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Technical interview today

S

spidey07

No Lifer
This was probably the toughest technical interview I've ever had. The guy on the other end had 20 years experience. We joked about thin and thick ethernet. Here's just a sample...it was tough!

What layers does MPLS sit at/between?
What is PIM, how does it work?
What does BGP local preference do?
What causes flooding in OSPF? How do you recover a disconnected backbone area?
What happens with a native vlan mismatch?
What must you always do when redistributing routing protocols?
What layer does ARP operate at (kinda a trick question, but a good one)
In a Cisco VSS what is dual active and how does role resolution work?

 
Ouch. I have had an interest in getting into IT, specifically networking, and this thread reminds me just how far away from that I am.
I cannot answer any of those questions. 🙁

I thought I was set just knowing TCP/IP, and the basics of routing and DNS. But stuff like this is way over my head. 🙁


Edit: Isn't ARP layer 2?
 
VirtualLarry - this was for a position that required 10 years experience. No way in hell would junior or even senior position ask you this or require you to know it.

And you get a cooking for ARP being a layer2 protocol. :cookie:
 
Core networking like that is on my list... After I finish my masters I think.

MPLS is between 2 and 3

ARP is layer 2 like Spidey and Larry said

Mismatched Native vlan can make packets appear on other vlans than they are supposed to. I remember reading that leaving the native @1 was considered insecure because packets could cross vlan boundries if the switch got
confused and decided to dump the packets in the native. I am sure there is more to it but I always remember to set the native vlans to something other than 1 and to be the same on both sides..

I have no experience with OSPF (very little at least. set it up had it work, never needed to fix it type thing)

 
Just curious...what was your answer for a partitioned area 0?

Here's a question that got me:
When a Cisco & a Juniper routers are placed into a broadcast network w/ default settings, who wins the OSPF DR selection?

Another one:
You're trying to redistribute static routes into OSPF.
Despite of having "redistribute static" statement under OSPF process, the routes just aren't being distributed.
What could be the problem?
 
problem is you didn't define a cost for the statics or if they are E1 or E2 routes.

Repair backbone area by tunneling if you can
 
hm...didn't think you'd need to define cost/metric for static --> OSPF.
Anyway, the answer was:
No "subnet" keyword.
By default OSPF only redistributes classful networks unless you do "redistribute static subnets".

Any takers for Cisco vs Juniper in OSPF DR selection?
 
You have a default route on a ASBR. You are redistibuting static subnets into OSPF. Why is this default route not learned by any other area or router?

The only stab at the cisco/juniper thing would be the lower router priority but you'd have to know what the default is for each of them.
 
Not 100% on this, but I believe OSPF behaves similarly to BGP in regards to the default...need to do default-information originate.
 
The only stab at the cisco/juniper thing would be the lower router priority but you'd have to know what the default is for each of them.
Click to expand...
That's it.
Cisco's interface default priority is 1, while Juniper's is 128, so w/o changing anything, Juniper wins and becomes the DR.
 
Originally posted by: Cooky
The only stab at the cisco/juniper thing would be the lower router priority but you'd have to know what the default is for each of them.
Click to expand...
That's it.
Cisco's interface default priority is 1, while Juniper's is 128, so w/o changing anything, Juniper wins and becomes the DR.
Click to expand...

Did I answer the question enough for it to count? This guy was really sharp and if I didn't know something right off the bat I would think out loud and try to deduce it. If I was on the right track he'd just say "ok, you got that one, good enough" or even steering me a little "dude, you're thinking about it too hard, this ones easy"

Got an opportunity presented today, we'll see what happens. Don't know if I want the travel associated with it, maybe I'll work from home on engagements.
 
Originally posted by: Engineer
Good Luck Spidey.
Click to expand...

I really didn't want to swing the direction of this thread. But if I can encourage and help others so be it.

The market is fucking ripe for the picking for strong networking folks. It's opening up big time and it's happening fast. Get those resumes updated and go hunting.
 
The market is fucking ripe for the picking for strong networking folks. It's opening up big time and it's happening fast. Get those resumes updated and go hunting.
Click to expand...
Could you please tell us which geographical area you're referring to, or is it in general?
There's very few positions for experienced network people here in Western PA...maybe I need to move...

Did I answer the question enough for it to count?
Click to expand...
Totally.
Unless it's something really basic, it's not reasonable to expect a candidate to memorize every detail.
 
Originally posted by: Cooky
The market is fucking ripe for the picking for strong networking folks. It's opening up big time and it's happening fast. Get those resumes updated and go hunting.
Click to expand...
Could you please tell us which geographical area you're referring to, or is it in general?
There's very few positions for experienced network people here in Western PA...maybe I need to move...

Did I answer the question enough for it to count?
Click to expand...
Totally.
Unless it's something really basic, it's not reasonable to expect a candidate to memorize every detail.
Click to expand...

Regarding market/area. It's about to blow up. You can't constrain yourself. It's blowing up. The demand for really strong networking folks is strong.
 
spidey07,

>The market is fucking ripe for the picking for strong networking folks. It's opening up big time and it's happening fast. Get those resumes updated and go hunting.

I'm seeing this too.

Cooky,

Unless you like driving/flying, being nearer to a major metro area (esp one rich in fiber) is a good idea for senior networking jobs.
 
I was looking at DC metro and Herndon, VA areas...anyone know how the senior networking job market is like there?
Seems to be a lot of government related jobs...many of them require security clearance, but how the heck am I supposed to get it w/o any a current sponsor?
 
Originally posted by: Cooky
I was looking at DC metro and Herndon, VA areas...anyone know how the senior networking job market is like there?
Seems to be a lot of government related jobs...many of them require security clearance, but how the heck am I supposed to get it w/o any a current sponsor?
Click to expand...
Monster.com: How to obtain a Security Clearance

"You cannot obtain a security clearance for yourself. Your current or prospective employer has to do this for you. Since the process is costly and time-consuming, organizations won?t do it unless it?s absolutely essential. "

It doesn't normally take long to get a Secret or Confidential clearance. Special clearances can take a while.
 
Originally posted by: Cooky
I was looking at DC metro and Herndon, VA areas...anyone know how the senior networking job market is like there?
Seems to be a lot of government related jobs...many of them require security clearance, but how the heck am I supposed to get it w/o any a current sponsor?
Click to expand...

Try some consulting / temp / contracting agencies. If you have a good background, they will spring for the clearance(es) to provide "skilled, ready labor."

Temp / contracting is not always a fun gig, but if it'll get you the clearances you want/need, it might be worth it.
 
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