What will they ask at job interview?

Heya, I was just wondering about 2 job phone interviews I have this afternoon, thought I could get some extra preparation by asking on here if anyone knows what sort of things I might get asked...One's for Tiny [urgh] as a sales rep, one is for Computer Exchange as hardware person. I like my job but it's boring and antisocial, I need to do something mundane where I get to actually talk to people! Hence these applications, but I haven't worked in computer/hardware sales for years, I'm getting really paranoid they're gonna ask me really technical stuff, even though I'm probably fine. And I can't win them over with my amazing good looks because it's over the PHONE! lol...But can you reassure me with what basic areas might come up? That way I can revise my PC Pros lol...

XXX

If it's a true position, you'll have a technical and a non-technical interview.

Non-technical: manager type person who grills you about your habits, experience, etc etc...usual BS, nothing to worry about. Best to be up front on things you don't know. For a technical position, it'll be more determined by the tech person interviewing you whether or not you'd fit.

Technical: one or more people that work in the environment you'd be a part of asking a bunch of environment-related questions (maybe) and otherwise feeling out how much you know/don't know and whether or not you'll ask for help and whatnot. Sometimes you'll get a machine with a problem and they'll ask you to fix it but that's only on seriously technical jobs where they can't afford to put some loser in the spot just because they said they could do it.
Key thing to remember: sometimes they ask you things you'll never know (environment based) just to see if you'll say "I don't know".

Example: I'm a unix adminstrator and when I got hired into the place I'm at now, I had a managerial interview by the "boss" and then an hour long technical interview with the lead oracle DBA and another unix admin.

General rule of thumb is if you're there more than half an hour, they're interested and if you can score big with the techies, that's another good thing. Others probably have better/different ways for interviewing but this is what I've seen and encountered. Hell, I've had to do two tech interviews for people, both phone and face to face.

I know that at least with Computer Exchange they do the technical interview first, that's what I have today and that's the intimidating part! I mean, I worked for Gateway on the grounds that 'well, your CV is well-resented, you obviously really want to work here! you're hired!' i.e. must have been very short-staffed at that point. So I don't really know how much of an interrogation to expect; thanks for the 'key thing to remember' though, that's the kinda thing I would screw up...lol...But I mean for a sales rep role how much product knowledge would I need as a mere interviewee? Any idea?

XXX

Lady,

They will give you practicle situations and ask "What Would You Do Questions". Unless your taking a high level position, it will mostly be focusing on your learning skills, and ability to work with others. The million dollar question in my interview was "What is the difference between Volatile & Non Volatile Memory, or atleat that is what my supervisor considered the Million Dollar Question. Just be calm, and remember "Take Notes, and Show your interest in the company by asking questions."

Concerning what to expect in questions for sales and whatnot, one thing a friend of mine went through at Electronics Boutique (gaming store) was the manager was interviewing her and part of it went like this:

Manager: what's your favorite PC game?

Her: Age of Empires 2.

Manager: sell me on it.

She was going for a sales position and he wanted someone who could sell, of course...hence the question. You'll probably get grilled on different selling techniques, what you would do in X situation, how would you handle this problem here, how knowledgeable are you with Compaqs, hardware, you name it...

Nothing to worry about, just go in thinking 'it's allllll good'. That's what I usually do! Oh...and never try to BS your way through.

Seems like sound advice, I can live with that! Hehe I also applied to Electronics Boutique but I haven't heard from them at all, they didn't actually have any vacancies, I just wanted them to have my CV in case one of them suddenly died or something...But that's great, thanks, I know it's all easy really, it's just hard to keep it in perspective when it matters quite a bit...THANKYOU!

XXX

Vorlin gives good advice as per usual. :D

Be prepared to sell anything, I've been in positions where they hand you a pen and tell you to "sell" it to the interviewer.

Best advice I can give before someone goes into an interview of any sort is the number one thing to remember is that you're "selling" yourself. What do you know best? You..and it's your job to present yourself in such a manner that they can't help but want to hire you.

Good luck and be sure to let us know how it goes!

TC

It's always good to know a few good bullet points off your resume, etc, as well... basically accomplishments that you can be proud of and talk at in length and with great detail, if necessary.

As some have already said... don't BS about what you know or don't know - good managers generally have great BS-detectors and will pick up on it even if they don't know what you are talking about themselves.

Also, particularly in tech interviews, be wary of the "open ended" or "vague" question... some people (myself included) often like to start an interview acting like they're fairly clueless (that is, the interviewer being a clueless dolt), just to see how you respond if it might appear that you're talking to someone that "doesn't know as much as you do," etc. You might be fairly surprised to learn that the guy that a minute ago was acting like he didn't know what options need to be set in a POP/IMAP client is their senior developer in charge of architecting a company's mail server product.

Not really to helpful on interview but a good phone personality is great. I do phone support and I have a really good phone personality and I win over alot of people on the phone. I helped this one lady once with her son being in the UK meeting his dad for the first time but needed to get the email from him to find where to meet. All his friends sent attachments and clogged his inbox so he couldnt get mail. I helped her clear messages for him and she was very happy ( she complimented me to boss and i got an award) and then 2 months later she called back and surprisingly she got me again and her famly now refers to me now as king geoff. I thought it was cool that i made that much difference to this family. I got another award too. Good times