Re: Interview questions for an Oracle DBA?

The number one question I ask prospective employees is, "Describe the database problem that you have found the most challenging." I insist that they give me a situation that actually happened and how they actually resolved it.

Assumption: The position calls for someone who is experienced rather than someone new to the workforce.

The worst possible response, "I have never found a database problem that was difficult." This indicates they have not had much experience.

The second worst possible response is one that talks in vague generalities. I believe that past performance is the primary indicator of future performance and I encourage the people I am interviewing to relate real accomplishments rather than the standard, "Here's how I would solve that problem."

• Barry L. Wallis
• Senior Systems Engineer
• SAIC - An Employee Owned Company!

DET wrote in message <6qclj5$ddn_at_netaxs.com>...
>
>MotoX wrote in message
><902388618.7143.0.nnrp-05.c2de712e_at_news.demon.co.uk>...
>>Advice - don't have specific questions. Start *conversations* that cover
>the
>>major areas: backup/recovery, tuning, installation & configuration. Drill
>>down in detail as you go, but keep it conversational. That way you'll be
>>flexible and can keep things on track as regards what *you* are looking
>for,
>>and you also get a good feel for what people have actually done and what
>>they *really* know. You'll also get a good idea of their personality -
>which
>>I think is just as important as technical skill.
>>
>
>
>I couldn't agree more. As an I.S. manager myself, I consider the perfect
>employee to be someone who is able to (and isn't scared to) go out and
*find
>out* the answers when they need to. There are lots of people out there who
>have absorbed some book knowledge and/or taken the oracle courses, and can
>answer those interview questions - but present them with a problem in real
>life that requires digging, or logical analysis, and many of them fail or
>perform poorly. You need to find someone who is genuinely *interested* in
>the subject - someone who (metaphorically and perhaps literally) will read
>manuals for fun. Sometimes the best indicator of such a person is that they
>know a lot of things that aren't necessarily useful. You have to have a
>conversation to find out these things, tho'.
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