Author: Various

Date:    Various

Over 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:

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)