How to Interview.

DBA Interviews

I have just been involved in a series of interviews for a new Oracle DBA and I was quite upset by some of the candidates lack of knowledge or superficial knowledge. Unfortunately the interviews were a combined effort and I had to cram as many technical type questions as I could into the 30-45 minutes available while working through each applicants CV and then a quick question or two to determine their grasp of the fundamentals.

The role was advertised as Production DBA with some development experience, and buried in the job spec there was mention of PL/SQL and SQL. Over half of the candidates confessed to not "really knowing" PL/SQL because they are DBAs. Some went as far as saying that their SQL skills weren't all that good. What!!!!

After sifting through the huge pile of CVs and selecting those I thought best matched the role regardless of amount of experience. The theory being that someone more junior or with less experience will train into the job or, if they are determined enough, ask around and beg for work, anything to get experience. This is a large organisation and the chances for advancement are yours to make.

But I was shocked, shocked by the lack of preparedness for interview by most of the candidates and, more shockingly, lying about their skill set and experience. OK, I can understand inflating things by a small margin, but to change a passing familiarity with a subject into 5 years worth of experience on a CV is blatant lying. Needless to say, despite my best efforts at CV sifting, some blaggers got through. This annoyed me because I don't like giving up 2 hours of my work time, when I could be productive, to listen to someone out and out lie to me. Seeing as this all happens at the beginning of the interview then leaves me another hour or so to stew without revealing boredom or displeasure.

In the end we settled on a pleasant guy who was not the strongest technically, but crucially most impressed when it came to presenting himself. We actually interviewed someone who spent most of the time answering to the table, and this is for a role involving constant communication. He was open to all ideas, and was able to demonstrate to me the difference between what he knew (solidly) and what he knew (passingly). So we all know where we stand.

So take note if you are about to apply for a position. If you feel your lack of experience will let you down work on your presentation skills. As an industry we are deficient in people skills, but the people interviewing you either are technical themselves and understand the mindset or are in personnel and just don't understand coyness.

Yes it is very different being on the other side of the table for a change and enlightening. I would recommend that technical people take time to prepare well for the basic questions, the obvious questions, those are the ones that stand out.