• I have a similar list of basic questions I ask DBA candidates and am often surprised at the discrepancy between stated experience level and the answers given.  Even worse is that I am not necessarily looking for the correct answer.  If a candidate says that they do not know the answer and then proceeds to describe how they would go about getting the answer, that is as good as answering the question correctly.  More often than not I turn to BOL, MSDN, SQLServerCentral or other resources to get answers to questions.  An ability to critically think through the question and knowing where to find answers is every bit as good (if not better) than being able to spout the answer from memory.

    Of course, some items should be ingrained: like the difference between a char and a varchar.  Other things (e.g. how to fix a page break) can be easily looked up and one should know how to use the resources at hand.  Even with 10 years of experience, they may be items that one has never encountered.  A DBA could easily go 10 years without ever having to work with Replication, or clustered servers, or a number of other items.  That is why I always ask candidates how the go about learning new techniques and where they turn to for answers (searching the internet is not acceptable as the only answer!). 

     

    Gordon

    Gordon Pollokoff

    "Wile E. is my reality, Bugs Bunny is my goal" - Chuck Jones