Application support governs the day-to-day operation of an application. It, therefore, encompasses activities such as offering contact for users and managing the application to ensure that all the service level objectives are achieved.
Application support professionals have a great role to play in the smooth working of the applications. For example, they may optimize the software application performance, perform debugging as well as install updates.
Given these important roles, you need to be adequately prepared before attending an application support interview. Therefore, this article focuses on some of the most common interview questions in application support interviews to give you a good foundation to help you in your interview.
1. Why Are You Interested in This Role?
My time in this field has helped me appreciate human interactions. I like leaving people satisfied by assisting them to solve whatever problems they come across. Through this role, I interact with users and help them solve application-related issues they may have. The satisfaction I get from that is better than any monetary compensation.
2. What Are Some of The Qualities Needed for The Success of This Job?
To have a successful career within application support, one needs to be empathetic with users. In addition, they should exude high levels of patience and understanding as well as outstanding customer service skills. Other qualities are acceptance of ownership, investigation and diagnostic skills, attention to detail, and a proactive approach to issues.
3. What Are the Roles of An Application Support Specialist?
An application support specialist:
- Offer expertise and technical knowledge regarding an application or a group of applications.
- Answer questions from users as well as resolve any issue touching on software applications.
- Offer training on specific applications and the creation of documents.
- Escalate or close tickets depending on the situation.
4. What Major Challenge Did You Face During Your Last Role? How Did You Manage It?
The main challenge I faced during my last role, and pretty much in my entire career, is frustrated customers who sometimes use abusive language. This job demands patience and empathy, and to deal with them, I have to remain as calm as possible. Customer care skills are needed, and once you snap, you lose. I have also learned to be empathetic to the customer’s plights, which has helped me respond to their issues.
5. Describe Your Daily Routine
I report to the job early and take a few minutes on my desk to plan my day. I then attend the scheduled meetings with other IT professionals, where we brief one another on some of the issues that have come up and those that need attention. The rest of my day is spent managing application resolution and attending to system issues that arise.
I also respond to technical problems that require an immediate solution. If scheduled, I offer regular and customized training to different teams within the organization and report for units across the business setting.
6. What Kind of Strategies and Mindset Is Needed for This Role?
The most important strategy for anyone within the application support world is teamwork. This is because most of the problems that come up in applications are abrupt and therefore need the effort of almost everyone in the IT department for a swift resolution. An application support specialist should consequently know how to work with other professionals.
As for the mindset, this job requires someone who has great pride in helping people. Most of the time, application support entails answering queries and helping people out with whatever issues they have regarding applications.
7. What Is the Biggest Challenge That You Foresee in This Job?
I have taken some time and learned how you do things in your organization. I am pleased that your processes are pretty streamlined. Therefore, most of the problems that I have faced in my last workplaces have been curbed.
I wouldn’t pinpoint a given problem at the moment. However, I am sure that with your help, I can handle any obstacle that comes my way regarding this job. I also have vast experience, which helps me manage most of the challenges that professionals in application support face.
8. How Do You Stay Motivated at Work?
When I report to work, the first thing that I do is write down everything that I intend to achieve by the end of the day. I have done that for the last ten years. I, therefore, do my job in a way that will help me achieve everything that I have set out to do. I love meeting my goals and beating deadlines. My love for positive results and passion for the job also gives me enough motivation to execute my daily roles.
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9. How Do You Stay Updated in This Field?
I believe in continuous learning and constant betterment. Therefore, I have always strived to ensure that I am a step ahead in my duties as an application support specialist. I have subscribed to several online journals on application support that brief me of changes and the news I need to know.
I am also part of an application support community where we discuss several matters touching on application support. I also read online papers and blogs on application support at the end of the day to see if there is anything new that I should be wary of.
10. Why Do You Want to Work for Us?
I greatly admire your work culture. I have interacted with many employees from your organization, and they are always in awe of your management. I believe that as an employee, I will deliver better in an organization where everybody feels appreciated.
I also have the needed experience to fit within your organization. I have ten years of experience in system modification and organization that I have gathered from the firms I have worked in. So I know that I can use my expertise to better your organization.
11. Can You Please Walk Us Through How You Troubleshoot a Crashing Application?
Crashing is a common application scenario that I deal with in my day-to-day operations. It is brought about by an unhandled exception that is generated in the application. To resolve the application crash, I rely on two important pieces of information. First, there are Unhandled exception types, also known as the exception code or error message, and the full stack trace for the unhandled exception.
