Ah, the technical interview. Nothing like it. Not only does it cause anxiety, but it causes anxiety for several different reasons. How many people will be asking questions? From experience I can tell you there�s nothing like walking into a room and seeing nine people on the other side of the table. Second, what will you be asked? You�ll sometimes hear people say the questions they were asked in a technical interview were �easy�, which translated means �they asked me stuff I happened to know�. Sometimes you�ll hear people say the questions were �hard�, which translated means �they asked me stuff I didn�t know�, or �they asked me about stuff I�ve never even heard of�. Having been on both sides of the technical interview table, I�d like to share some tips for those being interviewed. In doing so, I�ll share some of the more memorable interviews I�ve been involved in. No good interviewer expects you to know everything. The problem is, you�re not always going to be interviewed by someone who�s good at it. Sometimes, the person who�s giving you a technical interview was asked to do it about ten minutes before you showed up. Maybe they�ve never interviewed anyone before, or maybe they�re just in a bad mood. I�ve heard of technical interviewers where the interviewer derided an answer, and that�s totally unprofessional. I�ve had many a job candidate give a bad answer to a question, and my only response was silence followed by moving on to the next question. If your interviewer mocks any of your answers, you didn�t want to work there anyway. None of us know everything. If you�re asked a question you just don�t know the answer to, don�t try to BS your way past it. This is a good opportunity to tell the interviewer how you would research that particular question. It�s not about knowing everything, it�s about being able to find out anything. If your interviewer acts like he/she already dislikes you, that�s because they do. I once worked with a technician who felt threatened by anyone who applied for a job there, but especially if the applicant had a professional certification and then had the nerve to know what they were doing. This technician participated in a group technical interview where the applicant was an incredibly bright guy, and had a particular skill that the department really needed. Problem was, the technician considered himself �the man� when it came to that skill. Recipe for disaster, right? The applicant fielded four questions from the rest of us flawlessly, then faced this particular tech for a question. The threatened tech had a list of questions for the interview, but decided to ad lib. Big mistake. He asked a convoluted question that Rube Goldberg would have been proud of. When he was done, the applicant answered: �You can�t do what you just described.� The tech started defending his question, and it became obvious that he hadn�t been able to follow his own question! The interview went into a bit of a meltdown from there. Realize right now that there are some unprofessional people out there giving technical interviews. Be prepared for it, but remain professional yourself. Be prepared for a practical technical interview. The best technical interviewers find a way to get you in front of the technology you�ll be working with. A great way to quickly find out whether you know what you�re talking about is to ask you to actually perform common and perhaps some not-so-common tasks. We can talk about technology and take all the computer-based exams we want, but it all comes down to performance. Be prepared to prove you belong on your interview day. Be professional. This covers a lot of ground, so let me make a quick list for you. Show up 15 minutes early. Nothing makes a technical interviewer more surly than waiting for the applicant. Dress for success. The way you look when you walk into a room leads to your interviewer�s first impression of you. Don�t chew gum during the interview. Don�t be arrogant. Look, there�s nothing wrong with having an ego and acting confident. I do, and you should. But don�t come into the interview room acting like you�re too good to be there. Finally, relax. Easy to say, hard to do? Not really. Realize that the majority of interviewers you�ll ever meet are going to be professional about the entire thing. The world�s not going to end if you miss a question. If you were not qualified on paper for the job, you wouldn�t be in there. Do not look upon the interview as something negative. Rather, look at it as an opportunity to prove you know what you�re talking about. With the proper mental attitude, your technical interview will be a springboard to the next step in your career! Chris Bryant CCIE � #12933 ____________________________________________
