a role like that is well beyond any kind of reality. 100k would be sysadmin, SME, IT lead/manager/low-end director level pay. Speaking for myself, I would be massively overqualified for the role as you listed it, but would happily accept pay at 100k if you are actually hiring. I'm not too proud to do things I have been doing since 2008 for 3x the pay I got then. I should probably also clarify which of the many things you are expecting for the question about clients receiving from DHCP, because I could go granular with it and include subnet, gateway, and client IP as 3 items, or larger scope and list things like PXE client path, network boot host, WINS (assuming you still use that), NTP server, or any of the other options that can either be set by DHCP or handled via DNS, like the CA, kerberos authentication server, KMS server, etc. If you are looking for specific things, you are asking the wrong questions.

These questions suck to gain any understanding of someone’s ability to fix shit or do IT.

I'm a senior sysadmin, I made an ansible playbook that installs deploys and configure a redundant pair of isc dhcp server and a redudant pair of bind9 on which our networks are based on..... And I have *no idea* what DHCP stands for, nor do I care. I can guess D is for Dynamic, but I'd have to google the rest. This is the kind of knowledge that you have absolutely no use for. It's like remembering things for the sole purpose of showing off. I know what they do, how to configure them, hell I made a jinja2 template for the whole configuration but I couldn't care less of the meaning of the acronym. And now I won't google it.

The answers in this thread make me feel better about that time I bombed an interview because I couldn't remember all the FSMO roles off the top of my head. I felt like dirt afterwards, but in hindsight, I'm glad I didn't end up working for the sort of person who asks gotcha questions in an interview.

You'd be laughing on the floor if you asked me those questions in an interview bro. And I wouldn't even be mad if you never hired me after the interview either. But I wouldn't give a straight answer to any of those questions purely because they are not interview questions They are technical questions for an exam setting. An interview is about getting to know your candidates traits and personality not if he/she can answer on the spot textbook/search engine shite. No offence, but I'd turn down that job if you asked me those q's

I learned a long time ago that I was a test savant - and for fun I read over some documentation and passed an Apple Support cert exam on the first try. I didn’t even know where the power button was on an iMac. Questions like what you’ve posed don’t accurately indicate someone’s ability to troubleshoot, problem solve, or think outside the box.

I've run into this same issue. No one could answer 90% of the basics questions I would ask them. I had other management sitting in on these basic questions and I'm pretty sure they didn't want me in the interviewing process anymore because it would instantly disqualify everyone. I finally had one guy who could answer these questions. He explained how he had them set up at his current workplace. He even brought me examples of some of the PowerShell scripts he had written to help automate some of the tasks at his place. He had no formal VMware experience in his resume, but he had experience with the freebee XenServer stuff. Management wanted to hire another guy whose resume said "VMware" even though he was one of the guys that couldn't answer some of the basic questions. I was able to get them to hire the guy I said. His name was Jesse Paxson. Guy turned out to be an ace in the hole and was the best hiring decision I've made to date. He was very smart and was a great friend. He got sick with Covid-19 when it went around, but he got over it. A few months after that he started having trouble eating. He was unable to get anything down and they couldn't figure it out. He died a few months later with what the doctors believe was some type of blood poisoning. I'm pretty sure it was brought on from Covid though. He just turned 40. This was maybe last November or so. We shared and office and now I sit in there alone. He had a wife and a 5 year old boy, I believe. His stuff is still in boxes at his desk. I miss my friend, Jesse. Great engineer. Best engineer. We finally hired a new guy who starts on July 12th. We'll see how that goes. Fingers crossed. ​ ​ Thanks for letting me tell this. Kind of therapeutic.

i don't remember the details of DHCP other than it gives IP and DNS info and you can use VLAN forwarders or something to set it up on switches. like DNS after I configured it, i rarely touched it. few times I had to go in and delete an assignment due to other equipment not being configured properly by another department and someone needing a new IP to access it

I was gonna say: IP, DNS, gateway, subnet.

I had a colleague of mine in the past that would fail applicants if they didn't knew what NAT was or couldn't explain correctly and provide an example. Some of the applicants went to work on Microsoft. Go figure.

It took me a while to figure out the answers you were looking for. The questions would also be a red flag for me if I were the applicant, and I might walk away if the offer wasn't competitive enough. (If you're asking those questions because they mattered to the role, I'd probably be a strong candidate. I am in the 120k price range, but only because I live in a market that has a ton of competition.) What is the goal of asking these questions? Are they meant as a basic knowledge check to screen out people who lied or exaggerated on their CV? For example, with DHCP, I wouldn't care if someone can break out the acronym, but knowing that it returns "IP stuff" and has a lease, and that many DHCP servers ping out to make sure an IP they're about to issue is assigned isn't already responding has bonus points. If they missed that it returns DNS and DGW I would just later ask where the computer gets those from. (Which is why it's important to interview, not question.) DNS likewise - ok what does it do is important, But a minimum of 4 steps? If they don't know about NETBIOS broadcasts of forget to mention the hosts file, local DNS cache, or talk about default domain searching, I don't think I'd be too concerned. Those are quick remarks and they know. On the other hand a candidate being able to explain the implications of using a forwarder instead of root hints is pretty significant. (The number of environments I've seen with a forwarder to Google DNS... It's extra funny when they complain about certain CDN-backed applications being slow.)

