Re: Oracle DBA Interview Questions

Laura Eschner <laura.eschner_at_citicorp.com> wrote:

>Hi,
>I'm looking for questions (and answers) to ask an Oracle DBA during a
>technical interview that would ensure that the person was qualified to
>be a DBA.
>Any suggestions you can give is really appreciated!
>Thanks,
>Laura
>PS Please cc: me on the response as well as the newsgroup!
>--
>Laura Eschner, Citicorp, N.A.
>laura.eschner_at_citicorp.com ** http://cs.smith.edu/~leschner

This could be a lengthy list and still not be all inclusive.

I've had all sorts of people interview for DBA positions that don't have a clue as to what Oracle database administration entails so I've developed three basic screening questions that must be answered in the affirmative and in detail before I will give them further consideration.

1. Have you ever installed Oracle from scratch onto a new operating system (without assistance from a person more knowledgeable in Oracle than yourself, e.g. hand holding)? Explain the problems you encountered and how you solved them.
2. Have you ever performed a major upgrade of Oracle e.g. 6 - 7 or 7.0 to 7.3 (without assistance from a person more knowledgeable in Oracle than yourself)? Explain the problems you encountered and how you solved them.
3. Have you ever recovered a database that experienced media failure of one or more of it's datafiles (without assistance from a person more knowledgeable than yourself) and how much data, if any could not be recovered? Explain the problems you encountered and how you solved them.

I do realize that there is a first time for everyone to perform these tasks, but my point is that they shouldn't be novelties to an experienced Oracle DBA.

Flames from wannabe DBAs willl be rolled back.

Craig M. Wall Received on Tue Jun 11 1996 - 00:00:00 CEST