Rackspace Windows Systems Administrator II Interview Questions & Reviews
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Updated Apr 2, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.
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Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 8 ratings 
“Difficult” Interview
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Interview Experience [?] Based on 8 ratings
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| 1–8 of 8 Rackspace Interviews | Sort by |
Windows Systems Administrator II at Rackspace
Posted Apr 2, 2012
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Mar 2012 in Austin, TX (took 3 days)
The Company is a dream to work and I still want to be a racker...I was not accepted because I have some accent on my pronunciation, the hiring manager is really a cool guy and God will help me to work for this company in the future
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Windows Systems Administrator II at Rackspace
Posted Mar 15, 2012
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Declined Offer
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Interviewed Feb 2012 in San Antonio, TX (took 3 days)
Contacted by KForce (via Dice?) staffing for multiple levels of opportunities in Windows administration. Given an initial tech assessment by KForce (14 Questions mostly trivial admin stuff). Scheduled for a phone interview with a Rackspace Admin (Level III). Phone interview questions were similar to the initial tech screen but more in depth. Scheduled for an in-person interview at the Rackspace campus in SA.
To prepare for the in-person interview I focused on the topics the Kforce recruiter gave me and the questions I had already been asked - Commands, Networking, AD, DNS, IIS, Ports, Clustering, etc. I had about a week to go through some questions I found on the Internet to brush up on areas that I haven't worked with in a while.
The first hour of the interview was with two Level III Admins. This was the fairly difficult part of the interview because the questions, though some trivial and easy, were more scenario based and your answer(s) were not necessarily right or wrong - they just wanted to see your thought process.
The second hour of the interview was with the team lead and manager of the team. The questions concerned mostly customer service and team/cultural fit. Some of the comments made by the team leader made me wonder about work/life balance because it gave off the impression that the team hung out after work and on the weekends a lot. I was answering questions about LAN Parties and Laser Tag which all sound fun but I don't want to feel like I'm not a team player because I rather be working on my house, fishing/hunting or doing whatever I do with my own friends.
Overall the interview process was very professional and the people I met at Rackspace were really nice. I got to tour the facility and see the new slide they installed between floors. The whole experience of getting to interview at one of the top Tech firms was definitely worth it for me.
Interview Questions
Bonus question: How do you update a client who during a test ping is resolving the wrong IP address?
Reason for Declining
Not market or near what I am making.. and it's not like they can't find the talent for that price range. I wish I would have applied and been offered a job at rackspace right out of college - You know before I had bills or cared about salary.
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Group/Panel Interview, a Skills Test and a Personality Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Windows Systems Administrator II at Rackspace
Posted Sep 12, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2010 in San Antonio, TX (took 2 weeks)
First contact was a screening by an internal recruiter. I was asked some generalities about my experience as well as about 7 technical questions. The screening questions were not difficult but were from various aspects of the technical field including clustering, basic DNS, IP implementations in Windows, etc.
I was the scheduled for an online break-fix. I was contacted by phone and provided with the log in information to a Windows server. On the server was a document describing 3 problems with the server and what it should do when configured properly. I was directed to fix those issues while the other admins on the call were observing my work. The issues were not complicated or difficult but did require more than casual understanding of the OS.
After that I was contacted for an in person, which consisted of meeting with two sets of two people. This was basically a "fit" interview. How would you manage a lazy co-worker? How would you handle someone taking things from your desk? How do you manage stress?
And finally, I was brought back to meet with my prospective manager who told me that at this point I basically had the job, as long as we (he and I) got along well and such.
All in all the process was actually rather engaging and dynamic. I had a good time.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
Not much of a negotiation: The offer that they brought to the table was communicated as the best they could offer me. As I found out later, this was likely very true as I out-earned all of my team, of same level, by at least 5k a year.
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Group/Panel Interview, a Skills Test, a Personality Test and a Background Check.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Windows Systems Administrator II at Rackspace
Posted Sep 6, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Aug 2009 in San Antonio, TX (took 1 week)
Interview consisted of 3 parts:
- Phone interview with non-technical HR-type, with basic technical screening questions
- Phone interview with technical resource focusing on the same format
- On-site interviews with groups of techs and with individual manager/senior tech
HR interview was easy and relatively worthless, but probably serves as good screening for serious applicants.
Phone and on-site interviews were good. On-site interview allowed me to demonstrate troubleshooting capabilities and get a feel for the work environment.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
Did not negotiate.
