Best interview questions for an IT Helpdesk Technician

IT Helpdesk Technician Interview Questions

An IT Helpdesk Technician is responsible for providing technical support to customers. To excel at this job the candidate needs not only to be extremely tech-savvy but also have great communication skills (and a lot of patience). After all, saying that customers contacting the IT helpdesk don’t always have the best technical skills would be an understatement.

That’s why you want your new IT Helpdesk Technician to have the necessary technical knowledge but also be able to share their knowledge in simple, easy-to-understand terms. To find this unique candidate, you need to fine-tune your interview process and ensure that you ask the right IT Helpdesk Technician interview questions early in the process. Luckily for you, we’ve already prepared a list of such questions for you to use.

When bringing an IT Helpdesk Technician onto the team you need to look out for these skills:

Incredibly tech-savvy with a lot of technical knowledge.
Excellent at (remotely) troubleshooting and diagnosing technical issues
Ability to work under pressure and to always maintain professionalism and friendly communication.

Interviewing an IT Helpdesk Technician

Are you looking for a new IT Helpdesk Technician to join your team? Then you will soon have to invite candidates for a (virtual) face-to-face interview. This interview will help you get to know your candidate better and determine whether they are the right fit for the job. But to raise your chances of finding that perfect fit (and filtering out the candidates that aren’t that great) you need to ensure you ask the correct interview questions. Our IT Helpdesk Technician interview questions are designed to do just that.

Please note: The questions listed below are suggestions for the earlier stages of the application process and for candidates with average work experience. That’s why they are relatively general.

How to open the IT Helpdesk Technician job interview

Job interviews can be nerve-wracking. Even the most qualified, experienced candidates might come across as a bad fit just because their nerves got the better of them. That’s why we always advise you to start the interview with a few easy opening questions that help put the candidate at ease. Starting the interview like this helps set the candidate up for success.

Job Description available

Also see our IT Helpdesk Technician job description

For the interview

A positive opener to start

What has been your journey so far?

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Why did you decide to become an IT Helpdesk Technician?

Behavioral Questions

Can you explain a time when you dealt with a frustrated customer?
Unfortunately, frustrated and angry customers are a large part of the job. It is key that the candidate can appropriately handle this.
Can you tell me about your best experience in a helpdesk role so far?
This question shows you what the candidate values most about their job. What are the types of positive moments that help keep the candidate going?
You’re unsure of the answer to a customer's question. How do you respond?
Sometimes, the candidate won’t be able to help a customer as they simply don’t know the answer. See how they go about asking for help.
You’ve explained the same thing three times but the caller still doesn’t understand. What do you do?
Sometimes the customer simply won’t understand. Will the candidate lose their temper or do they just keep trying?

Soft Skills

What are your main strategies for de-escalating an angry customer?
No matter how great the candidate might be as an IT Helpdesk Technician, they will run into angry customers. Coping with them is an important part of the job.
How do you deal with stress?
During busy days the phone just won’t stop ringing. Find out how the candidate deals with stressful situations.
What do you think are the three most important skills to have as an IT Helpdesk Technician?
This gives you an insight into what the candidate finds important and what they probably see as their most developed skills themselves.

Hard Skills

Can you explain the difference between SQL and NoSQL?
A technical question to test their skill.
Can you explain the difference between ROM and RAM?
Another technical question to test their skill as an IT Helpdesk Technician.
You receive a call from a customer who says their screen turned blue. What do you do?
This is a common question that customers have. See how the candidate will help the customer fix their issue.
What is a BIOS? Can you please explain it to me in a few sentences?
A technical question to further test their job-specific knowledge.

Operational / Situational Questions

Can you please describe what a typical day as an IT Helpdesk Technician looks like to you?
This gives you an idea of what tasks the candidate has performed in the past and how they see their ideal working day.
You have tried all you could to help a customer but you can’t seem to get to the root of the problem. As you tell them you can’t help anymore the customer breaks down in tears. What do you do?
You never know how a customer is going to respond and there is a chance they simply break down in tears because they’ve just had the worst day ever. As an IT Helpdesk Technician, you have to be able to deal with such a situation.
You are talking to a customer via live chat but you don’t understand what they are saying because they are typing in really bad English. What do you do?
Sometimes the candidate simply won’t be able to understand the customer. Do they ask for help, do they simply end the conversation? See how the candidate handles this type of situation.