Re: Are these too harsh ?

Hi Connor,
In my opinion you've got a good set of questions there..I wouldn't worry so much if people are getting 60% ..depending of course how much knowledge they're telling you they've got!
Their composure in an interview situation while you're throwing these questions at them may be a helpful indicator of their ability too.

Overall my opinion is that these questions are suitable.

Connor McDonald wrote:

> I'm currently assisting in the interviewing for a DBA - the company is not
> looking for an "Einstein", but also not a junior, just someone who can do
> the job adequately. I was asked to come up with a list of DBA questions, so
> I produced a set that was created for exactly the same purpose at a previous
> site. But so far, no one has explained more than about 60% to an acceptable
> degree.
>
> So I'm looking for impartial opinions - are the following questions too hard
> ?
>
> Ta
> Connor
>
> - What are the various shutdown modes for the database?
> - Describe the basic mechanics of how hot backup works?
> - Besides the overhead of copying the files to disk/tape, what other
> performance issues are relevant during a hot backup, namely, why do many
> sites try to keep the time spent in backup mode to a minimum?
> - If I need to export a single 40G table, but only have 5 separate file
> system, each of only 10G, for the export file - what measures could you
> take?
> - What is the standby database feature and how does it work?
> - List the steps that Oracle goes through at database startup
> - What is the difference between a latch and a lock? Give an example of use
> of each
> - What is "spinning" as it pertains to a latch?
> - What are the positives and negatives of a large database block size on
> indexes?
> - What is the Oracle log buffer? Describe how Oracle uses latches as
> information is written into the log buffer
> - What is a function-based index and where could it be used?
> - What is the 8i feature "Native Dynamic SQL"?
> - What is a locally managed tablespace and list some benefits
> - How do I allow end-user queries against a standby database without
> damaging its ability to act as a standby?
> - What are the significant features of "analytic functions" available from
> 8.1.6 onwards ?
> - What does the "explain plan" command do
> - On a Unix machine, you see an oracle process using all of the CPU.
> Assuming it is due to a poorly written SQL, describe how to determine the
> SQL that is causing the problem, starting with the Unix process ID.
> - How would you determine the amount of I/O occurring on each datafile in
> the database ? If a great deal of this is occurring on the TEMP tablespace
> what is the likely cause ?
> - Describe the three buffer pools (available in 8.0 and 8i) and their uses ?
> - List the pros and cons of using bind variables
> - You issue 'select count(*) from my_table;' and it takes a tremendously
> long time, but then return no rows. What could be causing this ?
> - Describe the common RAID levels used for Oracle databases and how they
> typically pertain to performance
> - Describe how you would determine whether an index requires rebuilding ?
> - What are the advantages of creating code using packages over standalone
> PL/SQL procedures
> - Describe how and why a PL/SQL module could be defined as an autonomous
> transaction
> - Your database contains a view, which joins two tables. It is possible to
> insert, update, and delete rows from this view. - Describe two ways of
> implementing this.
> - What is an inline view?
>
> --
> ==============================
> Connor McDonald
>
> http://www.oracledba.co.uk
>
> "Some days you're the pigeon, some days you're the statue..."
Received on Mon Jun 25 2001 - 13:52:37 CDT