You're about to interview for an IT help desk job. Maybe your first one. You want to know what are they going to ask me? What should I say? And how can I stand out even if I don't have any experience? I've worked at an MSP, sat through help desk interviews, and helped people get a career started in IT. In this video, I'm going to walk you through the exact questions you're going to get in your interview and how to answer them like you've done the job already. Stick around. At the end, I'll even tell you the one answer that's going to separate you from 90% of other applicants. Okay, so the first question, the question you're always going to hear, tell me about yourself. This one's always first. And it's not just small talk. They want to hear, "Can you speak like a professional?" And can you summarize your background? Here's an example answer to this question. I recently finished my Comp Tia A+. I've been building home labs and fixing friends's tech stuff for years. I'm looking to start a career in IT because I enjoy solving problems and helping people. It's in my nature and I'm ready to apply my skills in a professional environment. This works because you hit your technical background, show personal initiative, and most importantly, you position yourself as ready to contribute to the team. You're not saying, "Please teach me." You're saying, "I've been getting ready for this." Second question, a question that you're always going to hear. How do you handle a stressful situation or a difficult user? They want to know that you're not going to lose your mind when Karen's printer won't print and she's really mad at you. And this will happen. Your answer might look something like the following. I stay calm, stay patient, ask clear questions, and let the user know that I'm there to help. I don't take anything personally. I reach out internally for help where possible. And if I'm really stuck, I know my escalation procedures. So, the pro tip here is you want to frame every question as problem, action, result. This structure works every time, never fails. This shows emotional control, communication skills, and that you know your own limits. You got to understand working in tech is 50% tech and 50% people. They'd rather train someone who's calm than someone who's brilliant but panicky. And then a quick caveat, you don't need to answer these technical questions perfectly. They're not hiring a senior engineer here. They just want to see that you can think clearly, stay calm, and troubleshoot logically. Okay, so number three, what's the difference between TCP and UDP? Don't overthink this one. TCP is connectionbased. Think stuff like file uploads. And UDP is connectionless. It's faster, but it doesn't guarantee delivery. Think streaming or voice calls. If things get a little bit choppy for a second or two, it's not the end of the world. This works because you're not reciting a textbook. You're just relating these protocols to real world things. It makes you sound like someone who's used this knowledge, not just memorized it from a book. Number four, a user can't access the internet. What do you check? If you work in it long enough, you realize that the word internet is just very ambiguous. This could mean a million different things. But to answer the question, you're going to go through troubleshooting logic. Don't just jump to DNS. Go step by step. So, the first thing I'm going to be answering is I'm going to ask, is it just one user or is it multiple users? Check physical connections, IP address, ping the default gateway, test DNS resolution, try another browser. Narrow it down layer by layer, starting with the physical. You're showing methodical thinking. You're starting broad and then you're narrowing the problem down. This is what realworld troubleshooting looks like. Again, they want someone who doesn't panic and who doesn't jump steps. Number five, some variant of the question, what is Active Directory? They probably expect a pretty basic answer. Active Directory is Microsoft's user and device management system. This controls login, permissions, and group policy across the network. You give a clean definition. Name the core functions. Don't oversell it. Again, most interviews aren't looking for AD mastery. They just want to know that you've heard of it and that you know what it does. Another question you're going to hear often, why do you want to work here? The best answer. I'm looking for a team where I can grow technically and contribute from day one. I like that your company supports internal training and works with modern tools. And this is going to show that you've thought about them, not just your own gain. You're positioning yourself as someone who wants to grow, contribute, and stick around, which should be the truth if you're going for a job. And then lastly, the question that you're always going to hear and that you always have to have an answer for. Do you have any questions for us? Try something like the following. What does a typical day look like for a tier one tech here? What do successful techs do differently here? What tools or ticketing system do you use? And then my favorite, the one that I think is going to set you apart from everyone else cuz it really shows that you want to be a part of the team, you want to grow, and you want to contribute is, yeah, I do have a question. If my first 90 days here were to go perfectly, what would that look like in terms of performance and culture fit? This flips the script. Now you're interviewing them. Smart questions like this show you're serious, curious, and thinking long term. Most candidates say, "Nope, I'm good." Be better than that. Ask a good, solid question. If you've got an interview coming up, re-watch these questions and practice your answers out loud. It even helps to practice with camera. You're going to be nervous. You're going to feel weird. But 5 minutes a day is going to help and make you more comfortable when the interview actually comes. And if you want more, check out my full how to get into IT playlist. Drop a comment if you've got an interview coming up. I'll help where I can. And subscribe for more realworld IT help. Appreciate you guys. Be safe, be smart, make some good decisions, and good luck with those interviews.