10 common tech interview questions (and how to answer them)

Junior tech interviews are far kinder than their reputation. Nobody is going to ask you to write sorting algorithms on a whiteboard for a first-line support role. What they will do is poke at three things: how you think through a problem, whether you can talk to a human being and whether your curiosity is real or a line on a CV. The ten questions below cover most of what you'll face. For each one, here's what's really being tested and how to build an answer out of your own life - build, not memorise, because scripts shatter under a follow-up question and thought-through answers don't.

1. "Tell me about yourself"

The opener that flattens unprepared candidates precisely because it sounds like small talk. They're not after your life story. They're checking you can present yourself in under a minute and land somewhere relevant to the job.

Build a three-part shape: who you are now, what you're good at with one piece of proof, why you're sat here. "I'm in year 13 doing IT and maths. I've been the fix-it person at home for years and I built my own PC last summer, which taught me more about hardware than the course did. I'm after a first proper role somewhere that'll train me properly." Thirty seconds and you've steered the conversation onto ground you chose. Say it out loud until it stops sounding recited, because a calm opener buys you calmer nerves for everything after it.

2. "Why do you want to work in IT?"

The question separating the people who want a career from the people who want a wage. Both are legitimate. Only one gets hired.

Give a real reason with a real memory attached. "I like the moment something clicks. I spent an evening working out why my PC wouldn't boot and when it finally posted I was more pleased than I'd been about anything at school that term." That beats any amount of "I'm passionate about technology". Expect the follow-up - "why us rather than anywhere else?" - so have one honest sentence ready about them specifically: the range of clients they support, the fact they train people towards certifications, the kind of work they do. Five minutes on their website is enough to sound like you looked.

3. "A user rings and says their computer is slow. What do you ask them?"

The signature question of entry-level tech and the one that reveals everything. There's no right answer. There's only a right process.

Think out loud, in order, from the obvious outwards. When did it start? Is it everything or one program? Has anything changed recently - an update, a new bit of software? Does it happen for anyone else in that office? Has it been restarted, actually restarted rather than the lid closed? Then narrow. What they're marking is whether you check before you guess. Say the boring questions first without embarrassment, because the boring questions solve most tickets and the candidate who leaps straight to "I'd reinstall Windows" has already told them everything.

4. "Tell me about something you've built or fixed"

Your best question. If your CV has a projects block, this is where it pays out - and if the interviewer doesn't ask, find a way to offer it.

Pick one thing you genuinely did, then tell it as a small story: what you were trying to do, what went wrong, what you tried, how it ended. The home file server. The PC that wouldn't boot. The script that renamed a few hundred photos. The Discord server with the permissions you spent a weekend untangling. That shape - situation, task, action, result - is the STAR method careers advisers love and it works here because it forces you to end on an outcome. Include the bit where you got stuck. Nobody expects a school leaver to have got it right first time. How you handled being stuck is the actual answer.

5. "How would you explain what a router does to someone who isn't technical?"

Half of a support job is translation, so a lot of interviewers test it directly. The version of the question changes - a router, the cloud, why they need to restart something - but the marking scheme never does.

Use plain words and one everyday comparison, then stop. Avoid jargon completely, even jargon you know, because using it here is the failure rather than the flex. And keep the tone warm: the point is explaining without making someone feel stupid, which is the exact skill they're hiring. If you can make an explanation short and kind, you've answered better than someone with twice your technical knowledge.

6. "What do you do when you can't solve something?"

A test of honesty and escalation. New starters who sit on a problem for three days because they didn't want to look daft cause more damage than new starters who don't know things.

The winning shape is: try properly, then ask well. "I'd give it a decent go myself first - search the error, check whether it's happening to anyone else, look at what changed. If I was still stuck after a reasonable time or if it was blocking someone's work, I'd escalate and say exactly what I'd already tried so nobody repeats it." Saying "I don't know, but here's how I'd find out" is never weakness in a junior. It's the whole answer.

7. "Someone's standing at your desk annoyed while you're already on a call. What do you do?"

The pressure-and-priorities question. Every service desk has this Tuesday, so they want to see triage rather than panic.

"I'd finish the call properly rather than rushing the person on the phone, but I'd catch the person at my desk's eye and hold up a finger so they know they've been seen. Then I'd find out what they need, decide which is more urgent and be honest about timings if theirs has to wait." Acknowledging people is most of the job. Notice what a good answer doesn't do: it doesn't abandon one user for whoever shouted loudest and it doesn't promise everything at once.

8. "How do you keep up with technology?"

A curiosity check dressed as small talk. They're testing whether you learn without being made to, because in this industry the learning genuinely never stops.

Answer with specifics rather than categories. Name the YouTube channel you actually watch, the subreddit you actually read, the course you're actually part way through, the podcast on the bus. One real answer beats a list of impressive-sounding sources you've never opened. If you're not doing any of this yet, start this week and then say so honestly: "I've just started working through a networking course - I'm about a third of the way in." Being visibly mid-effort is far better than pretending.

9. "What's your biggest weakness?"

The question everyone dreads and interviewers keep asking, because both dodges - "I'm a perfectionist" and a shrug - tell them plenty. What's tested is self-awareness plus whether you're doing anything about it.

Pick something real, small and improving. "I used to keep quiet when I was stuck because I didn't want to seem like I couldn't cope. I've got better at asking early since I started helping with the school's AV kit, where waiting just means the assembly starts late." Real weakness, real repair, relevant to the job.

Two traps. Don't pick something that torpedoes the role itself - "I'm not great with people" sinks a support application on the spot. And don't pick a fake one hoping to impress, because "I just care too much" has been heard so often it now counts against you.

10. "Any questions for us?"

Not politeness. It's the final scored section of the exam, as our sitewide guide to fantastic interviews puts it. "No, I think you've covered everything" is a wasted turn.

Bring three written down and genuinely wanted. "What does a good first six months look like in this role?" "Do you support people towards certifications?" "What kind of tickets would I be picking up in week one?" That middle one is the best question a junior can ask in tech, because the answer tells you whether this employer builds people or just uses them. Two minutes of real curiosity at the end regularly outweighs a wobbly answer in the middle.

That's the whole paper and none of it needs charisma - it needs an evening of building answers out loud from things you've genuinely done. Sort what you're wearing with our interview clothes guide, make sure the CV that got you here has a letter to match via the tech CV and cover letter guide, then head back through the tech hub for anything you've skipped. And keep applying while you prepare - browse live tech jobs tonight, because the best interview practice is a real one.