Once these two have been brought to light, troubleshooting an application crash is pretty easy.
12. What Do You Normally Focus on Most as You Go About Your Duties?
I believe that my work should be aimed at making application systems as healthy as possible. Therefore, I mostly focus on data integrity since the only means of making an application system healthy is to have reliable and accurate data.
13. What Did You Do in Your Previous Job?
I was an application support specialist tasked with supporting a gaming platform. The better part of my job therefore focused on solving issues arising from data feeds and attending to any urgent requests by users.
I also used EXCEL formulae and Visual Basic and documented research and performance actions based on what I found out. I further conducted QA testing to provide essential information to those in the superior management.
Lastly, I researched, troubleshot, and responded to clients’ queries as swift as possible.
14. What Types of Tools Do You Use for The Successful Execution of Your Roles as An Application Support Specialist?
I use several tools in my daily work. Some of the most essential are IT management software, telecommunications systems, complex computer systems, and photocopier machine and printers. All these help me in the better dispensation of my roles.
15. What Time Are You Most Available?
I understand that my role as an application support executive requires me to be always available. I am therefore ready to work any shift. I am a pretty flexible worker who has done both day and night shifts in my former places of work. However, I ask for timely updates to put things in order, especially for night shifts.
16. What Makes You Think That You Are the Right Candidate for This Role?
I am a passionate worker. I pursued application support out of my passion for human interaction and helping people solve different problems. I, therefore, believe that I am well suited for this role which makes me the right choice.
I also have vast experience, having been in this field for close to ten years. As a result, I have witnessed lots of changes in this field and helped manage some of the most complex applications in my former places of work. I can therefore assure you that I cannot fail in my duties when given a chance.
17. Could You Please Tell Us Some of The Reasons Why You Left Your Former Job?
My last job was amazing. I learned many things regarding application support, which I wouldn’t have had I not joined the organization. I also managed to create lots of networks that have helped me reach where I am. On top of all that, the bosses were amazing, and we felt appreciated.
However, having stayed in the place for five years, I thought that I needed a change in environment. I wanted new challenges and a chance to get out of my comfort zone, which was my job. But, on the other hand, I also wanted to allow someone to continue with where I had left. Therefore, I tendered my resignation and applied for this post.
18. In Your Opinion, Which Challenge Do Application Support Professionals Face Regardless of The Field?
I would say dealing with angry or frustrated customers is a challenge that cuts across. We are expected to be empathetic to even the most abusive and offensive ones. However, with time, one learns the importance of patience and understanding for this job. Knowing how to calm and deal with these customers is the only way to have a fruitful career.
19. What Are Some of The Cases of Automation That You Have Done on Your System Monitoring Tasks?
I have several examples. However, the most notable are the log monitoring system scripts that I created to track exceptions and a tool that notifies all the stakeholders whenever something ordinary happens within the given system.
20. What Do You Consider Your Main Weakness?
I have come to make peace with the fact that I am a perfectionist. I expect things to turn out exactly how I envision them and beat myself when they do not. This also happens in my daily work as an application support specialist. However, I am also learning to be kind to myself and understand that results differ from what we envision at times.
21. In Your Opinion, What Are Some of the Technical Experience That an Application Support Specialist Must Have?
I believe that every application support specialist must have excellent IT skills that cover different applications and systems. Therefore, this job’s most important technical skills are databases and SQL, and operating systems and platforms.
22. What Resources Are You Currently Using to be Better in This Field?
I mostly read blogs and books to adapt my skills continuously. I have come to like blogs such as New Relic and books on Web Application Security which I find helpful.
23. What Personal Characteristics Do You Possess That Make You the Best Fit for This Job?
I have vast technical expertise and lots of communication skills. Since these two are necessary for this job, I believe that I am the right candidate.
24. Do You Prefer to Work Alone or in Teams?
Most of the positions I have held in my career have demanded that I work in a team. Of course, I can also work alone when situations demand me. However, given my love for human interaction, I find working in a team highly rewarding.
25. If Given the Job, When Can You Start?
I am ready to start the job anytime if given a chance. I have since been cleared from my former workplace, and therefore, nothing is holding me back.
Conclusion
These are some of the questions that you can expect in a support specialist interview. Make sure that you think through your responses during the interview to increase your chances of landing the job.