Interview guides

Help Desk Technicians

Evaluate tech support pros on problem-solving, service, and systems knowledge.

Know what level of Help Desk Technician you need

Based on your IT support and organizational structure, your Help Desk Technicians will be categorized into Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3.

Tier 1: These help desk technicians offer basic resolutions and delivery to solve usage issues and customer requests that involve IT. Typical Tier 1 Support calls can range from password resets, hardware repair, printer and Windows end-user support including Office 365 administration. If there is no easy solution to the problem, issues are escalated to the next level of help desk technician. These candidates may not have extensive IT backgrounds but are trained as problem-solvers who rely on scripts and follow processes.

Tier 2: These help desk technicians have more experience than the previous tier meaning they can offer more extensive technical support. With more in-depth knowledge of the product/service they can resolve more complex issues. Typical Tier 2 support requests could involve “light server” support, Active Directory, Office 365 administration and deployments. Although they have a stronger IT background than Tier 1, they are not able to create the product, or recreate issues from a programming perspective so there is still a knowledge gap of all the detailed ins and outs. Issues they cannot resolve will be escalated to Level 3 support.

Tier 3: These help desk technicians are considered experts and are more senior in their departments. They have the technical abilities to recreate issues if needed to try to uncover the reason and cause. Known to be excellent critical troubleshooters, Tier 3 Support is often involved in IT projects that include cloud migrations, routing and switching and security. Being highly skilled, they are usually the most senior architects and engineers who were big contributors to building the product or services. If new fixes are uncovered, they are documented to be used by Level 1 or Level 2 help desk technicians to resolve these issues in the future.

Questions for Help Desk Tier 1
  • What customer issues were addressed at a Tier 1 level in your role?
  • How was information recorded or tracked? What type of ticketing/reporting systems have you used (Jira, ServiceNow, Zendesk, Freshdesk)?
  • When troubleshooting, what procedures were you expected to use (screenshots, knowledge base steps, AI chat suggestions)?
  • How did you provide client support (phone, email, chat, remote assistance, in person)?
  • How have you handled a language barrier when solving a problem remotely?
  • Have you configured hardware (PCs, printers, mobile devices)? Please explain.
  • What commercial (COTS) desktop or web applications have you supported (Office 365, Adobe, Salesforce, etc.)?
  • Have you supported proprietary applications? If so, what resources did you use to troubleshoot?
  • What types of issues required escalation to Tier 2?
  • What types of products have you supported (laptops, desktops, mobile devices, printers, webcams, VPN clients, cloud apps)?
  • Have you used AI-driven tools for automated troubleshooting (e.g., Microsoft Copilot for IT, AI chatbots for password resets)?
Initial Questions (Beyond the Basics)
  • In previous roles, were you supporting customers of another firm, customers of the same firm, or was your internal support to employees?
  • Have you provided remote access support or remote repairs? Which tools (e.g., TeamViewer, AnyDesk, Intune, LogMeIn)?
  • What was your average resolution time for customer support, and how did you track this?
  • How do you prioritize clients’ requests? How would you handle two high-priority requests simultaneously?
  • Have you informed management about recurring incidents? How did you report the issue, and what were the outcomes?
  • What hardware or software certifications have you completed (CompTIA A+, MTA, MCSA, MCSE, CCNA, CCNP, ITIL, cloud certifications)?
  • In your last position, what type of issues required research? How did you conduct that research?
  • Describe a technical issue that was not an easy fix. How did you diagnose and resolve it?
  • Have you worked with AI-powered ticketing systems (e.g., ServiceNow with predictive intelligence, Zendesk AI)? How has that changed your workflow?
Questions for Help Desk Tier 2
  • Have you provided onsite support to resolve issues related to software, hardware, or networking equipment?
  • Which vendor’s networking equipment are you most familiar with (Cisco, Juniper, HP, Ubiquiti, Meraki)?
  • What advanced troubleshooting tasks did you most often handle? Were these escalations from Tier 1?
  • Did you run diagnostic testing or monitoring? What tools did you use (e.g., SolarWinds, Nagios, Splunk)?
  • Have you supported or configured servers? Do you have experience with mirroring, backup systems, or cloud-based storage?
  • Were you required to run System Diagnostic Reports as part of monitoring systems?
  • Have you worked on email servers (Exchange, Microsoft 365, Gmail for Business, SMTP)?
  • Have you used disk imaging or deployment software (Clonezilla, Acronis, SCCM, Intune)?
  • Have you supported network connectivity issues (LAN, WAN, Wifi, VPN, firewalls)?
  • Have you worked with secure file transfer systems (SFTS, SFTP, OneDrive/SharePoint with encryption)?
  • Have you used AI-based endpoint detection and response (EDR) systems (CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Defender AI)?
Questions for Help Desk Tier 3
  • What expertise have you acquired to achieve an expert-level support role?
  • How do you approach resolving complex problems that may not have clear documentation?
  • If you cannot find a solution, what steps do you take? Do you collaborate with developers or vendors?
  • Have you supervised Tier 1 and Tier 2 team members? How did you support their growth?
  • Have you created documentation or SOPs (manuals, runbooks, AI-powered knowledge bases) to increase productivity or standardize solutions?
  • Were you able to recommend site-specific enhancements or propose costed fixes?
  • Have you participated in projects to uncover preventive measures for recurring issues?
  • Have you used deployment software (e.g., SCCM, Intune, JAMF, Autopilot)?
  • What types of deployment/migration projects have you led (Windows 11 rollouts, O365 migration, cloud app migrations)?
  • Were you required to run System Diagnostic Reports as part of ongoing monitoring?
  • Do you have experience with advanced network configuration (VLANs, routing, Wifi, VPN, firewalls)? Which vendor gear are you most confident with?
  • Are you an LRA (Local Registration Authority) or have you supported encryption/authentication certificates?
  • Have you set up or configured servers (Windows, Linux, Azure, AWS)? Did you manage mirroring, high availability, or backup strategies?
  • Did you work directly with vendors or manufacturers to troubleshoot issues that couldn’t be solved internally?
  • Have you used AI-powered monitoring or predictive maintenance systems that alert you to issues before they happen?

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