What qualifications or experience should I have to begin a technical career in computing?

[Con]

Having recently turned 24 years old and since completed my last IT related college course in 2013, I have spent the past 4 years trying my best to begin a career in IT.

 

I have always been a computer enthusiast and it has been my dream to one day achieve a skill job in Information Technology, but on every interview I ended up being beaten to a candidate with at least 1 year of IT work experience.

 

If there is a course online I can take for additional qualifications which might help, then I would be very interested to find out. I want to spend money on additional qualifications, but I want to be well informed and sure that what I'd be spending money on is actually beneficial towards getting a job.

 

My budget is £3,000 (basically my savings) and I am willing to quit my current job if that's what it takes to gain the right skills. Being an IT technician is the only thing I ever wanted to be professionally and I would give it everything I've got if I knew which direction to go in.

 

I'm looking into networking, hardware and software, but I am open to the idea of starting from quite low down in areas of programming.

 

Let me give you an example of a new entry level IT job I would try to apply for:

Spoiler

IT Assistant 
King Lifting - Avonmouth 
£21,000 a year

IT Assistant Location: Avonmouth Head Office  Salary: Circa £21k, negotiable subject to experience  Benefits: Mobile/laptop, pension, 25 days holiday  King Lifting is a successful company providing crane hire, plant and machinery movement solutions from depots across the UK. We also supply transport and telecoms logistics.  We have a vacancy for an IT Assistant based at our Head Office in Avonmouth. This is predominantly a first line support role however there will be cross over to second and third line support. This is an ideal role for someone who is looking to progress and learn a broad set of skills. Some of our systems are bespoke so training will be given where needed.  Duties to include:  Supporting the IT manager in responding to IT requests in a timely manner Prioritise and escalate calls as required Supporting remote sites at 6 locations across the UK. Some travel may be required Create and manage users in an Active Directory domain Remote and local first line employee assistance via telephone, intranet or in person Troubleshooting day to day IT issues such as laptops, printers, phones, etc. Liaising with external support companies when required, to resolve issues Procurement of new hardware and software from preferred approved IT suppliers Setting up and maintaining new starters: desktops, laptops, desk and mobile phones Maintaining users on the Mitel phone platform Documenting IT procedures and associated administrative tasks Personal Profile:  Ability to deliver IT support to employees on a daily basis using a call management system This role will suit a person who thrives on a busy and challenging working environment with a constantly changing workload Experience with Active Directory, SharePoint and Exchange Highly organised and methodical with a proactive approach Confident and capable of working effectively sometimes without supervision, able to prioritise Good communication and interpersonal skills with employees at all levels within the business, as well as developing relationships with external suppliers Working to deadlines Willingness to learn and develop new skills Hours of work are Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5.30pm. Applications will only be considered from candidates who live within a commutable distance of Avonmouth.

I know for a fact and are fed up of the fact that every time I would apply to a job like this I would either get no response, or a notice I wasn't successful, or sometimes I would get an interview and then be told days later I'm not experienced enough. I feel like I've been so long outside the IT scene that I need to revise things I have learned about how networks work.

 

What I am really trying to find out is what qualifications I can gain that would make an employer look at my résumé and think I was made of the right stuff.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated and I am willing to do exactly what I said to push towards getting an IT job.

 

By the way, I live in the city of Bristol, within the United Kingdom.

[PineyCreek]

You need an entry-level job in support or work in a shop building computers, or a service division (ex. Best Buy Geek Squad (shudder)), or be able to show knowledge from hobby-level endeavors if they take that into account.  My first job was working at Dell technical support in escalations.  It involved networking (the people version) at job fairs, taking onsite-placement tests, etc.  Having certifications also will help you, sometimes as much as a degree or more with certain technical jobs.  Barebones basic certs like A+ and Network+.  CCNAs are good to have too but loads of people have them.  Certifications that people can verify show at least you have a certain knowledge set and will make you more attractive to technical recruiters.  Most job resume algorithms are going to be searching for keywords like that.  You can also use LinkedIn, and pepper your job or hobby history with keywords like for example, CCNA, A+, computer, customer server, technical support, networking, Cisco, ASA, IPS, etc.

 

Also, always have a couple of good questions to ask the interviewer, like, from your perspective, what do you think makes a person successful in this job role?  Always show you've researched the company.

