Title: CSSUG
1Meeting Date July 19, 2007 Topic How to Hire a
DBA by Chris Shaw
2User Group Update
- Charlotte is growing
- So is SQL Server
- Up 28 from 2006 (Gartner RDBMS Report)
- Great opportunities
- Admin, develop, support, etc
- What about the group?
- Over 350 registered users
- Great response
3Upcoming Meetings
- Andrew Kelly
- Performance expert SQL Server MVP
- Brian Knight
- Author and SQL Server MVP
- Rick Heiges
- Noted Speaker PASS Board Member
4Todays Speaker
- Chris Shaw
- 1 rated speaker 2007 PASS
- Managed large cutting-edge SQL Server Enterprises
- NASCAR fan
5Presentation Title
How to Hire a DBA
Chris Shaw Chris.Shaw_at_SQLonCall.com
6Goal of this session
- At the conclusion of this session you will be
better prepared to go through the hiring process
of a DBA as the employer or as the candidate
looking for a new DBA position.
7Why this topic?
- Nightmare interviews I have had.
- Mayo on my sandwich and its my birthday!
- Im outta here!
- Something more than over-the-counter
- How many interviewers does it take to change a
light bulb (or to hire a DBA)?
8Hiring a DBA
- Discussion Points
- Defining the search
- Posting the position
- Resumes
- Interviews
9Define what the company needs
- What is the needed experience level?
- What is the workload?
- What kind of DBA does the company need?
10Experienced Employees
- Positives
- Learning curve is not as steep
- Growth of current knowledge base
- New ideas
11Experienced Employees
- Negatives
- Cost
- They may be looking for a promotion that is not
going to be there any time soon. - Too many chefs in the kitchen.
- Possibility of losing the employee to the
consulting sector.
12Workload
- Have a predefined list of what will be expected
in the first month of work. - Place clearly defined goals on the workload where
the progression toward those goals can be easily
tracked. - Decide within the first 30 days if the new DBA is
the right person for the position they have been
hired for.
13What kind of a DBA do you need?
- Database Administrator
- Database Developer
- Database Architect
- Mixed Roles
14Database Administrator
- Backups
- Restores
- Installs
- Updates
- Configurations
- Firefighting
15Database Developer
- Stored Procedure Writing
- Performance Tuning
- Index Tuning
- Roll Scripts
- Rollback Scripts
16Database Architect
- Database design
- Future planning
- Dataflow design
- Data dictionaries
17Posting the position
- Make the posting clear on expectations and
position tasks. - Highlight the benefits.
- Highlight the history of the company.
- Supply a link to the companys web page.
18Resumes
- Key items to watch for.
- Key items to watch out for.
- Cover Letters
19Key items to watch for
- Mission Statements or Objectives
- Past Employment
- Organizations
- Certifications
- Salary
20Mission Statements or Objectives
- With cover letters becoming a thing of the past,
make sure that the Mission Statement has been
customized. - Check to see if it is more creative than the
standard develop a long term relationship with a
company that is mutually beneficial.
21Past Employment
- Look for details on what they did in their past
employment. - Look out for over-the-top dollar amounts
- Ask questions during the interview about the
accomplishments that are listed on the resume,
for example - How did you save the company 10 million dollars?
- How long did that take?
- Did you manage that project?
- What was managements reaction?
22Organizations
- Are they a member of any professional
organizations? - PASS
- Local SQL Server User Group
- Other User Groups
- Any organization where they hold a leadership role
23Certifications
- What certifications are listed?
- MCSE
- MCDBA
- A
- Do they have comparable experience to a
certification?
24Salary
- If the salary is listed,
- And the rate youre offering is lower than what
they were receiving at their last place of
employment, they may only be there long enough to
find a new job. - And the rate youre offering is much higher than
what they were receiving previously, pay close
attention to where their last employment was and
their experience. - If it looks to good to be true, chances are it
is!
25Key Items to Watch out for
- Microsoft Office Products
- Lack of information or filler
- Address
- Education
26Microsoft Office Products
- I call this the E-Mail bug.
- if you list expertise w/ Outlook on your resume
youre not the guy Im looking for - Exceptions
- MVP Status on an Office product
- Advanced Certifications
- Advanced or pertinent knowledge
- Mail merge
- Access pass through queries
27Filler
- Too much formatting
- Organizations other than professional where they
are not in a leadership position. - Bird watchers
- Marine Corp Veterans
- Hobbies
- Personal non-relevant information
- My goal is to grow the largest African Violet in
the world.
28Address
- How long will it take them to get to the office
if there is an emergency? - Is there an extended commute? Will this lead
them to look for a new position? - Are they planning to move if their address is too
far away?
