Top 20 Networking Interview Questions and Answers in 2024

Editorial Team

Networking Interview Questions and Answers

Obtaining employment in computer networking necessitates a particular set of skills and experience. You will most likely be asked questions during the interviewing process that will test your knowledge and give idea about your personality.

In this article, we’ll go over the most critical and commonly requested top 20 networking interview questions and answers, along with specific examples to help you remember them. This will help you achieve success in your networking job interview questions.

1.  Why are You Interested in This Role?

This general question is usually asked earlier in the interview to begin a conversation, discover further about your background, plus gather some information for upcoming queries. This will give you the chance to talk about why you want to be a network officer and to lead the topic in a direction you’re confident with.     

Sample Answer

I’ve always been fascinated by computers since I was a kid. I was captivated by how various platforms might interact and exchange information with one another. During high school and university, I was enthralled by the subject. I decided I will work in this industry since I was a child. I concentrated on networking and attended courses in this field. During my university, I was also offered to keep our university network up and running. I applied for this position because of my passion, education, and experience.”

2. What are the Roles of Networking Professionals?

Network Engineers are often allocated to project management teams operating with external clients or will work in-house. They collaborate with Business Analysts, Network Architects, and IT Managers as members of an organization’s IT team. As a result, a Network Engineer job role could include:

Sample Answer

 “Designing and deploying new network solutions, as well as enhancing the efficiency of existing networks, are the primary responsibilities of networking professionals. Network equipment such as routers, proxy servers, switches, WAN accelerators, DNS, and DHCP are installed, configured, and managed. Purchasing network equipment and overseeing network installation vendors. To enhance network privacy and accuracy, configure firewalls, routing, and switching. Continuous monitoring and troubleshooting to improve network performance. Organizing upgrades on a regular basis, and much more are included in the job description of Network professional.”

3. What are the Qualities That Networking Professionals Need to Be Successful?

Many people offer advice about what it takes to be good at networking guy (including me). One thing that is left out of that equation, however, is what the average person thinks about what it takes to be a better networker. Interviewer here wants to know whether you have any idea about the qualities that a networking operator should have or not.

Sample Answer

 “Networking professional should be a good listener. He must have positive attitude. He should have collaborative skills. He should be sincere and authentic. He should follow up with daily routine emails and other extra duty tasks. Apart from this, he should have strong grip over his skills to resolve any networking issues that might arise during his or her career.”

4. What Major Challenges Did You Face During Your Last Role? How Did You manage Them?

In the field of information technology, a computer network is the foundation for connectivity. Throughout this career, you will face a variety of challenges. The interviewer wants to acquire a sense of your thoughts and learn about the challenges you’ve faced and how you dealt with them.

Sample Answer

 “In my previous job, we frequently experienced network data integrity and speed loss, which is typically caused by poor transmissions and its typically known as performance degradation. Every network, smaller or larger, has performance issues. However, large networks have a higher rate of performance degradation since communication must be formed over a larger area and with the support of several network devices. Due to my networking knowledge and the use of numerous networking devices, I was able to resolve this issue.”

5. Describe Your Daily Routine as a Networking Professional?

There are many things going around in the daily life of networking person. They have to constantly monitor networking performance and maintain the stability of the network. The interviewer will develop a viewpoint from this question that whether you have sufficient knowledge regarding networking or not.

Sample Answer

 “My entire day is spent resolving network, VPN, and webfilter issues raised by the Computer Operators. Resetting the Business Unit VPN router now and then, and keeping an eye on the Firewall Logs to see if there are any issues. Monitoring Uptime and Bandwidth/IPFlow, monitoring programs to identify and resolve issues, as well as establishing Tcp connections for System Admins. For goods and other items, I’m inputting DNS entries and DHCP Reservations. The system is being expanded, and IPSec connections to remote monitoring entities are being built. Creating new/better/faster ways to do the above activities, and so on…”

6. Describe Briefly About Your Experience

This question is often asked to get maximum detail about your professional and practical life. The interviewer needs to know that what you have been doing in the past and either that will be beneficial for the firm or not.

Sample Answer

 “I’ve been working for ABC Company for the past five years. My basic duty over there was to monitor the network and keep it up and running. I have a computer related degree and I am very much passionate about it as well. I have performed various networking activities in my university projects as well for which I was awarded with the certificated that are submitted with the resume. As mentioned previously in my daily routine activities during my job, you can get an idea what I’ve been managing in the past.”