[Con]

1 hour ago, PineyCreek said:

You need an entry-level job in support or work in a shop building computers, or a service division (ex. Best Buy Geek Squad (shudder)), or be able to show knowledge from hobby-level endeavors if they take that into account.  My first job was working at Dell technical support in escalations.  It involved networking (the people version) at job fairs, taking onsite-placement tests, etc.  Having certifications also will help you, sometimes as much as a degree or more with certain technical jobs.  Barebones basic certs like A+ and Network+.  CCNAs are good to have too but loads of people have them.  Certifications that people can verify show at least you have a certain knowledge set and will make you more attractive to technical recruiters.  Most job resume algorithms are going to be searching for keywords like that.  You can also use LinkedIn, and pepper your job or hobby history with keywords like for example, CCNA, A+, computer, customer server, technical support, networking, Cisco, ASA, IPS, etc.

 

Also, always have a couple of good questions to ask the interviewer, like, from your perspective, what do you think makes a person successful in this job role?  Always show you've researched the company.

Thank you for your advice.

 

I really wanted a job in a small shop somewhere to begin with, but none of them where hiring except one company who just messed me about, kept giving me interviews and the boss never turning up to them, or when I would call they would say "He's just literally in a meeting, I will ask him to call you back immediately" and never hearing from them again. There doesn't seem to be many jobs out there in small businesses.

 

I have Cisco ITE, so I could do CCNA and I am more than willing to if I was sure that it would genuinely count towards a job. I also have BTEC Level 3 in Advanced Networking, but I'm not sure how to progress beyond that. I might be able to get a student load and go into higher education if someone can advise me on what would be the most employable.

[GoodBytes]

The problem is the state of the economy.

When hiring a person, the less experience that the person has, the higher the risk is to the company. What type of risk? Asking a senior, more or substantially paid employee to stop what he is doing, extending projected release dates for things, to redo work that has been done by you. In addition, they have a set of budget in the department budget (this includes extra time in project delivery) for a new employee which they estimate is required for ramping up, and any training. This can be 1-2 years worth of budget. If they see they you may need 3 or their budget is, say 6 month, but they see you need 1 year, then you don't fit. Think of this, when a company hires you, to process all the paper work within the company, pay the interviewer, pay your ramping up, training and mentoring (if any), do a background check when you get hired (if any), and so on the company easily spent between 10k to 30k on you. This is added to the risk factor you are in.

 

In the old days, the economy was booming, and the demand was much greater than the supplier, so companies had no choice, but not only that, had the resources to take any hit. The company was seeing and hoping for a long term investment. Basically, as long as you were able to show great passion, and you fit in the team, and company culture, the doors were wide open.

 

So how about your situation? Well, I don't know what experience you have, but you should seek junior level jobs. Yes, they are most likely will be underpaid, and/or crappy and/or a pain to get to. But you do this for 1-2 years, especially if you push yourself, and you should have enough experience to apply elsewhere or same place, but different position that is a better wage and better position. I mean they are many paths you can take once you have experience.

 

Personal experience, personal projects, are not considered work experience. They are considered a bonus to your candidature. Usually they are valued by the team you'll be working with, but HR, depending on the company, and the person, might be valued or not at various level (it is subjective). HR are the first ones to filter your resume. Actually, that is a lie for big companies. Big companies, and now medium size ones even, uses an automatic filtering system. Everyone resume is put in a database, and they go "Windows, Active Directory, VB", and poof results shows. Then they filter them, and then they have a pack of like 20 people, they pick the first 5, do interviews, doesn't work, pick the next 5, and so on.

 

What can you do?

1. Ensure that your resume has all the keywords that they are looking for.
2. Feel free to do stupid things like: "VB (Visual Basic)", to catch both terms used that can be entered.
3. Repetition. If you have works on many things using Visual Basic (again, just an example), don't do "Here is a list of things I have done in Visual Basic:", DO: "Project ABC - blah blah blah. It's amazing. [Visual Basic, Windows 10]. Project DEF - blah blah blah. It's just as amazing. [Visual Basic, Windows 8, Active Directory]", etc. In addition, even if your application doesn't pass through an automated system, your resume is scanned by eye really quickly. You want to ensure that the keywords they are looking for is:
   1. Catches their eye
   2. Goes "Wow, looks like he did a lot of stuff in Active Directory and Windows, and Visual Basic that we are looking for... ok let's put that in the maybe pile, to be read more carefully after, once I am done going through the first filtering"
4. Also, avoids fancy looking resume. They are most likely hard to process quickly, or break automated system from processing your resume. Remember that these automated system are much worst than taking a fancy Word document and opening in a aged old version of OpenOffice.

