Homework for Job interview

chrislevy · 2018-03-21T21:43:42.000Z

Is this a new normal? Or are they just looking for free consulting?

I have been dealing with this one company for a IT Manager which is more like a Network engineer position for the past 3 months. I have had two phone interviews with a period of 4 weeks in between. After the last phone interview, they said they would be getting back to me within 2 weeks, well 6 weeks later I get a homework assignment. This is what they require of me. I am skeptical to do this as it will take substantial amount of time and there is no guarantee of anything. They also have internal candidates which do not need to do this. What are your thoughts? No salary range has yet been mentioned either.
Here is the scope:Complete and submit the related Work Product for your selected tasks by Tuesday at noon. The format and approach are your choice based on your knowledge and expertise. Submit any questions tied to the development of the final products by Thursday midnight.

Item 1: Infrastructure Develop & share a detailed Design Considerations & Requirements document for a 110-seat Schools’ district administrative office, as well as Network Topology design documents. Address the following: Internet connectivity and bandwidth IT Cabling including cabling between the MPoE and MDF, desk-side cabling for laptop docks and VOIP phones. Note that the MDF will also serve as the IDF, given the floorplan Network Equipment to support 1 hard-wired laptop dock connection & 1 VOIP phone at each desk as well as 3 copy pens, each with 1 copy machine, 1 printer; one will also have a postage machine Conference Room AV & Telephony for 8 closed offices, 10 phone booths, 3 large conference rooms, 3 medium meeting rooms, 5 small meeting rooms, 2 mother’s rooms Electrical needs to support IT equipment in MPoE, MDF, IDFs, and end-user stations, including desks, conference rooms, and phone booth

Item 2: Budget Develop and share a detailed IT Budget Model/Plan, including Capital Expenditures, for a new schools as follows: Technology-Focused Middle School Grades 5-8 Will open in summer 2019 with 95 students & 5 teachers, growing 400 students and 35 staff members in 4 academic years. Every teacher will be issued a laptop and cell phone from the school district Assume 20 physical classrooms, 4 physical offices (one main office with 3 ops employees), 1:1.15 ratio of students:Chromebook devices, shared Auditorium, shared Cafeteria, etc. Shared data closets with other building tenants, no shared Internet or network infrastructure - budget as needed for Internet and network needs Define lifecycle for equipment. Articulate recurring vs. non-recurring costs and the non-disc vs. disc plan. Pitch the value of 2-3 student-facing software platforms Include recommended device types for staff members and recommended Chromebook models for students based on needs of schools Include recommendations for central IT Ops as far as additional take-ins for various licensing types (SSO, Microsoft, etc.)

Item 3: Classroom Electrical Safety Presentation for Staff Develop a basic slide presentation to educate teachers and school staff members on electrical safety considerations when working in a 21st-century classroom equipped with an equivalent number of devices to students, a projector, a doc cam, etc. Indicate within the presentation how to report different type of scenarios that may impact electrical safety within the classroom.

Item 4: Performance Improvement Plan Develop a concise but impactful Performance Improvement Plan for an IT Technician (on your imaginary school district team) who has not been hitting the mark. Include areas being addressed, the plan, measurable outcomes, etc.

phil-rowell · 2018-03-21T22:48:12.000Z

Never seen this level of questions for interview , I would be happy to do it subject to job offer and offer was conditional on completing the task to the required level as conclusion of interview. I would either leave it or explain to give the detail required you will be only complete one of the tasks and others can be completed when job offer is made

weirdfish · 2018-03-21T23:49:01.000Z

Help Building an Infrastructure for a New Site What is going on here?

mikerigel3378 · 2018-03-22T01:34:26.000Z

I’ve never heard of an employer asking for this and it looks like a homework assignment from my networking class when I was working on my Masters a few years ago. However, if you are in applying for the top I.T. position there, then the person interviewing you likely only has a vague idea about the technical aspects and it’s up to you to show them you are up for the job.

I was an I.T. Director at a private school, a similar job to what you’re being interviewed for, so I feel that I’ve lived this scenario. On the one hand, I am surprised they are asking for this level of detail but on the other hand I can understand why they are asking these things of you. They want to know that you have the ability not only how to keep the network going, secure and available, but they want to know you understand the needs of an educational institution as well. As a school’s IT Manager, you will be responsible for keeping students safe from bad websites and off the administrative sub-net, etc. Also, you will be looked upon to know what’s happening in tech-ed and you’ll be expected to provide the answers. You’ll have to interface with the top levels (C-Level) of the organization to present and sell your ideas. Yes, you really, really need that proxy server or that content filter but you’ll need to explain why and convince them to spend the money on it. They won’t really care that you need x router but you’ll have to convince them that they need x router, why, and how much it will cost. Not only that, you’ll need to prepare the annual budget for your department and justify the costs there as well. Realize now that you’ll always be competing against all the other departments for money, so you should learn how to make a shiny PowerPoint presentation.

Lastly, if you do get a staff, you’ll have to show the future employer that you can not only manage but that you are a good leader. Again, I think this assignment is out of the ordinary but they don’t have any other way to know except to ask you these questions. They may have had a bad experience in the past or maybe it is for another reason. The bottom line is if you want the job, you will have to jump through their hoops and if you don’t think it’s worth it, don’t pursue it. I think if you have the relative experiences behind you, you should be able to knock this all out it no time. Good luck!

jamesmckinnon6456 · 2018-03-22T12:31:35.000Z

Not unreasonable or unusual for there to be some kind of competency element to a hiring process, and also not unreasonable that it is quite specific and you may find this is the actual real stuff they need someone to do. That said it seems to be that they are making the whole process up as they go along and either have one or more excellent candidates and can’t make a decision or they’ve made a decision and whoever signs off on it has refused until they do some degree of competency assessment.

One question I have is did you ever ask at any time during this process what the next stage would be - always good to ask and to know