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Group/Panel Interview and a Background Check.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Windows Systems Administrator II at Rackspace
Posted Oct 8, 2010
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5.0
Very Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Aug 2010 in San Antonio, TX (took 5+ weeks)
I had been looking for jobs in San Antonio, as I had already decided that was where I wanted to move to, however I had not yet applied to Rackspace when I was contacted by a recruiter via phone and email. My preliminary phone screen occurred the same day they contacted me later that afternoon. Within one week, I had taken a Skills Test on their HR Portal, and had been contacted for a second phone screen to judge my personality and find out some background information.
I did one phone interview with my current manager and two senior technicians from my team, and that was followed by an on-site interview which I flew out for. The on-site section was actually 2 interview segments, a 1 on 1 with my current manager, and a group interview with the majority of the team members including all the senior technicians from my team. Combined, the on-site interview lasted for 4 hours, and the panel section included 8 people asking me questions.
I found that I fit in very well with the team, we had many common interests, and I felt like these were people I could be friends with, not just co-workers. After the panel interview, I was shown around the office and introduced to everybody, and I feel like everyone was very welcoming. The office was your standard fare for cube farms, but that wasn't really disconcerting.
The best piece of advice I can offer for anybody else interviewing here is that you read up on the company ahead of time, spend some time on the Racker Talent blog, and make sure you fit with the core values of the company. If you're technically proficient, and you are a good fit for the team, you are probably going to be hired. From what I was told during orientation is that most people are rejected due to their fit within the team, not necessarily due to their technical skills. Teamwork and camaraderie are very important in the company culture at Rackspace, and it shows very positively in how you are treated as an employee.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
I found the negotiations very comfortable. They laid out ahead of time what their standard salary band was for the title which I was being hired into, and I took a $1k/yr salary cut to get the cash I needed up front as a bonus for my relocation, which was a sizable sum for my previous situation. The best advice I can give others in the same position would be to simply ask the HR person you're working with for what you want, and be honest about what is most important to you.
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Group/Panel Interview, a Skills Test, a Personality Test and a Background Check.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Windows Systems Administrator II at Rackspace
Posted Apr 12, 2010
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Apr 2010 in San Antonio, TX (took a day)
I was recently interviewed over the phone for Windows Admin II position and didn't get a second interview. Up until that point I thought I was qualified for the position because I have the proper certs but alot of the questions were on load balancing and SQL Database, two topics that weren't really apart of my MCSA courses. I guess I need to brush up on those topics to be better qualified for a position with Rackspace.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Windows Systems Administrator II at Rackspace
Posted Apr 7, 2010 — 1 of 1 people found this helpful
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Mar 2010 in San Antonio, TX (took 6 days)
First a recruiter contacted me and gave a standardized 20 question test over the phone, once I passed that pre-screen I was scheduled for a one on one phone interview with a senior technician. After passing the second interview I was submitted to a pannel interview with management, and several members of the team. Very knowledgable team members, rapid fire questions and no simple answers. Questions were asked then each team member dug deeper into the answer until the limits of my knowledge were reached. Very intense! Marathon intervew, once you make it past the pre-screen and then the actual screen, and a phone interview by pannel; you will be either given a skype video panel interview, or an in person pannel interview. Know the ins and outs of AD, DNS, Group Policy, TCP/IP, Windows Server, Clustering, etc.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
Rackspace hasen't quite grown into a large company as far as negotiations are concerned. Vacation is the same accross the board from senior VPs to interns, no wiggle room on that at all. There are set pay bands for each position, the idea is to find what the max you can get without seeming too greedy. Profit sharing bonus, relocation bonus, moving company, and signing bonus can be negotiated for. This company doesn't seem to play hard to get, the limits of what they can offer are pretty much put out there when the offer is made. More money can be had at other companies doing the same type of work, however Rackspace really seems like a place where one can enjoy the job. To me being happy at the place of work is just as important as making a big paycheck, I'm willing to drop a little bit of pay to enjoy going to work.
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Group/Panel Interview, a Skills Test and a Personality Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Windows Systems Administrator II at Rackspace
Posted Nov 20, 2009 — 0 of 1 people found this helpful
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Sep 2007 in San Antonio, TX (took 5 days)
A lot of people to talk with
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Group/Panel Interview, an IQ/Intelligence Test and a Personality Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
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