How companies hire:

• The hiring process, is extremely subjective. They don't like your voice, they don't like your face, they think you are a clown because of your tie choice, even if there is nothing wrong with your tie. It is ridiculous. But that is life. You also have unintentional discrimination, where, the interviewer happens to be the same nationality as you, and you start talking in your language, and you are having a good laugh. Making you stand out, and in their mind as they interview other people, and more qualified people might not stand out, and not kept in mind in their discussion that they have to device who to pick. But again, every people and company are different. Many, these things don't work, as they have a process in place to avoid this. Like you have an HR person with the Manager/Director you will be working with, and has interview policies that everything is in English, and other HR person is there mostly to monitor everything and ensure that everything is subjective. Of course, the HR person will ask you HR questions at some point, to show to you some level of purpose, and well, they are. But it isn't perfect. When someone doesn't like you, it is easy to pick apart potential flaws, and make a long list as to why they pick another candidate over you.
   
• In the computer field, that is: IT, software development, engineering, gaming, interviewing someone is VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY hard. Because, it is a complex field, and HR can't really know everything. There is no engineer, for example, that decided to work in HR. If you get what I mean. And then interview processes are not adapted for those field. I can insure you that all the big tech companies: Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Facebook, Amazon, Google, etc. All continuously try different interview methods every few years. They monitor who they hire, what are the company retention rate, what is the new hire productivity rate, how actually experienced they are, how well they fit in the team, how much training they actually needed, and try different approaches. So if you apply at a time where it is easy for you to nail the interview, great! So there is luck factor too.
   
• Reference by an internal employee is the at most valued. And hire up that person is, the greater your chances is in getting that job. If it is a large company, try and connect via LinkedIn and have a conversation with someone at the company where you can sell yourself, evaluate your profile. Connect with someone that works where you want to work, say how passionate you are, and how much you want to work at the company (give legit reasons). You might fall on someone nice that like really well his/her job, and might spend a moment of their time giving you pointers, or career advice to go in. For example, some certification that is highly valued that they suggest you do. And of course, they might even help you go in via reference, as many company give a nice bonus if the recommended person by the employee is hired. Usually 500-1000$.
   
• If a company sees that it have no references from current employees, or the interview didn't go well for proposed candidature (not who they are looking for), the next stage is Head Hunters. They usually have their preferred choice of Head Hunter. Like they have Company A which they like to work with, if Company A doesn't have a person, they go with Company B. And that is impossible for you to know. So you have to apply at many head hunters. A great number of them. Usually, they take you for a coffee or something, so that they get to know you. So you have a free coffee/tea or whatever. Why Head Hunters?
  • Many Head Hunters are specialized in a field, say IT. So they have better experience in processing your candidature then HR.
  • Some ask you to do some test which isn't a pass or fail one, but rather to evaluate your knowledge, and can see if you are a junior, intermediate, or senior/expert in terms of knowledge. So say you are a junior. But you show that you have intermediate level knowledge. Well, that is definitively shown to the company.
  • The Head Hunter reputation is on the line, not the company or the employee. While the company still has to do an interview and all that with you, the burden of picking a wrong candidate is reduced, reducing your risk level.
  • From Head Hunter, your job might be contract. Most of the time, Head Hunter will only have contracted job. Very few Full time position. Just be sure to know what is the process when a contract ends. Will they help you find a new contract? Also push that you are looking for, if a contract offer is available only, that has high potential or renewal or full time position after. Many companies hire with contract for 1 year or 6 month, so that it is easy to fire you, if they don't like you. If they do like you, they have full time position available. See it as a reduced risk for the company, and a trial period for you. It is best to work directly for the company you work for, then the Head Hunter. As the Head Hunter takes a cut. Say you want to be paid 30k a year, the contract is for 45k. You would be doing 45k if you were a full time employee there. So even if you end up with a 6month contract or 1 year contract with no renew, connect with people at the company. Show your passion, sell yourself daily, make yourself interesting to others and manager. Easy said then done, of course, but if you push the idea, toward the end of the contract on how much you want to work for the company, and how much yo u like the environment and how you are learning a lot, and want to pursue educating yourself (which fits in the same direction as the company), then you have high chances that they might be able to hire you full time once your contract ends. And your wage will increase (and they win, as they know your wage just increased by a lot, so they don't need to give you a promotion, saving them money, so they win and you win)
     
• If that fails for them, NOW they look at their website in who applied there.

