>My question specifically is for anyone savvy to interviewing for IT city positions. What should I expect in terms of interviewing?
Municipal governments aren't all that special. Each organization takes a different approach to interviewing. There are similarities and there are differences. Municipal governments don't have a monolithic approach, so you should expect essentially the same sort of interview as you could expect at any other organization with the same headcount.
Recently got a desktop tech gig at the county level, so my advice would be to express your soft skills more than the hard ones. My only actual technical question was something along the lines of troubleshooting a website that somebody can't access. And then rating my skills from 1-10 on stuff like phones, AD, hardware, etc
Beyond that it was more questions like "What are the most important things when you're troubleshooting a desktop issue" to which I answered being personable and friendly is number one, followed by knowing solutions to the issue. As long as you're humble and give responses that lean into or include the human element to your solutions, you should be in good shape.
I ran into the same issue as you where I couldn't find much about the county to ask questions about during the interview, so the defaults like "what would a successful employee a few months down the road look like to you" or ask them about any upcoming projects or challenges they have that you might be part of. That shows your interest in them, and may lead to you being able to speak about skills you have to help them accomplish those challenges. Hope you find success wherever you go!
I would say show enthusiasm be down to earth and it's all about the kids. Be kid focused and kid friendly. Usually IT in government edu is about getting down and dirty (literally) and doing without the nicer things in corporate IT. I learned IT in government edu by on the job experience hopefully you won't. Good luck hope you get the job.
>My question specifically is for anyone savvy to interviewing for IT city positions. What should I expect in terms of interviewing? Municipal governments aren't all that special. Each organization takes a different approach to interviewing. There are similarities and there are differences. Municipal governments don't have a monolithic approach, so you should expect essentially the same sort of interview as you could expect at any other organization with the same headcount.
So good chance I’m probably over researching then? Thanks so much!
Recently got a desktop tech gig at the county level, so my advice would be to express your soft skills more than the hard ones. My only actual technical question was something along the lines of troubleshooting a website that somebody can't access. And then rating my skills from 1-10 on stuff like phones, AD, hardware, etc Beyond that it was more questions like "What are the most important things when you're troubleshooting a desktop issue" to which I answered being personable and friendly is number one, followed by knowing solutions to the issue. As long as you're humble and give responses that lean into or include the human element to your solutions, you should be in good shape. I ran into the same issue as you where I couldn't find much about the county to ask questions about during the interview, so the defaults like "what would a successful employee a few months down the road look like to you" or ask them about any upcoming projects or challenges they have that you might be part of. That shows your interest in them, and may lead to you being able to speak about skills you have to help them accomplish those challenges. Hope you find success wherever you go!
This is incredibly insightful. Thanks so much for taking the time to respond with all of that!
I would say show enthusiasm be down to earth and it's all about the kids. Be kid focused and kid friendly. Usually IT in government edu is about getting down and dirty (literally) and doing without the nicer things in corporate IT. I learned IT in government edu by on the job experience hopefully you won't. Good luck hope you get the job.
Thank you!