First off I would like to thank everyone for reading my article on SQLServerCentral.com. With printed articles you may not always get an idea on how many people read it. I was overwhelmed by the number of reads. I even more appreciated the comments to the article. What makes this topic what it is, is the fact that everyone has a different experience. I would like to however like to address a couple issues that people mentioned. I think the blog that Jon added had some great notes.

There was a post or two that mentioned that this is relevant to many positions. I do agree with this. When I sat down and started to write this article and speak on this topic it was because of the large number of candidates that I saw that did not have these skills that I talked about. I would love to mention some of the horror stories that I have had, but there are just too many.

Someone commented on my mention of keeping eye contact during the interview. I would like to clear up that if this was the only thing that I did not like about that interview then I am sure I could overlook it. In the article I made some statements that will have its exceptions.

Another exception or maybe a miscommunication in the article was the reference of 10 years of employment. So I would like to clarify, if a candidate had 10 years of employment I may float them to the top of the pile. Maybe I overstated this a little. The reason that I float those resumes to the top of the list is because I like to see the dedication to an employer. As an employer I can assure you that it is very costly and time consuming to get people up to speed. This however, does not mean that this is the only candidate that I would consider for an interview.

If I were to list the order of importance of what I look for in a good candidate it would all depend on the current workload and staff. If I can afford it I would always prefer to hire someone with a can do attitude over a senior skilled person. Sometimes the workload would need someone who can jump right in. In short, you can’t teach people the desire to succeeded and push forward. SQL Skills can be learned.

The most commented on statement was the clothing issue. I have to admit that I do want to see someone that takes this serious. It may not have to be a suit and tie. But I would not want to see jeans and a T-Shirt. Alone this would not disqualify a candidate, but I take it seriously.

I have copied this set of comments on my blog http://cssql.blogspot.com/ this is where I do most of my on-line reviewing and posting. If you have any questions please let me know. I would be more then happy to answer them or discuss them. Thanks again for reading and commenting.

Chris Shaw