Help Desk Interview Questions [Updated 2019]

July 15, 2019 by

Infosec Institute

Working a help desk system is often the first step towards working in any IT related job role-most professionals have worked at a help desk at some point in their lives. Help desks can be for internal company employees or customers for a specific software or hardware. Having help desk experience gives you some basic knowledge and skills for troubleshooting basic issues and working with customers of a specific computer product. Here are some of the top interview questions to prepare yourself for the technical interview questions you might run into when applying for the job.

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1. How do you deal with a frustrated customer?

Answer: this question tests you for your ability to work with people without getting frustrated yourself. Most customers get frustrated when working with a PC and need to call the help desk. Answer the question with how you would work with a person who is not abusive but needs some kind of reassurance that the issue will be resolved.

2. What are some important abilities of an IT help desk support person?

Answer: patience to deal with issues over the phone. The ability to listen to customers and understand their problems quickly. Respond to customers in a thoughtful, clear manner to help them resolve the issue. Instruct customers clearly when troubleshooting computer issues.

3. How do you deal with issues you don’t know or can’t understand?

Answer: ask for help from a lead or work with the customer and get a more experienced help desk person involved. Your supervisor should have a way for you to ask questions and help handle a customer issue.

4. What is it about the help desk that you like?

Answer: you should be honest in your answer, but usually help desk people like helping others and troubleshooting issues, even the more difficult issues.

5. From a number of 1 to 5, rate your problem solving skills

Answer: Be honest about your abilities and rate them appropriately. If you rate yourself too high, the interviewer might ask you more difficult questions that you can’t answer. Be honest but don’t cut yourself short and rate your skills too low.

6. What do you consider good customer service?

Answer: good customer service representatives are patient with customers but understand their problems to resolve issues quickly. They should also identify when standard procedures aren’t working and a supervisor needs to get involved.

7. What would you do under a certain circumstance?

Answer: This is an open ended question that depends on the support you’re giving. For instance, if you support a specific software product, you’ll be asked to respond with how you handle a certain issue. For instance, if it’s a Windows server product, you would look in Event Viewer for the error to help troubleshoot.

8. Are you a team player?

Answer: if you work in a team environment, respond with what you like about working in a team.

9. What do you do if the customer doesn't understand instructions?

Answer: provide more details with the resolution and step the customer through the process again.

10. How do you organize your schedule?

Answer: make sure you answer this question with specific ways you prioritize your tasks and understand how some issues are higher priority than others.

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Certification is a great way for you to set yourself apart from other interviewees. If you are looking to dive deeper into the world of IT, check out CompTIA's Security + certification as it's a great starting point if you are interested in a security career. Fill out the form below for a course syllabus and pricing information.