Credits:Author: Various Date: Various
DescriptionOver the years, I've been both interviewee and interviewer many times and have encountered many different approaches. My first interview for a commercial DBA position was the most memorable as it was my first encounter with a behavioral interview. Memorable also because I'd had no warning or preparation from the agency involved and because it was a total failure. I'd come from the 'sheltered' world of the military, where job interviews were rarer than hens teeth. However, once the shock had worn off, the whole exercise was a valuable learning experience. Less than 2 years later, I was conducting my own behavioral interviews to help build a small DBA team.
No matter the type of interview, there is always an aspect of technical questioning involved. However, there really is no such thing as a set of 'standard' interview questions - even within the same company or team, you may be looking for a different spread of skills across the individuals, or you may be looking for strength in a specific area to complement or enhance existing team skills. As an interviewer it can be a real challenge to come up with meaningful questions, and the effort involved in customizing questions (and answers) can also be a drain.
With the maturation of the internet as an information source and the increase in complexity of database and application solutions, I have found the emphasis on parrot-fashion answers to questions has reduced as there is so much to know and a multitude of reliable online resource for any DBA to utilize. I find it now to be increasingly important to examine a candidate's thought processes i.e. getting the right solution is important, but getting to that solution in a logical and safe manner and ensuring that the solution is viable in the long term and not just a quick-fix are both highly important.
I have collected many different lists of questions and generally just dip in when the time comes and pick a few to customize. Rarely do I ever use them without alteration.
Hopefully the collection of documents on this page will help you do the same.
The questions span most of the major SQL Server subject areas: - Backup and Recovery
- Concurrency and Locking
- Junior level
- Performance Tuning
- Security
- SQL Server Administration
- SQL Server Agent
- SQL Server Integration Services
- SQL Server Reporting Services
- System Databases
- TSQL
The documents can be found as attachments at the bottom of this page. All are zipped individually, but there is a combined archive (of all except the SQL 2008 (largest) file)
|
 Updating...
Interview Questions - DBA Phone Interview.zip (12k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - Junior DBA.zip (11k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - Junior SQL Developer.zip (13k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server Administration 1 of 3.zip (9k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server Administration 2 of 3.zip (9k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server Administration 3 of 3.zip (9k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server Agent.zip (11k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server Backup and Recovery.zip (11k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server Concurrency and Locking.zip (14k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server Developer.zip (10k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server Developer2.zip (12k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server Integration Services.zip (12k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server Performance Tuning.zip (11k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server Reporting Services.zip (23k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server Security.zip (12k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server System Databases.zip (17k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server TSQL Functions.zip (13k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQL Server TSQL.zip (11k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview Questions - SQLServer2008 InterviewQuestionsAnswers.zip (711k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
Interview questions.zip (219k) Andy Hughes, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM
SQL Server Internals and Architecture Interview Questions.zip (17k) Andy Hughes, Jun 10, 2020, 6:20 AM
|