I believe the most useful interview strategy for DBAs, junior or senior, is to ask them to walk up the whiteboard and begin diagramming and explaining what the Oracle database is and how it works, and just keep going into detail where they feel comfortable until I ask them to stop.
Some people walk up, pick up a pen, and draw for 10 mins saying nothing. Others talk with their back to their interviewers. Others do a good job of explaining, using the whiteboard for emphasis, not as a crutch. Inevitably, something needs to be clarified or challenged or simply refuted, and it is very illuminating to see how the candidate deals with that.
I think this technique works for juniors, intermediates, and seniors. Pretty hard to hide knowledge or ignorance this way...
Along the way, the interviewer can ask questions like those below as well, if they wish. I think if it fits into context, it is less of an interrogation, and there is less emphasis on rote memorization? One thing is that I think candidates should be permitted the use of Google and online documentation, just as in real life, if they feel the need.
Hope this helps... On 2/6/2011 4:06 PM, Guillermo Alan Bort wrote:
So, I am in the process of reviewing resumes from several JR and SSR candidates for the team. The question I came up with is, what kind of questions (technical) should I ask during the interview. I can't use the same questions I'd use with a Sr. DBA.The questions i've come up with so far are the following: 1. Difference between EXTENT and BLOCK 2. Difference between USER and ROLE. When would you use each?3. Command to extend a Tablespace (tricky question? should it be datafile?)4. Command to backup controlfiles (all you can think of) 5. Steps to switch archivelog on or off.6. Minimum requirements in order to take a level 1 online backup (tricky question?) 7. What are the minimum required files to be backed up in order to be able to recreate the database from scratch in the event of complete media failure?I may come up with more, but that's what I have so far... thanks in advance Alan.-
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