Help Desk Specialist

Help Desk Specialist Interview Questions:

It is important to hire a specialized Help Desk Specialist or a motivated candidate that you could train. Experienced candidates should have a strong knowledge of products, services, and customers they have previously worked with. Furthermore, they should have available answers for the situational questions and very strong troubleshooting skills. However, for less experienced candidates, make sure that they are comfortable working with computers and have a basic knowledge of databases. A.B.S. in Information Technology or Computer Science is an asset as well as any previous customer-service experience. 

It is important to understand that you are looking for more than only technical skills when you hire Help Desk Specialists. This role revolves around clear communication and critical thinking. For instance, qualified candidates should be able to find efficient solutions to problems and have a genuine interest in delivering great customer service. Furthermore, they should have organizational skills, be composed and empathetic. Also, if they need help, they should be able to express that and ask their colleagues for help.

You could utilize the below questions to assess your candidates and their expertise and knowledge in how they troubleshoot problems and understand IT functionality. If written communication is an integral part of this role, then you should add a written take-home assignment as part of the hiring process. This assignment could include asking them questions by walking them through a process or seeking a paragraph explaining a basic IT term or a concept.

Operational and Situational questions:

• What are some of the customers’ types that you have worked with at your current or previous job?
• What is your favorite operating system to work with and provide the reason?
• What are some of the desk tools that you used in your previous positions?
• What tools have you previously used for logging and dating calls?
• What are the methods that you follow to keep your knowledge up to date in regards to products and services?
• If a caller reports to you that their monitor is not working and has blacked out. What would you do to troubleshoot?
• What would you do if you were put in an incident where a caller has destroyed a product and is now asking your company to fix or replace it?
• Tell us about a time when a caller called to ask for a refund. How did you respond and what was the outcome?
• Explain to us in detail the steps you follow to add a new printer to a user’s network.
• Tell us about the steps you take to install antivirus software.
• Describe to us the worst and most difficult customer you had to deal with. How did you handle the stress and what was the outcome?
• Walk us through a time when you solved an issue with an angry customer. What exactly was the problem? And how did you handle it?
• Tell us about a time when you had to step in to help a desk call with one of your team members.
• What do you do if you’re not able to answer a help desk call?
• Tell us about your knowledge regarding our products? Have you noticed or come across anything that may create problems for our clients?