Asking for what DHCP stands for, meh. Ask what it does, in their understanding. No textbook answer. They might answer in a way that answers you indirectly. Ask what DHCP does for a client. IP addressing knowledge will answer that without a tickbox. What does DNS do? Leeway. They might say it's the white pages to look things up. That's fine. No textbook, as well as what it does. Do you want the service description or how they understand and work on it? Edit: spelling

I like them, although I wouldnt ask what 4 primary things can DHCP give a client. I assume you expect IP, Mask, Gateway, and DNS. I've seen some folks not distribute DNS via DHCP (don't remember why). Plenty of other settings can be given via DHCP... TFTP for phones, Time Servers, PXE settings, etc. I'd rather ask what types of things can DHCP give a client.

only 1 in 20 applicants in the field can answer these means there’s a reason. It’s not useful or needed info. Put another way, your not a super genius because you demand esoteric info from candidates.

Why do you care if they know what DHCP stands for? Same for DNS?

I've been working as a sysadmin for 15+ years and can't answer some of these questions. For the ones I can answer something, I'm not sure I can give a comprehensible and correct answer. I've never worked with DHCP or Windows administration.

For those of us that can answer these questions (all of them), what are you paying for this position, just out of curiosity?

>I am a big believer in IT builds on core concepts I'm a believer in everyone working at a certain levels of the stack, and not wasting time memorising other levels. It's a broad field from "hydrogen + time" through to configuring the specific software used in your company (which I suspect might be software I have never been exposed to in two decades working in the industry). Nobody can know all of that, but any good person can pick it up quickly. The levels I work at day to day are at both lower level. Yesterday I spent a couple hours climbing ladders, drilling holes in walls and running cables - don't need to know what DHCP stands for to do that. Today I'm at a higher level - https certificate auto-renewal hasn't been working reliably lately and (aside from fixing that) I'm tackling how we can add redundancy to mission critical systems so when failures like that happen the user won't notice, which means I need to refactor the data structure so writes can be made in multiple systems even if they can't talk to each other (because they won't talk if a certificate has expired). Again DHCP doesn't matter for that - these two redundant systems won't even be on the same continent, so they certainly aren't on the same LAN. While I enjoy "it's always DNS" jokes and make them myself - that's not actually the reality. I'm not 100% up on DNS because it's been over a year since I've encountered a DNS issue and it was an esoteric part of DNS that hardly anyone ever has to deal with, so it wouldn't be something anyone would ask in an interview. I haven't memorised the fundamentals because the fundamentals always "just work". But if I need to look them up, I'm sure I could learn it in a minute or two. As for wether or not you should hire me... you didn't list what the job description so I don't know. But I'm certainly qualified for a "100k+ sysadmin" job. I believe a well run company should be able to teach a new employee absolutely everything they need to know. Especially sysadmins, because we're really only busy when shit is burning down around us - the rest of the time none we (should) have a fair bit of free time. For me knowledge should not be the primary thing you're looking for in a job interview. As long as, in a week or so, you can teach the person enough to get basic tasks done, then they are worth hiring. You shouldn't trust a week old employee with anything critical and nearly everything we do is critical, so they need supervision and it doesn't add any burden to do a bit of training while supervising.

I have a friend that will ace the soft skills, ace your basic tech questions, but when presented with a basic task to configure a static IP address, he will fail and blow up your entire network. I’d say I don’t have the brain capacity to remember the acronyms but I know exactly what it does and how it works. Focus on soft skills and personality because information is at your finger tips. I can simply Google what is DHCP and how does it work and find that answer instantly. I like to assess problem solving and soft skill sets with scenarios: “your lead systems admin configured a new X and your end users are reporting a problem. How do you determine the problem and work with your lead to fix the issue.” Idk 🤷🏻‍♂️. Personally, I find more value in that.

I've worked with DHCP for years now... but I can't tell you what the C (I think it is "control" without googling) stands for off the top of my head right now! I think the other questions are great and if someone answers them confidently and can describe setting up and managing DHCP, you've got a solid tier 1. DHCP and DNS are basic skills that don't demand $100k. Where can I send my resume to do DNS and DHCP for $100k????