Speaker A
Yes, I was just embarrassed and left. What a twist! How to pass an interview for a system administrator position. What questions are most often asked? What should an employer see in a job candidate? And the offer. My name is Vladimir Olin. I used to apply for system administrator jobs myself, and for the last eight years, we have been hiring system administrators for our company, training them from scratch, and also selecting system administrators for other organizations. During this time, I have reviewed thousands of resumes and conducted hundreds of interviews. Today, I want to share my experience on how I understand whether a person is suitable for this position or not. What questions we ask in interviews and what answers we expect. This video will be useful for system administrators at any level, but it will be most useful for those who are just starting to work in this profession, because those who have already been through a sysadmin interview already know what to expect and what questions will be asked. But for beginners, nothing is known yet, so we will try to lift the veil of mystery for them and reduce the level of stress before their first interview so that they also understand what awaits them, and this video will be a good preparation for their interview. Subscribe, give a thumbs up; it gives us strength to write useful content and share experience in the system administrator profession. So, let's go! Interviews are stressful, and stress interferes with even stringing two words together, like during an exam. Have you ever had the experience where you seem to know everything, they ask you questions, and at that moment, you leave the exam and immediately remember everything? I have had that many times, and then you get angry that you worried for nothing and ruined it for yourself. I always envied those who don't have this because it seems easy for them, and strangely, they get the best positions and the salary they ask for. We also need to learn to reduce the level of stress, fear, and anxiety as much as possible, fortunately, this is possible. So, to reduce the level of stress, you need to reduce the significance of the whole procedure. Here is an important thought: the main thing to understand is that not only are you being chosen as an employee, but you are also choosing the company where you will work. Put yourself in the position of the company you want to join. They need an employee who will solve their problems, and you can help solve these problems. Now, they should appeal to you so that you want to help them. Second, if you are not offered a position after the first interview, it means nothing at all. You need to set a goal to go through at least 10 interviews with any result. Let them reject you many times; there is nothing wrong with that. The skill of passing interviews is just like any other skill, and it is also trained through practice. Third, there are many vacancies, and they are constantly available. Yes, of course, it depends on the region. Maybe in some village or small town where only you and the mayor have a computer, specialists are probably not in demand, and there are few vacancies, but there are probably no specialists there at all. The internet is not everywhere. They can have four vacancies, and where to apply? In reality, there are many more vacancies; you just don't see them all. Not all of them are on HeadHunter; there are many other platforms. So believe me, there are always enough vacancies; you just need to know where to look. In general, use the interview as a tool for your development. You come to the interview, they ask you questions, you can't answer them, you go home, study, practice, and act iteratively. This way, you will learn exactly what they ask. You know, when sales managers are taught not to be afraid of cold calls, they are told, "Make 10 calls and ask to be told off." After being told off 10 times and realizing that nothing really changed and nothing terrible happened, you stop fearing rejection and perceive it as normal. Then there is no stress during interviews, and instead of refusals, you start getting invitations, which is much nicer. We recorded a separate video on how to write a resume so that you get 10-20 invitations to interviews; it is on our channel. So, you have been invited to an interview. You go in good spirits, not afraid, to meet a potential employer. The first thing to do is prepare for the interview. Look at what kind of company it is, what they do, how big the company is, whether it is small or large, whether there are bad reviews somewhere, like if they scam people out of money, because this is also important for you. It is always a plus when a person prepares for an interview and comes knowing where they are going and what kind of company it is. Next, a simple, stupid, banal rule: do not be late. Nobody likes to wait unless, of course, you are applying to the Russian Post, where long queues of grandmothers are welcome to stand and discuss all the drug addicts and prostitutes in their entrances. Again, our field of work is responsible, and being late is an irresponsible act. Even if you are a triple super-mega professional, if no one knows when you will show up, nobody will tolerate you much. In general, if you arrive on time, you get a plus. Next, we will analyze common questions asked in interviews related to soft skills or personal qualities. Questions related to hard skills or technical skills will be covered in the next video. Also, I will leave a link in the description to download a checklist that you can use to check yourself before the interview, prepare, come, and conduct the interview as productively as possible. I also want to remind you that how you conduct the interview will affect not only whether you get the job or not but also the salary you will claim. Sometimes employers can really, if they like you, make you an offer slightly higher than what was written in the vacancy. This will depend on how charming you are, how correctly you answer, and how much the employer likes you. If you do this, you might get a salary at least 10,000 rubles more per month, which is 120,000 rubles a year, which might be enough for a vacation. So, the very first common question: "Tell me about yourself." And here everyone starts rambling immediately about kindergartens, schools, clubs, choir singing. In general, this is nonsense. Of course, the employer does not need this; you should not retell everything already written in your resume; the employer will read about it anyway. Also, you do not need to talk about sewing courses, playing the harmonica, or achievements in choir singing. This is all uninteresting because it does not relate to the vacancy. But what you definitely need to talk about is what relates specifically to your profession or your vacancy. For example, if it is a junior system administrator position, you can say, "I have been interested in computers since school. I assembled my first computer myself and configured it myself. I tinkered a lot with settings to increase its speed. I realized I could do this for hours, and I like it. I started studying free materials on the internet about system administration. I understand that I can bring the most benefit in the area that fascinates me, so I want my hobby to become my job." Here, we kill many birds with one stone. First, we show that we are motivated. Second, that we aim to bring maximum benefit. Third, that we already know something, that we figured it out ourselves without being forced. And plus, it relates to the profession. The second question: your strengths. Here is a rule: we talk about strengths only related specifically to this profession. For example, as I said, I like this profession, and I can understand a problem even if it takes time. I still try to find a solution and see the matter through to the end. If a problem arises, I try to solve not only its consequences but also find the cause, understand why it happened, and eliminate the cause so that the problem does not occur again. Here, you should find your own variant, something close to you, something you believe in yourself, and...