 

Now, the next step, is your interview. Interview is not about going over what you did... it is about SELLING YOURSELF. You need to be able to talk. You can be a super smart person that puts Tesla and Eisenstein to shame, but if you can't talk properly, people will think you have no idea what you are talking about and a fool. Body language is also everything. You need to be relaxed and connect with the interviewer. They are books on this. But in summary, you want to do whatever the interviewer is doing in terms of general body language. He/She lays back, you want to lay back as well in similar fashion. This shows that you are connecting with the company culture already.

 

Apply like crazy. But remember that your resume needs to be personalized for each company (it's fine if you go through Head Hunter, as they get commission if you get hired, sometimes they even get an increase commission at each level of interview you go up to, if they are several interviews).

 

Oh and PRACTICE. Try and learn from each interview you are doing. What questions were asked to you, and re-work your answer if you feel it wasn't the best answer. After doing a mass number of interviews, you'll notice many questions repeating yourself. Here is an example I got (I am a software developer): "What version of Visual Studio you like?". The company I applied to, I know uses Linux. Yes, you can remote compile/debug with Visual Studio, but most likely they are using CLion, or if the company is cheap Netbeans or Eclipse (those 2 are free). A trick question. You want to say a version, and expect to get a "why". But that is not the answer. The answer is that you don't care about the software you use. Regardless if you know or not how to use some software, all these are similar, and you can learn that within a day. All you need to know is how to compile, and hit the run/debug button so you can, well, debug your code. The rest will come with time. Coding knowledge/skill is more important. Also, in my field, these software (which we call IDEs for short), changes often. Some years they use A, then a few years later they discover that B is more interesting, so they switch to that. And so on and so forth.

 

Here is something you can say. You can show you passion, by saying something like: "I use Windows 10 Insider Preview Fast Ring at home on my main PC. I know it is crazy as it goes against Microsoft recommendation, as well, it is beta software. But I have an extensive backup process setup. I do this because I want to be the the most up-to-date possible on latest changes of the OS, ensure that popular software used all works, and report issues, face challenges in trying to fix issues when something goes bad in the upgrade process (give example), which gives me knowledge in understanding how Windows works, and know how to fix various problems that might occur to others, if they happen". Something like this, shows passion, that you are always seeking in learning, that you are willing to go the extra miles to get your hands dirty for this even. Going beyond books. Of course, this is just an example. I don't know where you apply, and of course it needs to fit the job at hand. Don't say this if you are applying at Fedora or something. Kinda wrong OS

 

It can easily take 6 month minimum for a person with under 3 to 5 years of experience in the field, active (depending on the job/position) to get a job. Once you apply at 300 jobs and you still can't go in, then we have a problem. And only now you have the right to be discouraged.

 

Seek advice for your resume and interview. You have many books and help. I don't know about where you are. But you can probably have governmental paid help at your disposal.

 

Anyway, to cheer you up:

 

[SCHISCHKA]

There was a report a few months back that showed computer science is the worst science to study to gain employment, from memory I think it was two years after graduation only 11% of grads were working in the industry. This was a uk study. There are just too many people graduating than there are entry level positions and employers have a preference to import migrants over training grads. It's just the shitty nature of things. If you are looking at system engineering, every call centre is full of people like you trying to put customer service on their cv to get a level1 job. My advice is just keep temping so you're not out of money, don't stay in the same dead place too long, and eventually you will hit a business worth staying in.

[Teddy07]

1 hour ago, PineyCreek said:

You need an entry-level job in support or work in a shop building computers, or a service division (ex. Best Buy Geek Squad (shudder)), or be able to show knowledge from hobby-level endeavors if they take that into account.  My first job was working at Dell technical support in escalations.

 

wow that seems exploitation to me

 

You finish your bachelors/masters university degree here in Germany, for example in informatics, computer science or something similar. You afterwards search a job which needs those qualifications. This job, in general, can't be done by people who did not study. (If you want to be a programmer then you do the same job as someone who completed his apprenticeship.)

