How to hire a System Administrator
What the role does, the job description, the interview questions, and the 40-minute screening pack that tells you who can do the job before you book a single interview.
The role
What a System Administrator does
A System Administrator sits in the IT & Infrastructure function. The sections below give you the job description, the interview questions and the screening pack for the role.
Screen before you interview
The System Administrator screening pack
Linux, Windows, networking and security, with integrity for privileged access. Every applicant gets one link. You get one ranked report.
- 1
A server is down and nobody knows why. Walk us through the first ten minutes.
- 2
How do you approach patching without breaking production?
- 3
Describe your backup and recovery strategy and the last time you tested it.
- 4
How do you manage access and permissions across the company?
- 5
What do you automate first in a new environment?
Interview questions
System Administrator interview questions
For the candidates who pass the pack. Each comes with a sample answer on the full page.
- 01
Tell me about the environments and infrastructure you have administered.
- 02
Why are you looking to move into this system administrator role?
- 03
How do you stay current with operating systems, security, and tooling?
- 04
What does a well-run infrastructure look like to you?
- 05
How do you approach patch management across a large server fleet?
- 06
Describe your experience with automation and scripting.
- 07
How do you design and test a backup and disaster recovery strategy?
- 08
What is your approach to monitoring and alerting?
Frequently asked questions
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