This week will be my last week at my present job doing 1st level tech support for network customers and NOC shifts at one of the larger ISP's in my country. Next week I start my new job doing 3rd level tech support at a company that specialises in Deep Packet Inspection (DPI). I wanted to share with you all the process I went through to get this job and also some of the questions I was asked.

Until now I obtained all my jobs by sending in my CV (resume), being interviewed by the department manager who would pull out a contract at the end of the interview and ask me to sign it there and then. To get my new job however was totally different - I filled out a questionaire, had 6 interviews, had a test and to top it off, all my referees were called (something that's never happened to me before).

I started by sending out my CV directly to many companies and also to placement agencies that specialise in IT.

My first interview was a phone interview from one of the placement agencies. I was asked many questions about my education and work experience and also about what I was looking for.

I was then called up by the HR dept of my new work and asked to come in for an interview. Before starting the interview I was asked to fill out a long questionaire, and I was then interviewed by an outsourced HR rep that they had brought in specially for the screening process. She must have thought I was the best thing that had ever happened since the invention of Negrita rum, because she insisted I meet with the department manager there and then.

The department manager was very evidently bewildered that he was being forced to interview someone before hearing and discussing the sumarries of all the candidates with the HR rep. Anyway he gave me a technical interview and asked me quite a few questions some of which you can see below.

The next morning I got a call saying that the division manager would like to meet me, so I came in the day after that and met her. She asked me a lot of questions about handling stress in the work place and prioritising a variety of different tasks. She too must have thought I was the best thing that had ever happened since the invention of Negrita rum, because she insisted I meet with the Director of HR there and then. Starting to sound familiar.  So I met with the Director of HR and we discussed all about my expected salary, perks, work conditions and evironment etc.

The morning after that I got a call saying that I must meet with the VP of IT too but he's at present overseas and will only be back a week later. In the mean time they asked me to come in and do a test which I did on a workstation and included technical networking questions and logical puzzles. It was also during this week that they contacted all my referees.

After a week I met with the VP of IT and he spent half the time telling me about his fun business trip overseas, about his grandchildren, and also that he grew up in the same town where I now live.  The other half of the interview was more technical, and I was asked to describe in detail complex technical problems that I'd solved. He also asked numerous questions about how I deal with problem escalation. It was also during this interview that he said that one of the reasons that I was there being interviewed by him was because he saw I had my CEH cert and he was curious to ask me questions about it, even though the job isn't directly related to security. So this is definitly the place to thank Don again for awarding me with a CEH study guide and a free voucher for the CEH exam as part of the monthly prizes here!!!

The VP then said that he'd decided that I was the person they were looking for and that he'd like to make me an offer. I waited in reception while they printed out my offer and I was most suprised when they presented it to me; Not only had I originally asked for nearly double my present salary, but there offer was even much higher than that, and it included a whole range of perks I never even asked for (and hadn't ever dreamed I'd get). Did I say thanks to Don yet?


The following is some of the questions I was asked in the technical interview;
1. How does DNS work? What happens when I type a URL such as www.google.com in the address bar and hit enter?
2. How does the Spanning Tree protocol work?
3. How does the TCP protocol handle network congestion?
4. Does a broadcast packet go through a switch?
5. Are you familiar with SIP, H.323, Megaco and other streaming protocols and configuring gatekeepers?
6. How can you configure a network so that the Bandwidth on the WAN is restricted to 2Mb/s, while leaving the LAN traffic at 100Mb/s?

Congrats on the new job!

Great insight and well done on getting it. :-D

Thank you all for your good wishes. My first day went just fine, mostly organizing my desk and installing important apps and stuff on my workstation. There was a whole entourage of people that came to welcome me including the VP who brought me some expensive chocolate and told me it was so I'd have a "sweet start". 

Thank you Don. Even though my job is not directly related to ethical hacking or penetration testing, my CEH cert helped me get my foot in the door, which makes all those months of studying for it all worth the while.

Some other things that I did during all this long process and haven't mentioned till now;
1. On my first interview I dressed up as smartly as possible to make a good first impression, but during the time I was in the office I payed special notice of how most of the people were dressed. On my following interviews I dressed up the same as them. This was to give them the feeling that I was "one of them" and that I fitted in well with the rest of the crew.
2. I paid a lot of attention to my body language - I didn't stare at my interviewers, but when I was talking or answering questions I made sure to look them directly in the eyes. I didn't slouch (I sat up straight) but I made out as though I was very relaxed, to give them the impression that I felt at home in their company.
3. I spoke as articulately and fluently as possible.
4. I was honest. If I didn't know something I was asked, I told them so.
5. I arrived exactly on time every time. I made sure to arrive in the area at least 15 - 30 minutes before hand, and with my remaining time I spent sitting in my car thinking about the 4 points I've just mentioned above or by reading something light.

Done.