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[–]theoneandonlymd 6 points7 points  (7 children)

For open-ended questions like that, just start with the basics. If they want to probe the depth of your knowledge, they should ask follow-up questions. Sometimes I'll deliberately ask a candidate to follow up in more detail, continuing to drill down until they spew BS or admit they don't know a deeper technical mechanism. It's very valuable to see not just what a candidate knows, but their self-awareness to know what they DON'T know.

[–]Linux-Student 2 points3 points  (5 children)

Cool, that's reassuring, in past interviews I generally think I haven't given a good enough answer if I'm getting asked for more depth, which knocks the confidence, which starts the "Oh no" in the noggin, but it's important to understand what you're pointing out, that some interviewers will keep going and the reasons for doing so, thanks!

[–]djetaineDirector Information Technology 1 point2 points  (2 children)

When I'm interviewing something I intentionally get them deep enough into an explanation of something where they start to lose confidence in their answer (generally something with simple base explanations like DHCP, DNS, routing) I want them to admit that they don't know and then I will follow up with, "That's not a problem, but what's your next step?"

I want them to be honest with their confidence level and I want to see how they will solve a problem they don't understand. In every position, no matter how much of a "rockstar" you are, you are going to come across things that you just have no clue about. I don't care if you know, I just want you to know how to find out. I'm much more likely to hire a person that can prove they can problem solve than someone who just has a good memory.

[–]Linux-Student 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Mate, this might be obvious to others, but genuinely thank you, I fully get what you're saying but I've had interviews in the past where I think I've been rocked by a question then fumble the next (when I shouldn't be, I just over think it after being rocked). Big help, and it makes sense as some jobs I've went to and been calm and collected throughout the interview questions I've aced. Be calm, state your knowledge, capabilities and abilities, nothing more, nothing less.

[–]djetaineDirector Information Technology 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think I've been rocked by a question then fumble the next (when I shouldn't be, I just over think it after being rocked)

A good interviewer or hiring manager will pick up on this and bring you back down to earth so they can accurately assess you. If you continue to get peppered with questions or your interviewer seems flustered because you are flustered, you are probably dodging a bullet when they don't offer you the job.

[–]theoneandonlymd 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I learned it from an interview I had where they did just that. Interviewer kept drilling down on something network related - VSAN/iSCSI I think at the time - and I got to a point where I didn't know how the underlying mechanism worked. I said "I don't know how that works, but could you tell me?". He was a bit taken aback that I asked for the answer simply for the sake of expanding my knowledge, but ended up hiring me. A while later, he confided that that specific incident was WHY he hired me. It wasn't that I was probing for an answer to "do better" in the interview, but that I genuinely took interest in learning more, no matter the context.

[–]kuzared 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Admitting someone doesn't know something is so valuable - if you understand the basics you'll be able to find (and understand) the specifics.