Context

You have been given this URL because you are interested in joining our team. The set of services available in Microsoft 365 are a core set of skills for delivering services to our customers.  You will have been given this task either:

• because your CV or initial phone interview suggests that you have not got much Microsoft 365 experience yet, but you have enough other technical skills that we believe you may be able to pick up the Microsoft 365 skills relatively quickly and easily.  In which case please treat this as a learning opportunity to learn about Microsoft 365, and demonstrate your ability to learn new skills.  We won't expect you to learn or do everything in the steps below, so feel free to do as much or as little as you think necessary to demonstrate your skills.  We hope that even if you are not successful in your application to us, any new skills that you have learned through this experience may be useful in your search for a new role, because so many companies are now using Microsoft 365.  It may even be useful in your current role​.

• or/ because you have claimed to have Microsoft 365 experience, and we'd like you to demonstrate that experience, without compromising the data and systems of your existing or previous employers.

It is important to realise that the modern IT world is constantly evolving. Therefore one of the attributes that we look for in candidates - irrespective of current IT knowledge - is the willingness and ability to learn new technology as the world of IT evolves. 

So do not worry if you do not know how to do some parts of the tasks, search the internet for answers, and give things a go if you have confidence - in the answers that we ask you to share, feel free to identify things that you didn't know before you did the task and that you learned whilst doing the task.  Also, whilst doing the task you will inevitably come up with some things that you'd like to do beyond the task itself, but would take more time - don't feel compelled to do all the things that you think of, because that would take you too much time.  Instead, feel free to make notes in your answers to indicate your vision for what could be done, if you were to put more time in, or if you'd need to learn how to do it, e.g. "I've done xxxx as shown in the screenshot, if I were to take this task further I would like to investigate putting in place yyy and zzz to make it even better".

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You are under no obligation to do this exercise.  If you do not wish to do this exercise, do not feel capable to do so, or do not feel that it will help you in a future role, then feel free not to proceed with the tasks.

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The tasks

Please complete the following tasks and then complete the form below:

1. Set up a trial Microsoft 365 tenancy (30 day trials are free to set up at https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/try   You will need a credit card to sign up - please make sure you cancel your trial within 30 days. )

2. Set up at least 2 users and set up e-mail accounts for them

3. Send test e-mails between those users (we recommend you only use the web interface, so as not to impact any Microsoft license that you have on your machine already)

4. Enable 2 factor authentication to protect the accounts

5. Set up sharepoint online as a “file server” and set up a basic folder structure and give your test users permissions to access the folders

6. Set up or experiment with some other feature that you think sounds interesting to you, or that you would like to demonstrate your skills.

7. Send us an email (by reply to the email where we invited you to do this task) with screenshots of:

   • the user accounts setup page​

   • the 2FA configuration page

   • any interesting pages of the sharepoint setup

   • Anything you think interesting to share from task 6

8. Then complete the form below​