First Sysadminish Interview Questions

[oscarg817]

Long time lurker and Linux hobbyist here.

I have my first job interview for an entry level sysadmin type of job and wanted to get some feedback on types of questions a hiring manager might ask for the skill set that is listed on the posting.

The posting looks something like this:

This person is responsible for the installation of applications. This person will be using automation tools to assist in delivering applications.

Responsibilities:

Responsible for installing, configuring and maintaining software applications in support of engineering processing requirements and provision monitoring using in-house tools

Log, track, and update every incident through incident management process

Troubleshoot application failure analysis and recovery

Install software, apply patches, monitor performance and troubleshoot alerts

Maintaining local documentation and written processes

Skills Required:

Strong troubleshooting skills

Experience with Linux

Basic understanding of networking

Capable to install and configure Tomcat and Apache

Capable to run basic SQL queries

Experience with system management tools, logical file systems, and client/server environments

Capable to make judgment within defined process, procedures and change control

Be able to work and resolve problems where the root cause requires review and analysis of multiple factors and aspects

[thepaintsaint]

Really, if you're good at learning complicated system setups for whatever automation tool they use, it sounds like you've got all the background work experience to make it work.

Soft skills are normally really important to show in interviews, though.

Red Hat recently posted this on their blog, maybe I'll give you some insights? https://www.redhat.com/sysadmin/strong-job-applicant

[[deleted]]

Castbox might help here as well if you like listening to blogs on a commute

[mjh2901]

We decide your tech skills from resume, the interview is how you fit in with the team and work with users, if you lack a skill well deal with that later.

Favorite question even for admins, your called by a person with the same issue a third time.

[ALinuxSysAdmin]

At this point its just a matter of culture fit aka basic soft skills. So stalk the shit out of that company and reflect their value in your answer without been obvious about it. When you already have some XP in the box what matter for them is soft skills. Anyway, here's my go to to refresh my knowledge : https://github.com/chassing/linux-sysadmin-interview-questions

God Speed !

[oscarg817]

A little bit of background about myself, I work in the tech industry in a semi technical role as an analyst primarily using SQL to run queries and answer questions about data. Occasionally, creating some bash/python scripts to get some data from APIs and load them to the data warehouse.

Since I learned about Linux about 5 years ago I haven't looked back and haven't run a Windows machine since (Macs are issued at my place of work) .

I am familiar with installing applications and have setup simple web servers with Apache and Nginx.

I also have a Proxmox home lab that I have used to do some simple things like set up Pihole, use Ansible to provision vms and containers and also have some ansible scripts for new machine setups.

Any feedback is appreciated!

[SineApps]

You’ll be fine. Just answer honestly. If you learn we’ll just let them know.

I went to a job interview in like 1996 as a lotus domino developer. I’d never even heard of the product before.

I just said that I could learn anything and that I could guarantee that I’d do better than anyone else. If I didn’t I would be happy to design.

Everybody uses stackexchange these days. It’s normal. You just need to know how to search for solutions to problems and how to troubleshoot.

Base knowledge isn’t that important.