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How to Answer Odd IT Job Interview Questions

The IT field is notorious for a few things, especially weird interview questions for IT jobs.  IT recruiters and IT staffing companies do their best to prep their candidates for these kinds of questions, but some are hard to predict for even the savviest of IT recruiting companies and IT staffing agencies.  It’s worth checking with your technical recruiters and IT staffing firms before interviews to see if they think there will be any odd questions.  Even if they’re not sure, it’s worth preparing yourself for some of the kinds of questions below:

  1. Estimation questions: Tech companies are notorious for asking questions like “How many windows are there in Seattle?”  The point is obviously not to give an exact number here.  What you want to do is describe how you’d figure out the most accurate answer.  Describing your process and justifying each step will be the way to ace this kind of question.
  2. Task-oriented questions. Sometimes, you’ll be asked how you’d do some kind of impossible, improbable task.  For instance, Dropbox has asked “If you had 2,000 emails to answer, but only time to answer 300, how would you choose?”  Again, the best answer here is all about process.  If you can give a clear, articulate, rational process, it doesn’t matter what your answer is.  There are likely many “correct” criteria they’d accept.
  3. Identity questions: There are plenty of odd questions you can be asked that are simply meant to help a company know who you are—both as an employee and as an individual.  Questions like “What kind of tree would you be?”  sound out of the blue, but they’re looking for the same information every interviewer is.  Answer the question (probably using a metaphor, as in the tree question) in a way that highlights your strengths as an employee and an individual.  You’ll impress both your interviewer and the IT recruiting firms you represent.

 

 

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AVID (Applications, Voice, Internet, Data) Technical Resources is a leading Information Technology recruiting company. Specializing in placing contract and permanent personnel in both Infrastructure Support and Applications Development positions, AVID has a national presence supporting clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies. Headquartered in Boston, MA, AVID has achieved tremendous growth since the firm's inception in 2003. This has triggered numerous national awards and recognition, such as being named to Inc. 500 Magazine's list of 5,000 Fastest Growing Privately-held Companies in the US in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Additionally, the firm boasts of having more than 100 five-star reviews on Google from clients and candidates who rave about their experience and interaction with the firm's recruiters.