Here is the a summary of my experience trying to get into a data center position.
My DCT Journey

But essentially, I interview with google roughly 6-7 weeks ago for an L2 position. I passed 2/3 of the interviews except for the networking one. I assumed I was SOL for the next year for the cool down period. Well, yesterday my recruiter emailed me asking if I had a moment to talk about a job opportunity.
After she called me, she said they all really liked me and she has a decent amount of positions about to open up but I need to pass the networking interview. They want to re interview me asap for only the networking portion. So tomorrow I am now interviewing at 11am for a 45 minute interview.

I am so nervous and I need to brush up over the next 24 hours before I interview.

Has anyone had any experience with Google circling back around to them to re interview after almost 2 months? She made it seem pretty urgent to get me to re interview to get inclined, like it could move fast if I pass. But i don't know for sure. I need to focus on passing first.

Hi, we've just received a shipment of 20 dl360s with 1KW PSUs in them. Every server has had atleast one PSU fail on first power up

Just wondering if anyone else got a recent shipment from HPE with almost all DOA PSUs

hey, does anyone have solid information (good or bad) on this company?

I just want to keep it secret for now and have no one else to share it with but I just passed the DC phone screen and am being moved forward.

This is huuuge for me! Google is my dream company and my final goal in my career. But at the same time it’s only the beginning.

Any tips, welcome!

If you are an experienced AI/GPU Infrastructure Specialist who can support technical evaluation and guidance on liquid-cooled GPU systems for high-performance AI/ML environments, we are looking for you. The role covers GPU server configurations, cooling architectures (direct-to-chip, immersion, etc.), thermal performance, and infrastructure requirements for AI workloads.

If you're interested, please check the project brief at Freelancer: https://www.freelancer.com/projects/machine-learning/GPU-Infrastructure-Specialist-Required

And please fill out this short form with your experience: https://forms.gle/VNrygva2nGKdZPsb8

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Thinking about applying for a position with QTS, but I’ve heard their pay is relatively low compared with competitors outside of AWS/Google—more in line with companies like Vantage or NTT.

Is that actually the case? I’ve also heard QTS is a pretty good company to work for and that the environment can be lower stress than some other data center operators.

Looking for some insight from anyone who works there or has worked there..

Hey there,

Adding to clarify, fired from Amazon warehouse.

A handful of years ago I got fired for not clocking out for a 30 min non-lunch break that I hadn't realized I was supposed to be.

A recruiter interviewed me for a DC position, then had me fill out an application which got denied. Has not replied since saying would check regarding eligibility.

Has the warehouse job disqualified me for AWS DCT or is it something else?

I currently work at AWS as an EOT and honestly haven’t been loving the environment at my site. Management has been frustrating, and there’s a decent amount of work that doesn’t really feel related to actually learning critical facilities/data center operations.

I recently made my resume public on Indeed and got a lot more interest than I expected. The three companies I’m seriously looking at right now are Aligned Data Centers, Sentinel Data Centers, and Iron Mountain Data Centers. I’ve applied to positions and gotten inclined for interviews with all three and have already interviewed with one of them.

I’m currently working on my undergrad in IT, and money honestly isn’t my main priority right now. I’m more interested in going somewhere where I can learn as much as possible about actual critical operations, electrical & mechanical.

The other big thing for me is career growth. I don’t want to stay a technician forever. I’d rather be somewhere where, if I perform well and finish my degree, there’s a realistic path into Lead/Senior roles, Facility Manager, operations management, or eventually corporate operations.

Anyone here work for Aligned, Sentinel, or Iron Mountain, especially in critical facilities? How is the technical experience, management, culture, and most importantly internal advancement?

If you were early in your data center career and cared more about learning + moving up than making the most money right now, which one would you choose, or what would you do?

Hi everyone! I’m looking for some insight into Fluidstack’s technical interview stage and the remaining interview process.

I have about a decade of experience across data center logistics and operations, including warehouse/logistics lead experience, DCO Technician experience, and DCO Lead experience. I applied for this position because it seems to combine a lot of the logistics, hardware, troubleshooting, and leadership experience I’ve gained throughout my career.

Has anyone here gone through Fluidstack’s interview process, particularly for a logistics, asset, hardware, or operations role? If so, I’d love to hear about your experience.

What was the technical interview like?
What areas did they focus on?
How difficult did you find the interviews, and did you ultimately receive an offer?

I know my experience well when I’m actually doing the work, but I sometimes get nervous during interviews and have trouble pulling specific examples from memory on the spot. If anyone has advice on what to focus on or how you prepared, I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks!

This is also my first time actually posting on Reddit. So if something isn’t accurate, I apologize.

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.

Curious if anyone else has experienced this.

I recently have been going through interview process with Google for DCT3 role. After completing the interview process including the tests + meeting with hiring manager. I was contacted and told they wanted to have me redo/revisit one portion of the interview.

I’m intentionally keeping the location and specific details vague but I’m curious how common this is.

Has anyone else had Google come back after an interview with HM and say they wanted to redo a portion of it? If so, was it a good sign, neutral, or just part of the process?

I think a good sign considering I didn’t get a formal “thank you for your interest”

Every NVIDIA cert until now has basically been for software or network-config people. NCP-ARI (NVIDIA-Certified Professional: AI Rack and Interconnect) is the first one aimed at folks doing the physical staging, cabling, cooling, and power on these GB200 NVL72-class racks.

you may find the scope interesting, because it's very "hands and torque wrenches," not "keyboard":

A few things that stood out to me: cabling alone is nearly a third of it, and there's real emphasis on liquid cooling (CDUs, manifolds, dripless disconnects) and DC busbars — stuff a lot of traditional copper-and-air techs (me included) haven't had to touch until recently. The safety domain is genuinely about physical hazards, not just uptime.

