Network Engineer Interview questions and Answers PDF

What should you be asking candidates for your networking jobs? Even if you’ve got a recruitment agency sifting through resumes and conducting preliminary interviews for you, you’ll have to meet and interview candidates for enterprise administration and networking roles, and you'll both get a better experience if you’re prepared for the interview. Here’s our roundup of 10 killer questions that you should ask all your candidates. And if you're a job candidate, enjoy this sneak peek as you get ready to ace all your networking interview questions.

1. What types of network do you have experience with?

This should be one of the first things you ask. It might be critical to you that the candidate has prior experience with the type of network model you use, but even candidates that don't could be good fits, assuming they are willing to learn and have other critical skills. In fact, candidates with lots of experience on networks very similar to yours could be too set in their ways to adapt to the way your business does things.

2. What can you tell me about the OSI Reference Model?

The OSI Reference Model provides a framework for discussing network design and operations. It groups communication functions into 7 logical layers, each one building on the next. This question will demonstrate whether candidates have the theoretical knowledge to back up their practical skills.

3. What monitoring tools or approaches do you rate?

You can extend this to ask about what tools candidates have used in other jobs. Hopefully they will be able to give you a range of products and techniques, and the rationale for their favorites. This can tell you about the depth of their experience and also whether their choices of tools are a good fit for your architecture.

4. What are the benefits of subnetting?

Subnetting helps reduce network traffic and the size of the routing tables. It’s also a way to add security to network traffic by isolating it from the rest of the network. You don’t just want candidates who can technically deploy and administer networks – you also want people who understand the rationale behind your network model.