Firstly, I had to complete an online verbal and numeracy test. After this stage, I was offered a phone interview.

The phone interview lasted for about 45 minutes. It was quite laid-back, and the interviewer made an effort to make me feel relaxed. I was given technical questions to answer, which ranged from:

• Operating systems
• Computer components
• Computer storage
• Servers
• Scripting languages (HTML and XML)
• Databases
• Security

I realised that whatever you say on your CV, they will ask you about. However, they are unlikely to ask you about things you have never done or used before; for example, asking you about C++ when your CV claims you use Java.

In addition to that, I was given competency questions about working in groups, amongst other things.

The final stage was the assessment centre. Here I had two 45-minute technical interviews that asked me about just about everything. I also had one group activity where we were given a scenario and had to discuss it whilst being assessed. I also had an interpersonal skills interview, where I was asked competency-based questions.

Although, in the end, I did not get the job, I definitely felt like I benefited from this rigorous interview process.

Could you explain the SSL handshake and how the process works in extreme detail?

Be prepared to illustrate it on paper.