Tier 1 Helpdesk Interview — Technical Assessment

FORM #T1-TECH-05
TRACK · IT HELPDESK TIER 1

DRAFT

01 — Candidate & Interviewer

Candidate name *

Candidate email

Interviewer name *

Interview date *

02 — Technical Questions

Score each 0–4 as the candidate answers

Question 1 of 8 — Networking Fundamentals

How do you find the IP address of a computer?

Assesses: core networking fundamentals expected at Tier 1.

Look for: ipconfig (Windows) or ifconfig/ip addr (Linux/Mac) from the command line, or checking network settings in the OS GUI. Bonus for distinguishing local/private IP from public IP, or mentioning a site like "whatismyip" for the latter.

Question 2 of 8 — Networking Fundamentals

What's the difference between an IP address and a MAC address, and why does a device need both?

Assesses: core networking fundamentals expected at Tier 1.

Look for: MAC = hardware/physical address, fixed to the NIC; IP = logical/network address, can change, used for routing across networks. Bonus for mentioning DHCP or ARP in passing.

Question 3 of 8 — Account & Access Support

A user says they're locked out of their account after too many failed password attempts. What steps do you take, and what do you check before unlocking it?

Assesses: security-mindedness, identity verification, ticketing hygiene.

Look for: verifying the requester's identity before any reset (not just taking the call at face value), checking for signs of compromise (e.g. failed attempts from unusual locations), following documented reset procedure, logging the incident.

Question 4 of 8 — Windows DNS Diagnostics

What command would you use to check your DNS server and whether DNS is working on Windows?

Assesses: practical CLI diagnostic knowledge.

Look for: nslookup to test resolution, ipconfig /all to check the configured DNS server, possibly ipconfig /flushdns as a follow-up fix. Full marks for knowing more than one of these and when to use each.

Question 5 of 8 — SMTP Ports

What ports does SMTP use?

Assesses: mail protocol fundamentals.

Look for: 25 (server-to-server relay, often blocked by ISPs for direct sending), 587 (submission, with STARTTLS — the standard for client sending today), and ideally 465 (implicit SSL/TLS, still used by some clients). Full marks for explaining when each is used, not just listing numbers.

Question 6 of 8 — Printer Troubleshooting

The printer is printing, but with strange characters on the page instead of the expected text. How would you diagnose the situation?

Assesses: hardware/driver troubleshooting, structured diagnosis of a garbled-output symptom.

Look for: recognizing this as a classic driver mismatch symptom — checking/reinstalling the correct printer driver, confirming the right print language (PCL vs PostScript) is selected, ruling out a corrupted print job (clear print queue, resend), and checking the cable/connection if wired. Strong answers don't jump straight to "replace the printer."

Question 7 of 8 — Azure AD Join Scenario

You're out at a client site and find a home/personal machine that needs to be joined to Azure AD. What will you need to do?

Assesses: real-world Azure AD join process and prerequisites.

Look for: confirming it's a supported Windows edition (Pro/Enterprise, not Home — Home doesn't natively support Azure AD Join), going to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school, and joining with a company account. If it's Windows Home, they should recognize an OS upgrade may be needed first.

Question 8 of 8 — Communication Under Pressure

A client struggled to get through to support, and once you reach them, they tell you that since some recent changes were made, they've been having issues. They're clearly frustrated by the time you're on the call. How do you handle the conversation and get to the bottom of the issue?

Assesses: communication skill, empathy under pressure, and structured diagnosis despite a difficult starting point.

Look for: acknowledging the frustration and the wait time genuinely before diving into troubleshooting, staying calm and not getting defensive, then methodically asking what changed and when to isolate the cause rather than guessing. A concrete real example of de-escalating a similar situation is a strong positive signal over a purely hypothetical answer.

03 — Overall Recommendation

Interviewer recommendation *

General notes for HR

Interviewer Notes — Role Context & Scoring Guidance

Internal only — not for candidates

⚠ Confidential — do not share this section or its contents with candidates

Role context, for your own calibration

First point of contact for end users — via phone, chat, or ticket queue.
Diagnose and resolve common issues: account access, connectivity, printers, basic OS/hardware problems.
Follow documented runbooks and escalate to Tier 2 when an issue exceeds scope or SLA time.
Logs every interaction clearly enough that another technician could pick up the ticket cold.
Balances speed with accuracy — most Tier 1 tickets are measured against a resolution-time SLA.

What to listen for, question by question

Q1–Q4: structured thinking over guessing — are they narrowing down causes methodically, or jumping to a fix?
Q3 specifically: flag it if they skip identity verification entirely — this is a security-judgment red flag, not just a scoring deduction.
Q5, Q7 (SMTP ports, Azure AD Join): weight hands-on phrasing ("I did this at my last role") over textbook recall — real experience shows in the specifics.
Q7: listen for escalation judgment — do they know the prerequisites and limitations, or do they over-promise what's possible?
Q8: a real example outweighs a well-rehearsed hypothetical.

Scoring guidance

Score in the moment, right after each answer, rather than reconstructing scores at the end.
"Adequate" (2) is a genuine pass bar — reserve 3–4 for answers that go beyond the minimum expected.
It's fine and expected for candidates to say "I don't know" on something — how they'd find out matters more than pre-existing knowledge.

After this screen

This section is stripped from what's sent to HR — only scores, your written notes, and your recommendation are included in the email.
A score of 22/32 (roughly 70%) or higher is generally considered a strong baseline pass for progressing to Tier 2 or team-fit interviews.
Borderline scores (16–21, roughly 50–69%) are typically discussed with the hiring team before a decision.