29Education
- Did the candidate receive the degree that they
started courses for? - What was the major?
- Do they have a Masters degree in biology? If so,
why are they not working in the biology field?
30Cover Letters
- With growing popularity of some web sites that
auto submit resumes, I have been seeing a number
of resumes come in without a cover letter. - If a hard copy of a resume is turned in, I always
look for a cover letter.
31The Interview
- The I dont know answer
- The trick questions
- The scale of questions
- Examples of questions
- The hard questions
- Grading the interview
32The I dont know Answer
- This is an acceptable answer, and that should be
made known to the candidate during the interview.
- How does the candidate handle not knowing the
answer? Did they stumble and get frustrated, or
make something up?
33The I dont know Answer
- Did the candidate get nervous and let it
interfere with the other questions? - Did the candidate tell you they didnt know and
then shared how they would research the question?
34The Trick Questions
- I place 2 trick questions in every interview
- Many questions could have multiple answers. I add
these to see how someone handles the I dont
know answer, or to see how creative they are. - I am also looking to see if they start making
something up. If I have clarified the I dont
know answer is acceptable, this counts against
them.
35The Trick Questions
- Examples
- What steps would you take before creating a
server level role? - What is the sysPW table used for?
- What is the difference between SQL Server 2000
Developer Edition and Enterprise Edition?
36The Scale of Questions
- Group your questions into levels of difficulty.
This will give you an idea of the candidates
knowledge. - I have 5 to 6 questions in each group.
- There should be some very difficult questions to
answer.
37Scale 1 Examples
- What is RAID? Give an example.
- What are a couple of the differences between DBO
and SA? - Give an example of a built-in Database Role?
38Scale 2 Examples
- What steps would you take to improve a poor
performing query? - What is the difference between the sysusers and
the syslogins tables? - What DBCC commands do you commonly use? What do
they do?
39Scale 3 Questions
- What is De-Normalization and why would you use
it? - What are your thoughts on Embedded SQL vs. Stored
Procedures? - Describe the different kinds of replication that
you can set up in SQL Server. What are the agents
that are involved?
40The Hard Questions
- What would your previous employer say is your
best asset? - What would your previous employer say is your
area that needs the most improvement? - When you are presented with a stressful
situation, how do you handle it? Give an example?
41Grading the Interview
- I personally dont like the candidate to know how
they are doing on the interview while I am asking
questions. - I dont mind letting them know how they did after
the interview is over. - I believe that it adds to the nervousness.
42Grading the Interview
- Use a scale to record whether an answer is
correct or not. This will save you time in having
to grade it after the interview. - I use 1-10
- Or , or 0
43Your Reactions
- Your reaction may cause stress in a candidate.
That may be your goal, however, if this stress is
created, there is a chance that the candidate
will start missing questions they may normally
answer correctly. - However, this is a good preview on how they may
handle stress.
44Your Reactions
- I prefer not to correct a candidate during an
interview. If they ask me if they responded
correctly to a question, I tell them I am willing
to discuss it after we have completed the
interview.
45What you should look for during the Interview
- Focus
- Personality
- Where is the candidate in their professional
growth? - Would employment be a Win/Win situation?
46Focus
- Did they stray away from the questions?
- Where the answers too crisp and short?
- Where were they looking? Were they focused on the
interview? Were they bored or watching the clock?
47Personality
- If there is more than one DBA in the group, a
second interview with the other DBAs present may
show how the candidate will work as a team
player. - If there is a second interview, I do the
introductions and then let the candidate ask
questions to the team. If they have no
questions, I ask about the candidates background.
48Where is the candidate in their professional
growth?
- What are their goals?
- Do they take part in Pass Conferences, Read
articles, write articles? - Are they a leader or a follower?
- Are they over-qualified?
49Would it be a Win\Win situation?
- In every interview I give, I explain that I want
the candidate to be in a win/win situation. - The candidate needs to be able to further their
career. - The employer needs to be able to fill an open
position.
50So how do you decide?
- Do they meet the companys needs?
- Will they fit in with your group?
- Is it a Win/Win situation?
51Your Actions and Reactions
- Shake hands
- Dont fidget
- Keep eye contact
- Show interest
52If you get the chance, ask questions
- Asking questions shows your interest.
- If bonuses are part of the compensation package,
how many times have they paid bonuses out in the
last 4 years? - Can you meet the team?
- Can you tour the work area?
- How does the management work on team building?
53Questions
54Thank You
Chris Shaw Chris.Shaw_at_SQLonCall.com
55CSSUG Follow Up
- Email survey
- Thoughts on the virtual format
- Suggestions for meeting topics
- Suggestions for future speakers
- Check the web Site for meeting updates
- www.Charlotte-SQL.org
- Thanks