 

There is no way that someone who studied informatics here in Germany would do an entry job like technician, because those jobs are done by less qualified people. The pay is way too low so no one in the right mind who do it as a studied person.

[Teddy07]

7 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

There was a report a few months back that showed computer science is the worst science to study to gain employment, from memory I think it was two years after graduation only 11% of grads were working in the industry. This was a uk study.

 

1

Are you serious?

We here in Germany can't even find enough people who studied computer science to fill all those jobs that need this qualification. You basically have a job guarantee here.

I am 30 years old and just quit my job to study Bachelor of Informatics and later hopefully computer science if I make it this far

Those jobs are high paid. Studying computer science is one of the best things you can do in terms of jobs and pay. The entry pay is around 48.000 € per year on average (the average German earnings 30.000 a year).

 

Employers come to you and not you to them. (little exaggerated)

 

 

 

[Guest]

Your best bet is an apprenticeship. 

 

The pay won't be great as I believe they don't receive funding from the government for your age, so they will likely pay you the minimum £3-4 an hour. However, it gives you a chance to get into a company in the first place and if they don't take you on afterwards, you at least have 1 and a half year of working experience in the IT field. Which would probably be enough for a junior technician position (probably the 1st line shite that comes in such as someone having double tapped the touch pad on their laptop and disabled it)

[SCHISCHKA]

10 minutes ago, Teddy07 said:

Are you serious?

We here in Germany can't even find enough people who studied computer science to fill all those jobs that need this qualification. You basically have a job guarantee here.

I am 30 years old and just quit my job to study Bachelor of Informatics and later hopefully computer science if I make it this far

Those jobs are high paid. Studying computer science is one of the best things you can do in terms of jobs and pay. The entry pay is around 48.000 € per year on average (the average German earnings 30.000 a year).

 

Employers come to you and not you to them. (little exaggerated)

 

 

 

Germany must have a much different education and employment culture. In my country they turned education into a money making degree factory so everyone has one. Employers also prefer to employ migrants because they are bonded to work visa whereas I just give a bad boss the middle finger and I do not have to leave the country. Immigration is similar to U.K in that same skills on the immigration skills shortage list for over a decade because they give little opportunity to school leavers. In U.K, nz, Aus, and USA we are observing very high rates of youth unemployment. I'm in my thirties too and I believe I was one of the last people who could walk out of school and just fall into a job. Kids today have it so much harder, especially with the recent GFC creating a "backlog" of school leavers looking to start careers

[NinJake]

I'm surprised your school didnt have you do any internships as a "class" to graduate. It was through working as an intern for 6 months that the company decided. "Hey, we like your work, want to work full-time with us?"

[Ithanul]

1 hour ago, SCHISCHKA said:

Germany must have a much different education and employment culture. In my country they turned education into a money making degree factory so everyone has one. Employers also prefer to employ migrants because they are bonded to work visa whereas I just give a bad boss the middle finger and I do not have to leave the country. Immigration is similar to U.K in that same skills on the immigration skills shortage list for over a decade because they give little opportunity to school leavers. In U.K, nz, Aus, and USA we are observing very high rates of youth unemployment. I'm in my thirties too and I believe I was one of the last people who could walk out of school and just fall into a job. Kids today have it so much harder, especially with the recent GFC creating a "backlog" of school leavers looking to start careers

Yep, the job employment here is way different.  If you want to get into IT, you better have job experience or be willing to start in the low end to gain that experience (or, willing to get certs).

 

Truthfully, computer science is a joke in college.  Comes no where near to the knowledge you need to do a high level IT job.

[Teddy07]

2 hours ago, SCHISCHKA said:

....

 

Yes, we have full employment here in Germany with basically no youth unemployment if you finished the school. Sure companies try to lower the wages through temporary work but extend the contract every few years but you earn less than a normal employed worker.

 

You study here in Germany because you want the higher paid jobs this is especially true for students with wanted degrees like informatics, doctors... You have a guarantee for a high paid job right from the start because you are needed as an expert. There a way higher paid IT jobs available than students with those degrees. Working in a shop as IT technician would only waste your potential and companies need your expertise in higher IT positions way more urgently there. Companies can't afford that because those jobs are often vacant. This is especially true for smaller companies because they are not as attractive as big companies to most students.

