ITIL certification & interviewing for a job
How knowledge of ITIL can help you ace questions during an interview
When most people think of ITIL, the tendency is to envision it as something that only reveals its usefulness “on the job”, so to speak. However, the truth is that your accumulated knowledge of ITIL is also extremely useful during a job interview or employment meeting. This is assuming that you are an IT professional and have completed some type of certification program (in ITIL) of course.
First off, let’s try to imagine things from the point of view of the individual who is conducting the employment proceedings. Their goal is not only to find a candidate that is motivated, intelligent, and a team player; today’s employers want specific examples of how you can improve and / or maintain their operation(s). This is actually very good news for those who have really absorbed the foundational / fundamental concepts of ITIL.
You have to keep in mind that the ITIL itself is a representation of a staggering amount of personal, private and public research. Likewise, one could say that the ITIL is nothing more than a collection of the best cutting edge concepts and proven processes. To make an illustrated comparison – if you were studying art, who would you rather learn from, a master painter who changed the way we think about things, or your local professor? (This is not to say that academics are not valuable, they certainly are, only that you can expand your understanding considerably by immersing yourself in the knowledge of the truly great.)
Engaging an ITIL training / certification program is an affirming experience for IT careerists. You see, ITIL isn’t merely a collection of the best methods for maintaining, managing, improving, or initiating IT infrastructure, it is kind of like a living constitution. It’s living in the sense that newer and better concepts and practices are being added to it all the time; herein resides the power of ITIL.
Let’s examine some common questions that one might encounter on an IT-related job interview. Conversely, IT personnel and managers can use there questions to determine whether or not their team might require additional ITIL training:
- Can you outline the stages of the ITIL/IT lifecycle(s)?
- Can an entire IT organization become certified in ITIL?
- How can ISO 20000 reinforce ITIL?
- Please elaborate on various testing methods / procedures.
- What is normally included in a Service Level Agreement?
- Elaborate on how ITIL can add value to any business model.
- Explain how an IT department steeped in ITIL can speed up the delivery and production of new services.
- Please provide specific examples of IT “services”.
- How might peripheral services be used to better this organization? Can you provide examples?
- Can you name a risk that might occur whilst designing a service?
- Describe the purpose of service management.
- Detail how ITIL works to eliminate significant or perceived risks.
- Please detail various varieties of Service Level Agreements.
While undertaking an ITIL certification course you will gain a much better understanding of how specific elements of IT infrastructure (and individual duties) fit into the grand scheme of things; in other words, you’ll learn to look at things from the “big picture”. For instance, acceptable solutions for certain situations might be presented, but only those with a broad understanding of ITIL might be able to ascertain if they are long-term compatible with other components and goals.
ITIL wasn’t created to sell certification test vouchers or educational materials; it was created to facilitate forward-thinking worldwide change and continuous improvement in IT. Through ITIL, various IT departments around the globe are stepping up to meet the challenges of business and industry. New solutions to serious issues are being shared amongst everyone thanks to reference tools like the ITIL. The cumulative effects of this “shared knowledge” are new emerging standards and the implementation of fresh ways of conducting business. Arguably, ITIL is significantly contributing to the stability of world markets in that more and more organizations are coming to depend on automated services and IT technology to perform daily business.
Those who have truly absorbed the foundation elements of ITIL are not only prepared to respond to virtually any line of questioning that an interviewer might throw at them, they’re also empowered from a career perspective. The latest and most up-to-date version of the ITIL, the 2011 edition, has addressed many of the issues laid out by the training community. ITIL 2011 is more complete, thorough, and organized than ever before; whether you are just discovering ITIL for the first time or perhaps updating your knowledge base, ITIL 2011 is the way to go.