Posted on: 13-03-05 12:03:58
Quote:
Orginally posted by jughead
I would ask for additional resources up front. If there is one thing I have learnt working in demanding situations, it is knowing when to ask for help.
Either ask for more time, and if that is not possible, ask for more resource(s), and delegate the responsibility. Taking more than what you can handle will only lead to disasters. Identify such situations early on in the project.
That was actually my next answer. To which he said that "What if that request was denied"?
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hmmm... So no additional time or additional resources..
I would prioritize them as must have, nice to have etc. Work with a plan, inform them that some 'nice to haves' may not be possible within the stipulated time, but that I would deliver them in phases.
That's all I can think of now! Enough with the suspense! What did you say? 
To be honest, I couldn't come up with the answer either. So I gave my best answer and asked him what he'd do.
I liked his reply. Actually, it was what I would've done eventually faced with a situation like this. But just couldn't think of it in the interview.
He said "I'd schedule a meeting between the different managers who owned each project. If there was nothing I could do, rather than approach them individually, I'd let them negotiate the deadlines. "
Made sense to me.
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Hi Gkm,
Actually i worked in tech support position for a few months only. They don't specifically ask for anything special just normal knowledge of hardware. But most job ads do say that "A+ certification would be beneficial". So I guess if you really want to do something that would help you in getting tech support job then I would suggest you to go for A+ certification. Pay rates for tech support jobs here are about $14/hr which is good as compared to other call centre jobs. All tech support jobs are not in call centres. In fact most of them involve going over to client site if any problem arises. I am currently working at British Columbia Institute of Tech(BCIT) in their comp resources deptt. I also do private consulting on side and what I find through my interaction with IT ppl from various companies is that tech support ppl are really satisfied with their jobs. This is just from my experience but it would be better if other ppl who are working in tech support could give their views as well.
Good one, I agree, BL. Like you said, it is about how you respond at the instant. So, I presume you got that job, right?
Quote:
Orginally posted by jughead
Good one, I agree, BL. Like you said, it is about how you respond at the instant. So, I presume you got that job, right?
Yes I did. I did answer all the other questions quite well. Also, the interviewer liked the fact that when I knew he wasn't happy with my answer, I shot back the question at him.
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Quote:Wow !
Orginally posted by BlueLobster
Here's a question that was thrown at me recently when I was interviewing for the job. The interviewer told me that if hired, the environment I would be working in was extremely fast paced and I'd be juggling 3/4 projects (possibly for different departments) at the same time. What if I thought that there was no way I would meet the deadlines?
My first reply was "I'd try to put in more hours and try to persuade the respective managers to push back the deadline a bit".
His reply was "Say, you put in your max hours and it was still not going to be enough. And say none of the managers were ready to push back the deadline even by a minute."
What would you do?
I was asked this *exact* same question in an interview with an IT company based in the Maritimes.
My answer was very similar to yours, BL, and the interviewer's response was exactly what you said here.
Do these interviewer's have some sort of guide book from where they read out the questions and the cross-questions - that would explain how the same question is asked in this fashion.
In my case, my response was very similar to yours, and no matter what strategy I suggested, he would say "what if that is not an option - what would you do then." or "what if that project manager does not agree" or "what if even after putting more than 18 hrs. a day you cannot meet the deadlines?" - basically putting me in a boxed situation where there was no way out.
I am not sure to this day what answer he was looking for - I asked him that at the end of the interview and he did not give me any explanation.
Interviews aside, when this happens in reality (it happens often enough on IT projects), it is usually because either -
The person who did the initial scoping screwed up OR
Some business dev or sales guy oversold and promised something that the workers cannot deliver.
That's when these kinds of situations arise and everyone involved goes through the pain of working long hours to get things done, and the company ends up losing money.
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-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"
