Re: Technical Interviews

Daniel Roy wrote:
> I agree that it depends on who gives the interview, but how can we
> know? It happened to me during an interview (which was not
> Oracle-related) to be told "who gives the interview?" when the guy
> didn't appreciate my questions at all, and therefore it's difficult to
> try to gather (with counter-questions) if the interviewer is deeply
> knowledgeable or not. For me, it seems safer to go with the myths,
> unless you know for sure that your interviewer knows well Oracle. It
> worked this time, and I would be pretty confident of doing it again.
>
> Daniel
>
> Brian Peasland <oracle_dba_at_remove_spam.peasland.com> wrote in message news:<3ED3AEB3.574E2AC_at_remove_spam.peasland.com>...
>

>>From my experience, it all depends on who is doing the interview. We
>>know that some people believe the myth and it is hard to change that
>>viewpoint. But a lot of times, the one doing the interview wants you to
>>demonstrate that you have the appropriate technical knowledge. If all
>>they asked you were a simple answer to a question, that might show that
>>you have only memorized the information. But by asking a question like
>>"how often should we rebuild indexes", the appropriate technical
>>knowledge that should be shown is not a one-answer-fits-all-situtations
>>response. 
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Brian

I think you know by the way the question is asked. Some questions call out for the pat answer. But if the interviewer is really trying to interview, then the questions tend to be more open-ended. A good interviewer gets the candidate into a conversation rather than just quizzing them. (I've been on both sides of this equation.)

"how often should we rebuild indexes?" is less of a pat answer type question. I would, like Brian, answer this as broadly as possible. In an interview, I want to show my range of knowledge and skill.

Also I dislike pat-answer type questions. That because it's easy to trip up, even when you really know the right answer. I "failed" an interview once (several years ago) because the interviewer asked about a C operator by just writing it on the board and asking "what is that?" I had one of those brain locks that just would not let me see it for what it was. It was because it was out of context, I think.

I can understand interviewers wanting to reduce the field of candidates, but poor questions do not really help identify the best candidate. The best response, IMHO, is to show off a little, provide the best answer you can.

-- 
Ed Prochak
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--
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