So I've got a "hands-on" IT interview next week

I am currently working in customer service at a software company and they recently had an opening in the IT department. They are offering this job internally before posting the job on their site so I have a good chance of getting in.

I have already taken a written test and gone through two interviews. Now I have an appointment one week from today for a hands-on test where I will build and troubleshoot a system.

Anyways, what I need from you guys is some tips as I'm sure they are going to try to throw a few curve balls to throw me off.

I'm assuming they are going to give me a bunch of parts and watch me put the system together and determine which parts are busted. I'm already pretty good at figuring out what computer parts are busted, but there's always some little picky things that they may be looking for. To start things off, I'll pose a couple of questions that might snag me:

What screws exactly are used for mounting the motherboard? Every time I get a case, it comes with a bag of screws of at least 5 kinds

1. The larger ones with a hexagonal tops for mounting pci cards
2. The smaller ones with hexagonal tops
3. The ones that look like they have little washers attached to the head
4. The little ones for mounting hard drives
5. The ones that look like the hard drive mounting ones but with thicker threading

So Which screws are to be used where? It always seems like each system I build uses a different screw for mounting the motherboard and it could really throw me off.

Next issue: What are some general tips for installing the operating system? The systems we have are primarily WinXP pro. At this point, the only effective means I have found to speed this up is by burning a new install CD with the Service Packs but that requires preparation by creating a new CD. Is there any sort of way (aside from building identical systems and copying images) that may speed up this process? Are there any extra features I should know about when setting up a system?

Final issue: I have yet to build a 64 (socket 939) system. Is there anything much different in building one? Or is it still your basic ZIF socket and clip on hsf?

Any hints or advice are welcome. I'm sure a few of you have some IT experience in the business world and I would love to hear what you may know.

What is the scope of the position? IT in my job is more networking with occational pc building/repair. The hands-on interview I had was really simple. They sabotaged a cable and messed up an excel file for me to discover and fix. Really lame stuff.

I don't think it matters what screws you use to mount a motherboard. I personally use the ones that have a washer on the head. I've seen people use hexagonal ones instead. I know people that use the same screws for mounting hard drives, mobos, and pci cards. A screw is a screw. As long as it holds the mobo securely, it doesnt matter what it looks like. And if they reject you because of that, I'd be wondering if I really want that job...

I've been in IT over 10 years and have never been thorugh such an interview. Sounds corny and sketchy to me, but then again I've got cred. If you don't and they still like you a lot then I guess maybe they'd want to test you a bit.

btw....those screws you're talking about are most likely torx screws. Where they go depends completely on the design. I've seen a lot of server cases use torx, some use thumbs and other just use regular phillips or commons.

when I did my interview I had to figure out why a cable wouldn't link up, it tested fine in my cable tester, there was a staple in it that shorted it but still would link up but not function right. Thats a curve ball, took me 45 min to find it. what they ar edoing sounds corny and boring. what kind of i.t. department are they running?

I find this refreshing. I work on the software side of things but I think that all IT suffers from the huge glut of people that entered the market with Y2K and the .com boom and now that both of those are over we have too few positions for the # of people that want them. I do consulting and if there is 1 thing that all of my clients have in common it is that they all have horrid methods for hiring developers. The stupid quizes they typically will offer will not ensure any more talented individuals and will sometimes turn away people that know how to problem solve and don't memorize useless information.

Anyways that said, you had asked about doing a windows xp install. Most big shops will take an image of a typical install with some software like Drive Image or Norton Ghost. They have may multiple images, for different job roles. Not only does this make initial setup of a machine faster, but it can be a nice safety net to fall back on should someone's machine become too hosed to fix quickly. Just lay a fresh image back down and send the machine back. The other huge benefit for a big company in doing this is that you can be positive that all of your machines are setup the same way. This is huge from a support standpoint since you don't want your helpdesk people trying to figure out the goofy way software was installed as well as the actual issue.

For those of you asking exactly what this job entails, it is primarily a system builder/desktop support. Currently, their IT department is relatively small (< 10 people) but they are having some immense growing pains right now and will need people to do everything.

Other areas that they would want me to have knowledge in is network administration and work with Cisco routers. Unfortunately, I can't afford a Cisco router at home so my network experience is limited to home networks with up to about 10 computers and your basic port forwarding. I have never configured an advanced router and never set up permissions for different users.

Basically, I would be one of several computer geeks that keeps our internal systems up and running.

The sabotaged cable is definately something I need to keep in mind. That would have really screwed me up if I didn't hear it here first! As for the excel file messed up, how exactly did they mess it up? Did they change a calculation somewhere and ask you to find it or did they attempt to corrupt the whole file? What was your solution in that case?

Also, just for some quick information to show you all where I'm coming from, I am 25 years old. I have been working with computers since I was 8 and did my first work involving system building at about 14. In the past 6 or so years, I have built about 10 computer systems for various friends/family and have gone through so many pieces of hardware on my system that I won't even bother counting. I (almost) have a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science (one class away. If I didn't take this job and start working 60 hours per week, I would be done now). I have been with this company since November and am one of the top performers in the cusomer support department. In the long run, I hope to be with this company and working in software development.

There are only two screws commonly used on PCs: fine thread and coarse. You use whichever one the hole is tapped for. No rocket science. If you don't know, use your eyes. Look in the hole. You can clearly see which of the two threads you are dealing with. Beyond that, the head type isn't really that important. I don't like to use screws that have a serrated locking surface on a motherboard, though.

If you put a fine thread screw in a coarse thread hole, it won't hold, but it won't damage anything. If you put a coarse thread screw in a fine thread hole, it won't fit unless you force it. You can however do just that, as the coarse thread ones are generally of a self-tapping design.

As far as the OS goes, I generally used imaging during my high-volume PC days. The last store I worked for also dabbled in the MS OEM pre-install routine, a rather complex procedure where you make up a custom uninstalled windows, which has your company info, drivers, and desired updates already installed. You then direct this at the new machine, usually via a network. It installs the windows, and after you get it finalized, you shut it down with a special tool. The next time it is started it will give the OOBE screen, where users must enter their name and serial key to get it going.

My advice is don't worry about it. Most people they are going to be able to hire for this job are so clueless you shouldn't have any problem getting the job. Real PC hardware knowledge is one of the rarest commodities on earth, rather like the ability to see things from someone else's viewpoint.

Thanks for the tutorial on proper screwing larva.

And speaking of which, I'm getting married on Sunday. A promotion would go nicely with that.

I probably am worrying about this more than I should be. I've built enough systems (and had enough busted parts to discover in the build) that I don't think there's anything they can toss at me that I won't already know.