[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: a question regarding resumes - Interview checklist supplement
Hi,
Since I compiled this list two years ago, I've been using this as a
script to run candidates through. It is very effective to have a "canned"
script of questions to lead both the candidate and yourself through the
process. There are plenty of other lists available, but since this is a very
"hot" topic these days, and only Leon has complained about the volume of
correspondence, here's MY 20 cents.
While Bill Bogstad and others can add to
BTW, I have yet to effectively incorporate the SysAdmin skill levels
(refer to http://www.usenix.org/sage/jobs/jobs-descriptions.html) in this
script, but I'm hoping for responses/contributions to this script which will
flesh out the "II. People Skills" section with "word problem" or "crisis
scenario" questions which are open ended and are more effective at teasing out
the problem solving abilities of the best candidates. Note this section is at
the bottom - not an accident. Most candidates don't get this far.
Interview Checklist
I. Operating Systems/System Administration :
Experience
How long ?
Size of site
- # users, # machines, # support staff
In what capacity ?
Hours ?
Flavors
BSD
SVR4
Hybrids
Differences
UNIX Filesystem
Inode
Superblock
fsck
Backup superblocks
NFS
Hard mount vs. soft mount
What does NFS use - UDP/TCP ?
Is NFS a stateful/stateless protocol ?
What is a stale NFS file handle ?
NIS
What is NIS ?
Difference between master/slave/client
How do you set up a new NIS slave ?
What format are the maps stored in ?
Any NIS+ experience ?
Automounter/amd
What is this used for ?
How does it work ?
bonus if the kernel "_namei" routine is mentioned
What are the kinds of maps ?
Paging & swapping
What is the difference ?
Command to check swap space
What are the ways to add more swap space ?
System startup and shutdown
Networking
inetd - services - inetd.conf
What happens when you send a HUP signal to inetd ?
UNIX command to list routes on a host
What protocol does the ping command used ?
How to add a default route ?
Mail
Name a few Mail User Agents
Name a few Mail Transfer Agents
POP vs IMAP
What is SMTP ? Which port ?
Configured sendmail ?
Name service
What is DNS ?
What protocl and port does DNS use ?
What are primary/secondary name servers?
Common problems
What is a zone transfer ?
What tools have you used to debug NS problems ?
What is an MX record ?
News - Configured news ? Which one ?
Worked with Ethernet, FDDI
What is a bridge ? A router ? A switch ?
Worked with network hardware
Cabling
Hubs
Routers
Terminal Servers
Programming/Scripting
C
perl
sh/sed/awk
bonus if chapter 49 of "UNIX Power Tools" is mentioned
Tcl/Tk
Regular Expression syntactic variations in tools
Any others ?
Any favorites - why ?
Define the use of every grep option in the Solaris 2.5.1
man page :-)
X
Managed an X-windows environment ?
Any programming ? What widget set did you use ?
Supported X-terminals ?
What is XDM ?
System Maintenance
Upgrades
File system layouts across different platforms
Software distribution - rdist
Manage system configuration files
Revision control
Modifying startup scripts
Logging - syslog configuration
Performance monitoring
SNMP
Troubleshooting
A user says that when they log in, all their X
clients start up, and then die and they get
kicked out.
A user has an account on two machines A and B.
When she tries to open an ftp connection from A to B,
after typing in her login and passwd, she gets kicked
out. But she can log in to machine B fine, and open
up ftp from B to A and transfer files OK.
Have you supported free software ?
How do you debug problems in the port process?
Security
How do you handle security at your site ?
cops/crack/tripwire installation and use ?
any commercial package ?
any other background like Kerberos, etc.
System Programming
Documentation
License Managers
Writing RFIs/RFPs
Other OSes - Windows, Mac
II. People Skills :
Any help-desk/front-line support
Describe the most difficult user you have handled
and how
How would you handle a *difficult* person on your
project ?
III. Project/People Management :
Capacity planning
Managing projects
Budgeting responsibility
Experience in hiring/interviewing, personnel evaluations.
Managing people
Vendor Contacts
--
=============================================================================
Michael Lavelle Project Manager, Systems & Network
Phone/Fax 847.632.7359/4552 Motorola CIG ITS