Unlocking Successful Prescreening: Essential Questions to Ask for Job Candidates

What Does an L1 Technical Support Engineer Role Involve?

The first question aims to test an individual’s understanding of the role they're applying for. It’s worth noting that L1 Technical Support Engineers play a crucial role in organizations by providing technical assistance to customers. They troubleshoot problems with hardware and software, maintaining the integrity of technology services within the company.

Can you Describe Your Experience with Troubleshooting Software and Hardware Issues?

By asking this question, you are looking for details about someone's past experience troubleshooting both software and hardware issues. Past experience often informs future performance, thus, this question is vital.

Have you Provided Technical Support over Phone and Email Before?

This question delves into the candidate's comfort and experience with multiple methods of communication, each requiring a separate set of professional skills to use effectively.

Understanding of Windows and Linux Operating Systems

Given the widespread use of these two operating systems, it is essential for the technical support engineer to have an in-depth understanding of both. This question thus tests their familiarity with these systems.

Experience with Ticketing Systems

A ticketing system is an integral part of customer support operations. Asking about the candidate's past with this will enable you to understand their experience.

Unfamiliar Technical Issue, What Next?

Not every situation is straight from the textbook. This question assesses a candidate’s problem-solving ability and how they react under pressure when presented with a unique issue.

Dealing with a Frustrated User: Strategies?

People skills are also key in technical support roles. The candidate has to demonstrate their communication skills and their capacity to handle a distressed customer in this question.

Experience in a Call Centre or IT Helpdesk Environment?

The environment at call centers and IT helpdesks can be fast and demanding. This question is crafted to find out if the candidate is ready to take up such challenging environments.

Maintaining Customer Relationships in a Technical Support Role?

A good technical support engineer needs not only technical skills but also soft skills that are necessary for maintaining the relationships with the clients. Strengthening customer relations is just as important as fixing a technical issue.

Any Technical Certifications?

Possession of technical certifications is often a good indicator of the candidate’s dedication towards self-improvement and their willingness to learn and acquire new skills.

Successfully Troubleshooting a Complex Technical Issue

This question serves a dual purpose. It gives the interviewer a sneak peek into the candidate's past experiences, and it also sheds light on the candidate’s problem-solving skills and how they approach complex situations.

Understanding of VPN, LAN, WLAN and Firewall

Knowledge of these terms is a must for a technical engineer. This question will screen out candidates with a poor technical vocabulary and understanding.

Explain Technical Issue or Solution to a Non-Tech Person

Technical support engineers must often explain complex technical issues to non-technical customers. This question seeks to determine whether the candidate can communicate technical information effectively and in an understandable format.

Comfortability with Shift Work

Comfortability in working in shifts is a practical consideration. If the role requires shift work, it's crucial to know whether the candidate is comfortable with this working pattern.

Experience with Remote Desktop Software

In the era of remote working, experience with remote desktop software is a valuable skill. Their past roles or experience with such software will give you an insight on this.

Working Under Pressure: How Did You Handle It?

Technical support roles can sometimes be stressful. By sharing their experience working under pressure, candidates provide insights on how they will perform in a high-stress environment.

Troubleshooting a Network Connectivity Issue: The Approach

An understanding of networking and the ability to troubleshoot connectivity issues are essential skills for a technical support engineer role. This will assess exactly that.

Multitasking and Prioritizing Skills

Handling multiple requests at the same time is a reality in this role. By asking about multitasking and prioritizing issues, you can assess if they are up to this task.

Experience with Programming or Scripting Languages

While not a requirement for all technical support roles, having experience with programming or scripting languages can often be beneficial. This question will gauge their technical depth.

Procedure to Document and Report Technical Issues

Documenting and reporting technical issues and their subsequent solutions is a critical part of any technical role, ensuring that knowledge about fixated issues is not lost and can be referred to in future.