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I was asked questions on linux completely unrelated to the role and for the life of me I cant figure out what relevance it would have to the role or even a role as a linux admin (specifically, I was asked, after answering correctly where user passwords are stored and what permissions the file has, how the login process works on a linux box including how the login process, which doesnt run as root can escalate to read the /etc/shadow file which only has read permissions by root) I was also given a network diagram and asked a question about a network problem where they were unable to get websites from a specific server. I asked directed questions to determine if the network picture they gave me was accurate to which the stated it was. I was able to deduce the problem in 3 steps (though not the device causing the issue because I was assuming based on their affirmative response that the network diagram was accurate). They pressed for more troubleshooting which I did. I got a dozen steps in before throwing my hands up and saying I was out of ideas.... They gave me the answer, to which I pointed out I found the issue in steps 3, 6 and 10 but they kept insisting it wasn't so that's why we kept troubleshooting... They then said it was a "real-world" issue that they had issue with and took half a day to figure out and then argued that they gave affirmative responses that were based on the same assumptions they made. Problem with that argument is; not having realtime access to the device and see the behavior first hand we can only go based on what we are being told. If what we are being told is wrong, there is no way to determine the answer. Other interview questions were fairly straightforward and of average difficulty
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Network Administrator

Interviewed at Susquehanna International Group

3.8★
Feb 15, 2014

I was asked questions on linux completely unrelated to the role and for the life of me I cant figure out what relevance it would have to the role or even a role as a linux admin (specifically, I was asked, after answering correctly where user passwords are stored and what permissions the file has, how the login process works on a linux box including how the login process, which doesnt run as root can escalate to read the /etc/shadow file which only has read permissions by root) I was also given a network diagram and asked a question about a network problem where they were unable to get websites from a specific server. I asked directed questions to determine if the network picture they gave me was accurate to which the stated it was. I was able to deduce the problem in 3 steps (though not the device causing the issue because I was assuming based on their affirmative response that the network diagram was accurate). They pressed for more troubleshooting which I did. I got a dozen steps in before throwing my hands up and saying I was out of ideas.... They gave me the answer, to which I pointed out I found the issue in steps 3, 6 and 10 but they kept insisting it wasn't so that's why we kept troubleshooting... They then said it was a "real-world" issue that they had issue with and took half a day to figure out and then argued that they gave affirmative responses that were based on the same assumptions they made. Problem with that argument is; not having realtime access to the device and see the behavior first hand we can only go based on what we are being told. If what we are being told is wrong, there is no way to determine the answer. Other interview questions were fairly straightforward and of average difficulty

please design my network which seems to be appropriate to you. The challenge with such question is it is an open ended question. Whatever you answer will always be wrong as the interviewer can add complexity for as many levels as they want.
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Network Administrator

Interviewed at Mercyhealth

2.9★
Apr 27, 2023

please design my network which seems to be appropriate to you. The challenge with such question is it is an open ended question. Whatever you answer will always be wrong as the interviewer can add complexity for as many levels as they want.

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