It’s all relative.
I have met my fair share of so called DBA’s.
Due to the position I was hiring for, I was looking for someone who knew SQL well.
Not to put a title on it, senior or junior, but they needed to know SQL well as there was no one above them.
One “Expert” with 8 years of experience I interviewed was truly amazed by a LEFT OUTER.
In 8 years he had never seen one. He called himself a senior DBA. The reason being, he was the only DBA at the company. Truthfully, that would make him the most senior DBA, by the same token, a Senior DBA.
As far as the performance tuning questions go, I to have had some interesting ones.
A guy claimed to be brilliant at performance tuning. It became clear that when he inherited the system, there were no indexes. He started adding indexes to tables until things speeded up. When asked what his criteria for an index was he said trail and error. When asked about how it impacted data modifications, the look on his face said “I am confused” but he replied, with confidence, “Why would it affect inserts? Indexes speed things up”
Yes, relative to what he had, he was brilliant at it.
With some, note some these people, there is hope. You can’t crucify someone just because they have been stuck in a small company as the senior DBA. Granted, if you looking for someone who knows, fine, but I am all for seeing potential in people who claim to be senior and are not.
If the arrogance of the perceived position is to great for them to want to learn and correct their ways, they will always remain a large fish in a small bowl.
Ya, it's true and unfortunate but happening in most of interviews.
I think it is better idea to have a series of articles on this, as Mr.McCown mentioned. This is going to help atleast to the people who "really" want to become good DBA.
Wow! Thanks for the article. I think I will have my wife read this one. She's always giving me advice about how to write my resume. I just tell her I'd rather keep a mediocre(read lower-paying) job than lose a great one.
But, seriously, as an actual junior dba, I would love to hear more on this topic. Thanks!
To be honest, though you were right to grill this person from a technical standpoint in the interview, I believe you crossed the line in your email back to this person. To be honest, your tone and tactlessness was unprofessional in and of itself.
Simply put, you could have simply said something more hr like. ...
While we reviewed your skills, we have selected a different candidate who was a better fit for the position. Good luck in your job search.
That would have sufficed. . .
http://www.phule.net/mirrors/unskilled-and-unaware.html