7. What Kind of Strategies and Mindset is Required for This Role?

This question is asked by the interviewer because there are different types of applicants, applicants with short term goals, and applicants with the long term goals. These time frames are determined by the strategies and mindset that applicant carries. So the best answer to this question and this circumstance can be:

Sample Answer

 “In order to grow within the organization, networking professional should have good communication skills. He should be a good listener and must keep himself active throughout the job as every other member is looking towards him during any network error and employee performance is depending upon him. The strategies that are needed for this role include constant knowledge upgradation. He should constantly keep himself update with the latest trend in network technology to avoid mishaps.

8. What Is the Biggest Challenge That You Foresee in This Job?

The interviewer wants to know if you think there will be any challenges in the current organization. This will also give him an indication of the type of difficulty you think will affect your performance.

Sample Answer

 “I have a strong grip over my subject. The biggest challenge that I foresee in this job is that I am observing that you have lots of employees but few networking tools. So the challenge that I am assuming is convincing the bosses to make arrangement for those tools. I don’t know how they react to this thing.”

9. How Do You Stay Motivated in Your Work?

The interviewer wants to know why and how you’re motivated to reach corporate goals and succeed at work.

The hiring manager will also want to know if the things that excite you connect with the corporate objectives and the job you’d be doing.

Sample Answer

“I’m really driven by results. I like it when I have a concrete goal to meet and enough time to figure out a strong strategy for accomplishing it. At my last job, our yearly goals were very aggressive and my main objective was to maintain and develop the security firewalls for our projects. I worked with my manager and the rest of my team to figure out the ways and build a strategy for meeting the desired goals. It was a real thrill to accomplish that.”

10. Describe a Time When You Failed in This Role and The Lesson You Learnt?

The most important reason for asking this question is to see how you handle situations and what your caliber is. Your recruiting manager is interested in hearing about your solutions now that you’ve had that experience.

Sample Answer

 “At my previous job, I was responsible for network security, which included checking firewall logs to prevent system crashes caused by malware or other viruses. I was going well until I mistakenly outsourced this duty to my subordinate, who failed to indicate that, due to my rank, he would not be able to handle or interpret the log problems. After a few days, the entire system crashed, and I understood that I should have questioned him first and not assigned him tasks without sufficient training.”

11. Why Do You Feel You are The Most Suited for This Role?

Interviewer wants to check your level of confidence and skills and the main aim of this question is to ensure that company gets the right person for the right job. You can tell about your expertise and how they will match and benefit the organization.

Sample Answer

 “I believe that my background in technology, particularly in the networking industry, qualifies me for this role. In my prior position, I was in charge of network maintenance and updates. This necessitated keeping the records up to date and gathering information on planned activities on a regular basis. What pulled me to this position with your organization was how much I appreciated what I was doing. I’d love to apply everything I learnt there in terms of technology and networking to this position.”

12. Share with Us Your Greatest Achievement.

Recruiters may pose a variety of interview questions to discover more about you. “What is your biggest achievement?” is one of these questions.

Recruiters ask this question to learn more about your previous work experience and what accomplishments you consider to be the most meaningful and noteworthy. Interviewers want to know about your work ethic, basic principles, and examples of your work when they ask about your greatest achievement:

Sample Answer

 “At my previous job, our networking department lost a Network Administrator owing to a transfer. He was the networking job’s lead networking officer. Unfortunately, none of the other members of the team had the required experience to handle or work for that position. I agreed to take on the main role for that position because I had prior networking experience. I collaborated with the rest of the team and managed all of the difficulties until the next networking administrator was appointed. I was able to handle it successfully, and my firm praised me for it and awarded me a bonus for it.”

13. Explain LAN (Local Area Network)

From here, the interviewer will start to assess your technical knowledge regarding the position for which you have applied. So give short but good answers to all these questions.

Sample Answer

 “LANs are commonly used to connect computers, laptops, and other gadgets, allowing them to share data and files. Enterprise networks are LANs that are used by businesses or organizations. There are two main types of LAN networks: wireless LAN (which uses Wi-Fi to eliminate the need for cables) and wired LAN (that uses LAN cable). Wireless LANs are becoming increasingly popular in regions where laying cable is challenging.”

