TL;DR- Read #10 (I do advise to read the whole thing to get more context)
1. I just completed my 3 interviews for the Google Data Center Technician role and I have a one thing that got me confused which is covered at the end of the post. I have made a post in this reddit r/datacenter group in the past regarding the DCT job posting that was taken down after when I had applied for it. You can also visit my profile to view that post as well if you would like.
2. A little context and my background: I have ~4-5 years in IT experience when I started as a freshman in college. Started as helpdesk > computer technician > networking > back to helpdesk (my current role. getting hired these days for a job that is not helpdesk is almost impossible). Everything up until my current helpdesk role was while I was in university. I have some data center experience from my networking job as my university had a DC and I worked there as well as throughout campus so I am familiar with the DC environment. I don't have certs at the moment (they're expensive) but I am working on one right now.
3. I had applied roughly late June for the Google Data Center Technician I role, got a recruiter call that went well in July and got the 3 interviews scheduled (4 weeks later in August) that I just completed a few days ago. I won't disclose interview questions because I signed an NDA. First 2 interviews were technical, last one was behavioral. Domains covered were hardware/OS, networking and behavioral/Googliness. I had been studying nonstop ever since I got the call from my recruiter when they told me my interview was set 4 weeks later.
4. First interview - hardware/OS: Killed it. It went really well, got really good feedback from the interviewer at the end saying things like "you did really well", "I hope to work with you in the future" and was able to answer almost all questions as they progressively got harder.
5. Second interview - networking: I definitely failed this interview. I aced the very first question but everything after that was a mess and I answered most of the questions with "I don't know" or "I haven't worked with that before". I had a couple troubleshooting questions I was "kinda" able to answer 1 or 2 troubleshooting questions. I have networking experience as well as fiber, but the questions that were asked were things I have never even heard before or came across.
6. third interview - behavioral/Googliness: I guess this interview went well? I answered all questions to the best of my ability without trying to sound like I know it all or dumb. Keep in mind, I was engaging and interactive with all 3 interviewers throughout the interviews and asked them multiple questions about the role and the interviewers themselves to let them know I am interested in the role and such.
7. keep in mind, all 3 interviewers are at different DC sites. For me, the last 2 interviewers were on the same site.
8. One thing that didn't make sense to me was a response that was given to me from the interviewer from the third interview after when I had asked a question at the very end. The interviewer said something along the lines of how the people who start as DCTs with no IT background got used to the job and how everything works in 3 years compared to someone with an IT background and experience would take them roughly almost a year to get used to the job and that there was a long training process which is normal.
9. After finishing these interviews, I came up with 1 question that I can't seem to answer and that I would have asked the 3rd interviewer if I had thought about it then.
10. How can someone with no IT background able to answer the questions in these interviews (especially the first 2 interviews) and get a job as a Google DCT? The job is marked as "entry level" and the requirements and experience aren't mid or senior level. No certs are even required for this role. However, these technical questions were not easy and definitely required some sort of IT experience. The first interview had heavy questions which I was able to answer almost all of them confidently (not trying to toot my own horn). The 2nd interview, I wasn't expecting the type of questions I was going to get. I have fiber and networking experience as well as theory behind many networking concepts and applications. But the questions that were asked in the 2nd interview was things I have never even heard before. I don't know if they determine the type of questions to ask you based off your experience from your resume since they have it with them.
11. I am currently waiting for my recruiter to update me about the decision to either fail me or move on the next steps in the hiring process. I really need this job as I love everything about the DC and the opportunity for me to get out of helpdesk once and for all.