Information Technology Executive

This is a big picture question, and the trends the candidate identifies are less important than the candidate's ability to identify broad industry trends and articulate their impact. Essentially, you're assessing whether candidates can think broadly about what's happening in the industry and whether they actively monitor changes in the industry.

This question is more appropriate for staff than leaders, but in both cases will help tease out how candidates act in unclear circumstances. Can they provide examples of how they asked for clarity or came up with a plan to identify missing information? Or do they sound like they spin their wheels until someone else intervenes?

This is similar to the above question, but with a more long-term outlook. If a candidate expects development opportunities you can't provide, you'll need to reconcile that concern or end up with an unhappy employee. This question can also help determine whether the candidate has leadership aspirations and a plan to achieve them.

If candidates mention a hobby or interest on their resume, ask them about it. Rather than making small talk, you want to see if candidates are well-rounded individuals and get some feeling for their personality. While "likability" should not be your sole factor for determining employment, many roles require some amount of sales ability, and certainly presentation and speaking skills. Hobbies can also tell you about a candidate's risk tolerance, willingness to experience new things, and general outlook on life. Even if the specific hobby in question is an activity you don't enjoy, use the question to check the candidate's ability to articulate and convey passion.

This seemingly straightforward question accomplishes a number of things. First of all, it's a good check of the ability to keep confidential information secret, as well as an indication of whether a candidate will badmouth a former employer. Second, this question tests the candidate's ability to think broadly and strategically. Like question 1, the content of the answer is less important than the thought process that goes into the answer - unless the best the candidate can come up with is something banal like, "My last employer should have bought better coffee."

Case study questions may seem like a complicated process left to the business schools and consulting houses, but they can be as simple as summarizing a complex situation you faced and seeing how the candidate responds. Provide an overview of a recent situation you or your company faced and test the candidate's ability to identify and articulate a solution on the fly. Perhaps more important than the solution the candidates develop are the questions they ask. They won't have critical details or background on the problem, so observing how they gather information and begin to break down the problem is the most interesting aspect of case-style questions.

This is a subtle way of determining whether candidates understand the role they're applying for and whether their expectations match yours. If you're serious about a candidate and your expectations don't match, this will be a critical point of discussion as you move forward in the hiring process.

This is an interesting question, since the two extremes of possible answers may be "correct" depending on the role you're trying to fill. If you're looking to fill a strategy- or project-related role, where the candidate will be bouncing from project to project on a weekly or monthly basis, you want someone who is easily bored and constantly looking for new challenges. If you need a competent manager or staff member to run a steady-state process and sweat the details, you obviously want a very different candidate.

This is similar to the previous question, but the crux of this one is whether candidates are self-starters who can rapidly adapt to a changing environment. If they don't have experience dealing with change - or they struggle to answer - that should be a warning sign.

► Describe your methods used to build and maintain subcontractor and vendors relationships and to manage the purchase of hardware and software products.

► Have you developed a disaster recovery/alternative plan to ensure continuous availability of computer systems throughout the Corporation?

► Have you developed an IT security policy?

► Describe the hands-on support and training program you used to ensure cross company utilization of computing infrastructure.

► Have you been responsible for the budget of the IT systems of the company? Tell us how you monitored costs, business plan and cash flow.

► Describe a situation in which you were involved with one of the following: troubleshooting procedure, system backup and failure recovery.

► What IT tracking software have you used to monitor/maintain remote systems?

► Have you interacted with customers or internal clients on a daily basis?

► What level of help desk support have you provided to resolve IT-related issues?

► What is important to you on a job?

► What aspects of work do you enjoy most?

► What aspects of work do you enjoy least?

► What are your goals?

► What are your major strengths? Weaknesses?

► Where do you see yourself 10 years down the road?

► Why did you leave your last job?

► What did you learn from your last job?

► Why do you want to work for us?

► Have you planned and implemented additions and significant modifications to your company's IT infrastructure? ► Describe your contribution.

► Tell us about any procedures you have implemented to improve network security or in other areas.

► Describe the maintenance and administration routines you utilized to ensure effective corporate VOIP/WAN/IT network performance.

► Have you upgraded the company's telephone or email system to a VOIP or unified messaging system?

► Describe the process and the factors you considered in choosing the new systems.

1. What is the difference between a hub and a switch?

2. What is a network?

3. What is Active Directory?

4. What is TCP/IP and what does it stand for?

5. What is a default gateway?

6. What does DHCP stand for?

7. What is an IP Address?

8. What is the significance of the IP address 255.255.255.255?

9. What are the 3 major classes of an IP network?

10. What is a Class D IP address?

11. What is OSPF?

12. A user is complaining of delays when using the network. What would you do?

For candidates who will be managing others, present a difficult employee situation, ideally based on a challenge you've faced in the past. See if candidates ask relevant questions about the situation and observe their thought process in determining how to resolve the situation.