June 3, 2008 at 7:29 pm
I have been a SQL DBA for over 2 years. Recently, I was interviewed for a DBA position, and I was asked to define ACID. I learned them years back in college. I could not recall the answer at the time. I thought I am doing fine as a DBA and I understand and practice the principles behind ACID. Is that a fair question? Being able to explain ACID does not necessarily mean that I know how to practice it. No?
June 4, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I think being asked to define acronyms is fine in an interview. So much of my jobs have been interacting with higher ups that might not know what ACID stands for, or SSIS, or, whatever. Being able to say what they stand for, and what it means (i.e. explain what ACID means to the application, not just what the acronyms stands for) could be important for the job function.
I routinely ask people when they start to toss out a lot of acronyms when I interview what that acronym stands for. Fact is, there are a lot of acronym jockeys out there, people that scan trough SQL Server Magazine, or this site, that have no idea what lots of this stuff means, but it might sound good to the less knowledgable interviewers (most of the interviews I have done trying to get a job is where the company didn't have a DBA so someone on the development team got tasked with doing the interviews).
June 16, 2008 at 5:41 pm
I think another way to do interview is to get the candidate into an unbiased test (without allowing the candidate to do any preparation).
Last year, when I responded to a job post, I was asked by the employer's HR to write an MS SQL 2000 test (the regular MCP test held in a test center) the next day at their expense. They even did not tell me which test to write, but just informed me of a sql server 2000 related test. So in theory, I have no time to prepare for the exam. I am glad to take the challenge as I have not sit for a MS test for more than 8 years and it costs me nothing (they booked the test for me)
I passed the exam and felt that this company was serious in hiring as it was ready to "invest" in future employees by "investing" to select the best candidate. Though at the end, I decided not to pursue my career with the company due to personal reasons, I feel grateful to this company ever since and believe I will be more than glad to work for it when the opportunity arises.
June 17, 2008 at 12:40 am
Loner (2/27/2007)
First it means they do not trust my resume
I NEVER trust a resume... I had one guy that said he was a 9 out of 10 in both Oracle and SQL Server... I asked him how to get the current date and time out of both and he couldn't tell me either...
I had another guy who was a Phd in Mathematics according to his resume... but he couldn't tell me what 1416 was in decimal even when I wrote it on the board...
I had several "experts" in Java, according to their resume, varying in experience from 5 to 10 years... none of them could tell me how to keep the user from hitting the "SAVE" button more than once.
If you have 20 years experience and you're actually good at SQL, you should be tickled to death that a company wants to test you in SQL... it means you stand a much better chance of actually getting the job than the PITAs that only say they know it all. 😉
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
June 17, 2008 at 7:37 am
Good points Jeff. However I would add the caveat that pre-screening testing is always acceptable via services such as BrainBench and ProveIt. As you say it is a pleasant surprise to yourself and the employer to really know what 'you know'. It can also be a great bargaining chip as well once the results are in - recent experience bears this out !
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
June 17, 2008 at 8:12 am
rudy komacsar (6/17/2008)
Good points Jeff. However I would add the caveat that pre-screening testing is always acceptable via services such as BrainBench and ProveIt. As you say it is a pleasant surprise to yourself and the employer to really know what 'you know'. It can also be a great bargaining chip as well once the results are in - recent experience bears this out !
I took an SQL Test through a major nationwide headhunter... all multiple choice... questions looked like the following...
Which role allows a login to do Bulk Inserts?
Bulk_Admin
Bulk Admin
BulkAdmin
Bulk Administrator
I failed the test...
By the same token, I've had two Microsoft certified DBA's that couldn't program their way out of a wet paper bag. I would much rather give someone something practical to solve than to have them take a timed multiple guess test.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
June 17, 2008 at 8:29 am
Valid points Jeff. I too have failed 'multiple guess' tests - some home grown, others from services. Likewise I may have met some of those same 'certified' professionals as well. However when one does do well on one of those 'tests' it is truly a great asset.
Now I do not tout canned tests, nor certification. I do prefer the 'real' world and the issues and examples that they provide us. A good DBA being interviewed 'face 2 face' with a knowledgable interviewer is the ultimate test !
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
June 17, 2008 at 8:44 am
Jeff Moden (6/17/2008)
rudy komacsar (6/17/2008)
Good points Jeff. However I would add the caveat that pre-screening testing is always acceptable via services such as BrainBench and ProveIt. As you say it is a pleasant surprise to yourself and the employer to really know what 'you know'. It can also be a great bargaining chip as well once the results are in - recent experience bears this out !I took an SQL Test through a major nationwide headhunter... all multiple choice... questions looked like the following...
