My favourite question - because you need pretty much
only this one to occupy the entire interview:
"Over there on the far wall is a 6x6m white board.
Assuming the space is an 'Oracle database', start
filling the blanks in terms of memory, disks, files,
caches, buffer etc with all the connecting lines.
Start broadly and continue generating more and more
levels of detail until you want to stop or we want you
to stop. We want to know your favourite and least
favourite bits"
At the end you have a remarkable insight into:
- their knowledge on oracle database + instance
- their ability to convey information. We had one guy
who drew a great level of detail but literally spent
50 mins with his back to us drawing with not a single
word, after which he sat back down.
- their ability to do it in front of a small audience
(which I think is critical for a DBA - we don't want
"sit-in-the-corner-saying-nothing-zombies")
- their pet peeves, for example, they'll be describing
temp tspace and might throw in a "man, i hate it when
smon takes forever to clear up space" or something to
that effect
- their priorities (if they spend half an hour on the
spin_count parameter then maybe their barking up the
wrong tree)
- their honesty (one key element I look for is some
point where they say "I *DONT KNOW* how this bit
relates to this bit)
It is also very controllable - you can gently nudge
them from one section of oracle to another - they
might be describing redo logs and you can throw in "so
how would they get from here to a standby?" etc etc.
It normally works very well - although on one occasion
we asked this of a candidate and he burst into tears
and ran from the room :-( I went home feeling
guilty...which eventually transformed itself into a
sadistic and maniacal grin :-)
Cheers
Connor
- Rachel Carmichael <wisernet100_at_yahoo.com> wrote:
> you should come out of lurk mode more often -- those
> are GOOD questions
> and I'm going to add them to the standard list :)
>
>
> --- Grant Allen <Grant_at_towersoft.com.au> wrote:
> > Rachel Carmichael[SMTP:wisernet100_at_yahoo.com]
> wrote:
> > > >this goes back to a thread from maybe a year
> ago... what sort of
> > > >questions do you ask on interviews.
> > > >
> > > >I may ask other questions based on what we are
> specifically
> > looking for
> > > >or building off something the interviewee says
> but I always
> > include the
> > > >following questions:
> > > >
> > > >1) what was your worst nightmare as a DBA and
> how did you resolve
> > it
> > > >2) what are you most proud of doing
> > > >3) how do you learn new things about Oracle
> > > >
> > > >gee, not ONE multiple choice question among
> them!
> > >
> > [stops lurking for a change]
> >
> > I always throw in
> >
> > "What do you like most about Oracle?" and "What do
> you
> > hate/find-frustrating
> > about Oracle?". Most can answer the first, but
> you can often get a
> > good
> > idea of what people have (or haven't!) experienced
> with their answer
> > to the
> > second.
> >
> > Ciao
> > Fuzzy
> > :-)
> >
> > [goes back to lurking]
> >
> >
>
> > "Woo Hoo!" - H. Simpson
> >
>
> > The contents of this post are my opinions only
> > If swallowed seek medical advice
> >
> > (Apologies for the excess signature)
> > This email message (and attachments) may contain
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> > --
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> > --
> > Author: Grant Allen
> > INET: Grant_at_towersoft.com.au
> >
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> __________________________________________________
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> Author: Rachel Carmichael
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>
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Connor McDonald
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Received on Fri Jun 28 2002 - 08:13:18 CDT
