This is very good. I should prepare myself for this.
>My favourite question - because you need pretty much
>only this one to occupy the entire interview:
>
>"Over there on the far wall is a 6x6m white board.
>Assuming the space is an 'Oracle database', start
>filling the blanks in terms of memory, disks, files,
>caches, buffer etc with all the connecting lines.
>Start broadly and continue generating more and more
>levels of detail until you want to stop or we want you
>to stop. We want to know your favourite and least
>favourite bits"
>
>At the end you have a remarkable insight into:
>
>- their knowledge on oracle database + instance
>
>- their ability to convey information. We had one guy
>who drew a great level of detail but literally spent
>50 mins with his back to us drawing with not a single
>word, after which he sat back down.
>
>- their ability to do it in front of a small audience
>(which I think is critical for a DBA - we don't want
>"sit-in-the-corner-saying-nothing-zombies")
>
>- their pet peeves, for example, they'll be describing
>temp tspace and might throw in a "man, i hate it when
>smon takes forever to clear up space" or something to
>that effect
>
>- their priorities (if they spend half an hour on the
>spin_count parameter then maybe their barking up the
>wrong tree)
>
>- their honesty (one key element I look for is some
>point where they say "I *DONT KNOW* how this bit
>relates to this bit)
>
>It is also very controllable - you can gently nudge
>them from one section of oracle to another - they
>might be describing redo logs and you can throw in "so
>how would they get from here to a standby?" etc etc.
>
>It normally works very well - although on one occasion
>we asked this of a candidate and he burst into tears
>and ran from the room :-( I went home feeling
>guilty...which eventually transformed itself into a
>sadistic and maniacal grin :-)
>
>Cheers
>Connor
>
>
> --- Rachel Carmichael <wisernet100_at_yahoo.com> wrote:
>> you should come out of lurk mode more often -- those
>> are GOOD questions
>> and I'm going to add them to the standard list :)
>>
>>
>> --- Grant Allen <Grant_at_towersoft.com.au> wrote:
>> > Rachel Carmichael[SMTP:wisernet100_at_yahoo.com]
>> wrote:
>> > > >this goes back to a thread from maybe a year
>> ago... what sort of
>> > > >questions do you ask on interviews.
>> > > >
>> > > >I may ask other questions based on what we are
>> specifically
>> > looking for
>> > > >or building off something the interviewee says
>> but I always
>> > include the
>> > > >following questions:
>> > > >
>> > > >1) what was your worst nightmare as a DBA and
>> how did you resolve
>> > it
>> > > >2) what are you most proud of doing
>> > > >3) how do you learn new things about Oracle
>> > > >
>> > > >gee, not ONE multiple choice question among
>> them!
>> > >
>> > [stops lurking for a change]
>> >
>> > I always throw in
>> >
>> > "What do you like most about Oracle?" and "What do
>> you
>> > hate/find-frustrating
>> > about Oracle?". Most can answer the first, but
>> you can often get a
>> > good
>> > idea of what people have (or haven't!) experienced
>> with their answer
>> > to the
>> > second.
>> >
>> > Ciao
>> > Fuzzy
>> > :-)
>> >
>> > [goes back to lurking]
>> >
>> >
>>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> > "Woo Hoo!" - H. Simpson
>> >
>>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
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>> > If swallowed seek medical advice
>> >
>> > (Apologies for the excess signature)
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>> >
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>=====
>Connor McDonald
>http://www.oracledba.co.uk
>http://www.oaktable.net
>
>"Remember amateurs built the ark - Professionals built the Titanic"
>
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Received on Fri Jun 28 2002 - 10:43:24 CDT
