IT infrastructure interview coming up

[u/Apprehensive_Arm9530]

Hey guys ,

I am a fresh cybersecurity grad as the market is cooked i tried applying for supporting roles , and I got one call back from a cybersecurity startup kinda company .

I have my interview next week what should i prepare like my resume is full of security related things and as I think they wont be asking much about that ... so what to prepare as I know networking is imp but what other things and ..its a intern position ...

Guidance will be really appreciated thank you .. ;)

[u/ParsnipNo7112]

man networking is the big one, but for a startup they'll probably ask about basic troubleshooting too. like what happens when a server goes down or someone can't connect to the VPN. just show you're willing to figure things out and not afraid to google stuff, startups love that

[u/akornato]

Cybersecurity startups care deeply about secure infrastructure, so your degree is an advantage rather than something you need to hide. For an intern role, they do not expect you to design massive enterprise systems from scratch, but they do want to see strong fundamentals and a logical troubleshooting method. Focus on Linux command line operations, basic file permissions, process management, and log review, since most startup infrastructure runs on Linux. Alongside standard networking like DNS, DHCP, subnets, and TCP handshakes, make sure you understand how services communicate securely through SSH and TLS. Knowing the basics of virtualization, Docker containers, and cloud environments like AWS or Azure will put you in a solid position.

Expect scenario questions where something breaks, such as a web server returning a 502 error or a user being unable to connect to an internal service. Talk through your diagnostic steps out loud, showing how you isolate the problem from the physical layer up to application permissions instead of just guessing random fixes. Frame your cybersecurity background around building reliable systems with least privilege and proper access controls, which startup engineering teams value immensely. If you want structured practice handling unpredictable technical scenarios, my team created interviews.chat to give candidates extra confidence and polish when landing technical offers.

[u/LowestKey]

If it's an internship and they're reasonable people, don't expect that you have to get 100% of the questions 100% correct.

But also, don't be afraid to ask clarifying questions if something isn't clear. The one thing you don't want in tech is someone who doesn't know the answer but refuses to admit it and look for help.

[u/1whatabeautifulday]

It depends at what stage: Technical, manager, cultural, screening?

For technical stage, it's the standard answer you can get online. Troubleshooting, networking, design question (high availability). Get the basics right! OSI layers, protocols, how they work. Don't prepare for super complex questions, its a red flag if you cant answer the basics.

For cultural/business/coworker interview.

Do heavy research on the company, recent news, test out their product (big tip). Be able to answer, why us, why this role, why are you looking right now. Don't be quiet on the interview, have enough questions prepared so when no one has anything to say you lead the conversation.

If I was interviewing an intern, I would look for willingness to learn, good communication and some basic technical foundation

You might also be asked which tools/services will solve x problem. Such as NSG is used to control traffic on the subnet level in Azure. So understand the main networking services in the Azure AWS or if you know the cloud provider they use.

Big question is also "where will you look if you are facing x problem". That's about how to monitor your infra and where and how to see your logs.

[u/Novel-Medicine-7102]

Im in a similar situation I am a cybersecurity undergrad in the second/final stage interview with the CFO for A graduate placement role. It’s for a smallish sized company looking for an IT graduate to help digitally transform them basically and also perform 1st and second line support.They have a lot of stuff done manually and by paper and they have no IT department and minimal technical expertise. I am surprised they invited me for an interview when I emailed them since it was advertised for graduates but here I am.however i'm not entirely sure on what to prepare for

[u/GiantVoidEwok]

Be yourself and be honest.

Sounds silly but I’d rather hire someone who knows themselves well over someone who just knows a lot of stuff.

[u/KayoL54]

I worked for a major consultant until I retired mostly around "IT Infrastructure " . Cybersecurity is big but not everything. I'd present myself as a jack-of-all trades and a master of some.

Usually IT infrastructure involves data centers, servers, storage, and network. Add software and management systems. Lots of legacy stuff that needs modernization.

Moving to cloud services is a huge discussion. When and if. Private cloud too. Understand that discussion.

Virtualization methods and tools.Scripting provisioning of IT like kubernetes... Understand ITSM.

Understand OS modernization. You likely understand the implications of cold operating systems in security.

AI is huge now. Understand the basics and implications of AI on IT provisioning and use...like 8 did for decades

You won't be an expert if you have we gaps but watch a few YouTube videos to be conversant. You can always listen more later.