RE: DBA Interview Questions

I agree with all of that. The contract DBA previous to this one kept getting annoyed because I'd read about something and ask him about it. He was 8i certified, we are using 9i, and he hadn't done anything to implement any feature of our expensive new software. After dragging him through every single improvement that I could identify, I mentioned that 9i could handle multiple block sizes. His heart about seized up. He thought he had heard me make the stupidest comment anybody claiming the title of DBA could make and really went off his rocker. I went back to my desk and copied and pasted the information about multiple block sizes into an email and sent it to him. He never got over that and left shortly afterward. [Freeman, Donald]
 -----Original Message-----
From: ryan_gaffuri_at_comcast.net [mailto:ryan_gaffuri_at_comcast.net] Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2004 4:01 PM To: Les.Hollis_at_ps.net; Post, Ethan; dofreeman_at_state.pa.us; Oracle-L (E-mail) Cc: Hollis, Les
Subject: RE: DBA Interview Questions

I have worked with alot of people with alot of experience who are useless and get in the way. They have done the same thing for 10 years and won't even read the new features docs. Every time you have a disagreement its 'in the past this worked, so it must work every time' or my favorite is 'i have done this for X years and you have done this for X-Y years, so I am right'.  

I find that people who respond to questions with 'in my experience 'X' works', typically do not look for the general case. it just worked. they don't know why, they don't know the most appropriate times to use it.  

Bottom line, can the person do the job. A good tech screen will tell you that. I ask experience questions only if they pass my tech screen. if they can't, i don't care how long they have done something.  

I don't believe in memorizing or stock responses either, I also don't believe in 'i have to look every single thing up either'. If you do something regular and you do reading, alot of stuff will stick in your head.      

• Original message --------------

> Hi Ethan....
>
>
> I tend more towards trying to determine if the candidate has honest to
> goodness real world experience or is it all book knowledge and passed
> the OCP.

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