 

Sure Germany has it´s dark sides too, I won't deny that but usually not for people with high skilled degrees.

 

 

So my advice for @Con would be to come to Germany. Sure speaking German helps but IT is an international business so i think he will be fine. Feel free to ask my any question if you want to.

 

 

-------------

I am 30 years and quit my boring office job exactly for that reason. I will be around 37 when I hopefully finish (it's not easy) but I am not much worried about my future as long as I finish. Studying informatics or something similar is not easy and a lot of students switch the subject and do study something else.

[Evanair]

Please take everything after this as a personal experience.  I am in no way qualified to offer professional IT career advice.

 

That said, From personal experience, I think the best advice for anyone looking to study or go into the IT field is: Don't. 

 

Go ask your local Best Buy Geek squad manager,  I went to high school with the guy who works local. He's got a master's. His employees... all bachelors. 

 

If you really want to get experience under your belt, you can always enlist in the military and get it that way. Depending on the employer some will love you or hate you afterwords. 

[PineyCreek]

@GoodBytes I do agree with your post with one exception. It does depend on the job, but personal experience can count as work experience depending on the job you go into and the company you're interviewing for.  If nothing else, showing that you kept busy and were still keeping up your skills or learning new ones while you are unemployed for example goes a long way in an interview, at least in interviews I've had after being laid off from contract jobs.

 

At the same time, when interviewing a candidate, the employer is comparing you against others asking themselves, how long will it take to get this person up to speed, what do I need to train them up in, what do I need them to unlearn, etc.  That includes work habits and skills of course, some of which you can demonstrate (and sometimes will be asked to do so in the interview).

[GoodBytes]

9 hours ago, PineyCreek said:

@GoodBytes I do agree with your post with one exception. It does depend on the job, but personal experience can count as work experience depending on the job you go into and the company you're interviewing for.  If nothing else, showing that you kept busy and were still keeping up your skills or learning new ones while you are unemployed for example goes a long way in an interview, at least in interviews I've had after being laid off from contract jobs.

 

At the same time, when interviewing a candidate, the employer is comparing you against others asking themselves, how long will it take to get this person up to speed, what do I need to train them up in, what do I need them to unlearn, etc.  That includes work habits and skills of course, some of which you can demonstrate (and sometimes will be asked to do so in the interview).

Very true.

[Mira Yurizaki]

Some things I wanted to comment on:

On 6/10/2017 at 6:29 AM, GoodBytes said:

Ensure that your resume has all the keywords that they are looking for.

1. Feel free to do stupid things like: "VB (Visual Basic)", to catch both terms used that can be entered

Just don't add things like "I know Microsoft Office". Of course you do. If you went to college, I would be more surprised if you didn't know an office suite of sorts. So don't add that. (I was specifically told this by a recruiter during a resume workshop in my last year of school).

 

On 6/10/2017 at 6:29 AM, GoodBytes said:

1. Repetition. If you have works on many things using Visual Basic (again, just an example), don't do "Here is a list of things I have done in Visual Basic:", DO: "Project ABC - blah blah blah. It's amazing. [Visual Basic, Windows 10]. Project DEF - blah blah blah. It's just as amazing. [Visual Basic, Windows 8, Active Directory]", etc. In addition, even if your application doesn't pass through an automated system, your resume is scanned by eye really quickly. You want to ensure that the keywords they are looking for is:
   1. Catches their eye
   2. Goes "Wow, looks like he did a lot of stuff in Active Directory and Windows, and Visual Basic that we are looking for... ok let's put that in the maybe pile, to be read more carefully after, once I am done going through the first filtering"

Granted if you're fresh out of college, this may be harder to do, but if you have related projects or accomplishments, you should put down the quantifiable results of that project or accomplishment. Something like "I rewrote the algorithm for X product and saved Y amount of memory and increased performance by Z percent"

 

On 6/10/2017 at 8:40 PM, PineyCreek said:

At the same time, when interviewing a candidate, the employer is comparing you against others asking themselves, how long will it take to get this person up to speed, what do I need to train them up in, what do I need them to unlearn, etc.  That includes work habits and skills of course, some of which you can demonstrate (and sometimes will be asked to do so in the interview).

I don't know how true it is, but I heard that if you are accepted for an on-site interview, the company basically wants you (like they're ready to hire you). Now it's up to the people you would be working with to see how well you'll mesh with them.