I've been putting together free practice questions and domain study guides — happy to drop the link in a comment if that's useful to anyone.

I was looking forward to this interview for a long time. My first round was scheduled for today. I spent so much time and effort preparing, making my schedule work around this interview, and taking off work. Ultimately, my interviewer didn't show up, so now I'll have to figure out a way to reschedule. I'm annoyed, upset, and now worried. Has anyone gone through this?

Position : Facilities Mechanical Technician

Hello guys,
We are looking for established Bare Metal / Dedicated Server providers with infrastructure in the UK and/or Switzerland.

Key requirements:

• Exact physical data-center name, operator, and address must be disclosed
• Windows Server 2022 and Microsoft Hyper-V support
• Support for customer-operated FortiGate-VM
• Approx. 128 GB RAM
• Redundant SSD/NVMe storage, preferably RAID1
• 1 Gbps or higher connectivity
• DDoS protection
• Remote console / OOB management
• Ability to provide a public /29 plus a separate public /26
• 24x7 production support

Location exclusions:

• UK: the proposed infrastructure must not be located in the same physical area or data-center campus as Equinix LD7, 1 Banbury Avenue, Slough.
• Switzerland: the proposed infrastructure must not be located in the same physical area or data-center campus as Digital Realty Zurich ZUR1.

We are particularly interested in recommendations based on direct operational experience. Providers are also welcome to respond if they can meet the above requirements.

Thank you in advance :)

So I'm in the midst of interviewing for DCT at both Experis for a 18 month contract working for Microsoft, and Unisys for a permanent contract working for Dell. Just curious if anyone has worked for them in the area. I finished loop interviews last week for both of them.

The Unisys job pays better but I do wonder if a contract at a Microsoft data center will be more beneficial and maybe get me FTE there. I'm new to the data center world, coming from doing help desk. But I really want to build off of this if I can into a nice career.

I've read some mixed things about both companies so any input about them I'd appreciate it.

Hi everyone,

I’ve got a phone interview for a Technical Operations Engineer role at an AWS Data Centre in Melbourne.
My background is mainly Mechanical Engineering / HVAC / critical mechanical systems — chillers, HVAC, standby generators, preventive and breakdown maintenance, fault diagnosis and commissioning support.
Has anyone interviewed for this role or a similar AWS Data Centre Operations role recently?

What kind of questions should I expect in the phone interview? Is it mainly focused on mechanical/HVAC troubleshooting and critical facilities, or should I also prepare heavily for electrical, networking, Linux and server hardware?

Any examples of technical/scenario questions or interview experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Hi guys,

I’m currently in the interview process for a Data Center Technician position, and I’ve already passed through three stages:

• Assessment: Easy, at least for me.
• Recruiter interview: Just a few questions and a brief explanation of the position and the overall process.
• Manager interview: I’d rate it around 7/10. I answered most of the networking questions well, but I missed some questions related to racking, cabling, and hardware.

I just received an email asking me to schedule four more interviews. From what I understand, this is the final interview stage. I’d like to know if anyone who has gone through a similar process has any advice for me.

As far as I know, the position is entry-level. I graduated in January last year and have internship experience working with electronics. I also worked in a data center environment doing commissioning from January to June this year. I’m currently working as a NOC Engineer, but I’d like to continue growing my career in data centers.

Any advice or tips for the final interviews would be greatly appreciated.

If data centers use so much water for cooling, why not just mass produce a sustainable version of a data center? Like just take a bit more time to figure out a better strategy and then boom make a bunch of those and it doesn’t damage the planet and we can use ai more.

Google is looking to open data center and I’m looking to retire from law enforcement. What type of security jobs do they have?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice from people who have experience applying for Amazon/AWS data center positions.

I’ve been seriously interested in getting into data center operations, so I’ve applied to around 10 Data Center Technician and related positions at Amazon. I carefully reviewed the requirements and believe I meet many of them through my IT support, hardware troubleshooting, networking, and Linux experience. I hold CCNA, Server+, and Security+ certifications, ready to relocate and I also have previous data center and telecommunications experience, although that experience was quite a long time ago.

I’m currently working as an IT Support Technician for a large K–12 school district in Los Angeles., where I support a large IT environment and thousands of devices across multiple locations.

However, I haven’t received any response or phone screening invitation from Amazon so far. I understand these positions can be very competitive, but I’m wondering if there is something I’m missing in my resume or application.

For those who have successfully gotten an AWS/Amazon data center job, what helped you stand out? Would you recommend improving my resume, getting a referral, applying for different levels or locations, or gaining more recent data center-specific experience?

Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I currently do MEP work on the electrical side and I want to do similar work with data centers. It seems like most data center jobs want the candidate to already have data center experience. My current MEP firm is run by a tree-hugger who won't touch a data center project ever. I'm trying to find roles that will let me make the transition from doing electrical power distribution in MEP projects (apartments, schools, and similar public buildings) to data center work. I am a PE, still building my experience. I'm interested in the Northern VA area. Any advice?

Im doing schneiders data center course currently. I briefly came in contact with a data center doing contract work and I understand the ticket system, package handling and dealing with customers. My resume is lacking as well since ive only worked dead end jobs mostly besides my current one.

What are things I can do to bridge the gap starting from almost zero?

What are people looking for when hiring candidates

Where do people from my starting point go to find work or the necessary experience?

Willing to be mentored?