14. Tell Me Something About VPN (Virtual Private Network)

VPN’s are used to search privately. They are often used to access those websites that are blocked. The interviewer wants to assess your technical knowledge and it is one of the most basic questions. 

Sample Answer

 “The Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a private internet-based Wide Area Network which is commonly known as WAN. It enables the building of a secure tunnel  or protected network) via the internet across separate public networks. A user can connect to the company’s network offsite by using the VPN. “

15. What Are The Different Types Of VPN?

There are various types of VPN’s but normally users do not know about its types and kinds. As you are applying for networking, interviewer will ask few technical questions that are the part of your subject.

Sample Answer

 “There are basically four types of VPN’s, which are:

Access VPN: Access VPN is a type of virtual private network that allows offsite mobile users and telecommuters to connect. It can be used as a substitute for dial-up or ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) links. It’s a low-cost option with a large variety of connectivity options.

Site-to-Site VPN: A Site-to-Site VPN, also known as a Router-to-Router VPN, is a type of VPN that allows large enterprises with many offices in different locations to link their networks. There are further two subcategories to this:

  • Intranet VPN: An intranet VPN connects offsite based in various geographic areas using common infrastructure and the same security standards as a private Wide Area Network.
  • Extranet VPN: Extranet VPN connects intranet users, vendors, consumers, collaborators, as well as other groups via dedicated connections utilizing shared infrastructure.”     

16. What Are Nodes And Links?

Nodes and Links, both are use to create communication inside the network. These are the basic, yet most important questions that every interviewer will surely ask.

Sample Answer

 “A node is any device that communicates in a network. In a network, a node is an intersection point. Inside a network, it has the ability to send and receive data and information. Pcs, laptops, printers, routers, modems, and other nodes are examples of nodes.

A link, also known as an edge, is the connection between two nodes in a network. It specifies the type of connection (wired or wireless) between the nodes as well as the protocols that allow one node to interact with another.”

17. Describe the OSI Reference Model

OSI Reference model questions are slightly bit complex and more advance questions. The interviewer is basically getting the idea that how far you have correct and advance knowledge of the field.

Sample Answer

 “The Open System Interconnections (OSI) model is an ISO-based network architectural model. The OSI model is named by the fact that it is concerned with linking systems that are flexible with other networks. They are created to make a new layer if a different abstraction is needed, each layer can or should have a clear function, and the function of each layer can be selected on the bases on internationally standardized protocols.”

18. Describe the HTTP and the HTTPS protocol?

This is a unique question that every interviewer asks but often less mentioned on the sites. It is sure that you will encounter this question and the correct answer for this one is just a basic definition. Try not go too long for this simply define the terms and their functions.

Sample Answer

“The Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a set of rules and standards that govern how data can be exchanged over the Internet (WWW). It facilitates communication between web browsers and web servers. It’s a stateless protocol,’ meaning that each instruction is unrelated to the one before it. TCP provides the foundation for HTTP, which is an application layer protocol.

The HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure, sometimes known as Secure HTTP, is a secure version of the HyperText Transfer Protocol. It’s a more sophisticated and secure version of HTTP. The SSL/TLS protocol is used to add security on top of HTTP. It supports secure transactions by encrypting information and also assists in the secure identification of network servers.”

19. What are Routers?

Asking about Router is a basic part of interview and this question is often asked in the start or in middle of the interview. You can simply give definition but try to elaborate them a little bit.

Sample Answer

 “Routers are used to link two or more network sections together. These are smart network devices that record information such as pathways, hops, and bottlenecks in their routing tables. They can identify the best data transport path using this information. The OSI Network Layer is where routers function.”

20. Proxy Servers: What Are They And How Do They Secure Computer Networks?

This question is asked because VPN’s and Proxy are different things. They differ on the basis of functions and other characteristics. If you give correct answer to this question then it is sure after going through all this, you will be selected as an employee.

Sample Answer

“Proxy servers are used to prevent external users from detecting an internal network’s IP addresses. Even the actual location of the network cannot be determined without knowing the exact IP address. Proxy servers can make a network almost unnoticeable to outsiders.”

Conclusion

Getting hired as networking officer is not easy. These were the top 20 networking interview questions and answers to help you for the preparation of your job interview.