Which role allows a login to do Bulk Inserts?
Bulk_Admin
Bulk Admin
BulkAdmin
Bulk Administrator
I failed the test...
By the same token, I've had two Microsoft certified DBA's that couldn't program their way out of a wet paper bag. I would much rather give someone something practical to solve than to have them take a timed multiple guess test.
I've been hammered by several of these. One I particularly "enjoyed" was a combined, C#/ASP.NET/SQL Server test, where the questions were randomized, and the topics were mixed together (so one question might be C#, followed by SQL Server, back to C#, on to ASP.NET,etc...). Never mind that I'm rather rusty on C#....
In my mind it just keeps coming back to - how good is the test? what exactly does the test tell you about the candidate? Unless you only honestly step back and look at what you put together, it's hard to tell WHAT it might be saying.
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Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
June 17, 2008 at 11:44 am
I think we should not under-estimate the value of a well-designed test. IMHO, these days, lots of questions in a MCP test are scenario-based, it is not about to memorize some syntax in BOL.
Believe it or not, taking a test itself may also verify the candidate's working capabilities under pressure, which a DBA may encounter from time to time.
June 17, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I was asked the following question during an interview for a SQL DBA position.
"what is the difference between hot backup and cold backup"
I answered the question to my best knowledge referencing database mirroring and regular SQL backups. After the interview, I googled and find out that this is Oracle terms. I also found out all the exact questions they asked all over the internet. I thought this is a tricky question. What does it tell them when I failed to say that this is an Oracle question?
I was not asked about the company (size, business) that I am currently working in, number of servers / databases I am managing, the challenges, and etc.
I don't think I was given a chance to show them who I am and what I can do.
I am looking to relocate to Northern California from Hawaii. I have been using SQL for over five years and working as SQL DBA for the past two years in a medical insurance company. Personally, I don't think the years of experience reflect what I have learned and how much I have experienced. I will really appreciate any advise you can give me. Thanks.
June 17, 2008 at 1:10 pm
It is NOT an Oracle question... it is a general question concerning backups. A hot backup occurs on something that is currently being used by users. A cold backup occurs on something that is currently NOT being used by users. For example, if you backup your database while users are hitting it, that's a hot backup. If you kick all the users off and don't allow logins, essential taking the database off line for a backup, that's known as a cold backup...
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
June 17, 2008 at 1:54 pm
jeffrey yao (6/17/2008)
I think we should not under-estimate the value of a well-designed test. IMHO, these days, lots of questions in a MCP test are scenario-based, it is not about to memorize some syntax in BOL.Believe it or not, taking a test itself may also verify the candidate's working capabilities under pressure, which a DBA may encounter from time to time.
Absolutely, assuming the test is tailored to match up to what that position might expect to have to handle on a daily basis (even on a basic level), and there is a little time allotted to "getting your sea legs" on the system at hand. At that point, "cruel" or not, it gives both sides a little taste of how one would fare.
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Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
June 18, 2008 at 12:49 am
I've never met a resume I could trust. From the person with 2 years IT experience who rated himself 5/5 on 3 versions of windows, 2 of SQL server and 2 of Oracle to the guy who (a year and a half ago) claimed 5 years of SQL Server 2005 experience. They're usually exagerated at best, outright lies at worst.
I've given up even trying to use a resume to judge a candidate. All I use it for is to see if I want to spend an hour or so interviewing.
Where I work, Everyone gets to do a technical interview and a technical test (we have several of them for various areas). The tests are open book with internet access allowed, mixture of a bit of theory and practical stuff
We had one guy once to 'informed' the DBA manager that he would not write a technical test. End of interview, right there. Two things come to mind for me if a person 'refuses' to write the test or complains about it not been necessary.
First, are they trying to hide a lack of knowledge that they know the test will show up?
Second, if they're complaining that writing a test is 'beneath them', will that arrogance and elitism show up in their day to day work as well?
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
June 18, 2008 at 11:58 am
GilaMonster (6/18/2008)
Two things come to mind for me if a person 'refuses' to write the test or complains about it not been necessary.First, are they trying to hide a lack of knowledge that they know the test will show up?
Second, if they're complaining that writing a test is 'beneath them', will that arrogance and elitism show up in their day to day work as well?
Well said, Gail !
Your open-book approach for a test should be recommended widely.
June 18, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I think if you're taking a test, the interviewer is really trying to find out either basic competence (which one would assume will be simple enough you will pass if you're truly competent) or how you think through a problem.
I think we should all welcome these types of test, and ask for an explanation of how the interviewer would have solved it as well as your own answer, to find out just as much about them as they will about you.
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