Re: Interview Question

In article <33A06770.161E_at_aig.vialink.com>, jbarnes_at_aig.vialink.com says...
>
>Bob Manieri wrote:
>>
>> Marc Baime wrote:
>> >
>> > >In article <3394E27F.241D_at_ntsource.com>, Frank Hubeny
>> > ><fhubeny_at_ntsource.com> writes
>> > >>I have been able to eliminate about 50% of the candidates that get
>> > >>past nontechnical screenings by simply asking them if they can do an
>> > >>"hello world" program in the language in which they claim to be expert.
>> > >>
>> > >> So, the first question I would ask someone who claims to be expert in
>> > >>SQL on Oracle would be
>> > >>
>> > >> Display the string "hello world" in SQL*Plus.
>> > >>
>> > Hmmm...so what would the correct answer be...... I guess I could do a
>> > SELECT 'HELLO WORLD' FROM DUAL; or I could insert it into a table and
>> > select it out again or I could assign it to a variable and then do a
>> > show or etc., etc.
>> >
>> > Would I get full credit for all of my answers or would t have to be
>> > the way you percieved I should know how to do it? ;-)
>> >
>> > Regards...Marc Baime
>> If these are the kinds of questions asked at interviews, I have been
>> interviewing with the wrong people.
>> --
>> =====================================================================
>> Bob Manieri
>> Database Administrator, Rosenbluth International (215) 977-4665
>> =====================================================================
>> Business is war....information is the high ground. - J.Abrahamson
>> ... can deprive the enemy of the high ground. - J. Buford
>> =====================================================================
>Last summer I interviewed with a large airline firm for a dba position
>and the first technical question asked was - If you have 8 marbles all
>of the same size but one is heavier how can you find the heavy marble
>with a set of balance scales in just 2 weighings? The second question
>was - If you are in a boat on a lake with an object in the boat and you
>toss the object overboard will the lake water rise or fall? (They did
>ask a sql related question about how to join 2 tables to get an 'array
>like' output.

The real question is? Did you answer and if you answered correctly, did you get the job?

I would answer:

1. weigh 3 against 3. If they balance then weigh the remaining two against each other to find the heavier marble. If one set of three is heavier, then take 2 of those three and weigh them. If they balance, then the heavier marble is the 1 remaining, otherwise the heavier one is it.
2. falls. the weight of the object displaces more water in the boat then by itself. (this is a guess)

It so happens that I'm an independent consultant with over 10 years of Oracle experience. I have alot of experience in database admin, development, data modelling, etc. etc. (not much experience in boating or marbles).  

You can find my resume at

http://www.verge-tech.com/eprofile.htm

Send me an email, or phone me if you need some temporary help on any Oracle related projects.

I can also do "hello world" in sql*plus and other Oracle tricks too.

Regards,

Ennio Murroni

p.s. here's my interview question:

Ask them how to do a select from a table whose name is in lowercase. Received on Fri Jun 13 1997 - 00:00:00 CDT