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Are the posted questions getting worse?

  • July 5, 2017 at 9:33 am

    #1949511

    Grant Fritchey - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 9:14 AM

    Brandie Tarvin - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 8:48 AM

    Speaking of excellence... If someone puts "expert at ..." on their resume, how large a grain of salt do you take it with? Is it an automatic turnoff or a warning flag?

    Or do you accept it at face value until interview time?

    It's a red flag, and I mean the kind you wave in front of a bull. Please, please, please, let me interview the "Expert".

    Yup, that's how I view it as well. Same as someone saying they're 5/5 on SQL Server (that means they can answer questions to which I don't know the answer)

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass

  • July 5, 2017 at 9:42 am

    #1949513

    Phil Parkin - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 9:05 AM

    Anyone who does that is setting themselves up for nightmare interview questions ... as long as they are prepared and capable of answering such questions, good luck to them.

    What Phil said. I wouldn't say expert. Usually just experienced with an example.

    Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/way0utwest
    Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help
    My Blog: www.voiceofthedba.com

  • July 5, 2017 at 10:20 am

    #1949523

    Steve Jones - SSC Editor - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 9:42 AM

    Phil Parkin - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 9:05 AM

    Anyone who does that is setting themselves up for nightmare interview questions ... as long as they are prepared and capable of answering such questions, good luck to them.

    What Phil said. I wouldn't say expert. Usually just experienced with an example.

    I always liked creating a set of "rate yourself on the following" when doing an interview. It was always amusing when people automatically checked "expert" for every single topic.

    Michael L John
    If you assassinate a DBA, would you pull a trigger?
    To properly post on a forum:
    http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/61537/

  • July 5, 2017 at 8:05 pm

    #1949607

    ChrisM@Work - Tuesday, July 4, 2017 1:21 AM

    Happy holidays to our wonderful neighbours across the water, celebrating Brexit 1776!

    hahahahaha!!! Beautiful!

    I suppose the UK should be throwing something in the Channel, since our own Tea Party worked so well for us, but I'm not sure what European delicacy the bloody English are into now?

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  • July 5, 2017 at 8:09 pm

    #1949608

    Brandie Tarvin - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 4:43 AM

    The SO got me an early bday present. Two wireless vertical mice (because one of my cats chewed the cord on my corded vertical mouse).

    Now I have these weird "last page" and "next page" buttons I have no idea what to do with. But a nice new button to adjust DPI came with them too, and they even have a slot on the bottom of the mouse where I can store the USB connector. So, kinda cool... The only question is, what do I do with two of them?

    Is it possible to be a two-fisted mouser? @=)

    I have an Evoluent, and it makes all the difference. Are the buttons configurable? I can change the function on mine based on what application I'm using, so I do things like Reply and Send for Outlook, F5 or (Ctrl+K+Ctrl+C) for SSMS, etc. Comes in handy, as long as I remember what I set them to. I also set one to double-click, so I can save on clicks too.

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  • July 5, 2017 at 8:12 pm

    #1949609

    Luis Cazares - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 9:09 AM

    Brandie Tarvin - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 8:48 AM

    Speaking of excellence... If someone puts "expert at ..." on their resume, how large a grain of salt do you take it with? Is it an automatic turnoff or a warning flag?

    Or do you accept it at face value until interview time?

    Usually, experts leave a trail behind them that can be traced. That would only make me ask harder questions and expect better answers than someone who just claims to have basic knowledge. In the end, I don't care if they claim to have ruled England, they still need to prove it.

    "How many Corgi's do you have? Have you ever parachuted out of an airplane into the Olympics? How many world wars have you won?"

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  • July 5, 2017 at 10:08 pm

    #1949612

    Brandie Tarvin - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 8:48 AM

    Speaking of excellence... If someone puts "expert at ..." on their resume, how large a grain of salt do you take it with? Is it an automatic turnoff or a warning flag?

    Or do you accept it at face value until interview time?

    I sat in on an interview of candidate for a Dev position that was an "expert" at SQL.  She was very proud of the fact that she had worked with every version since SQL6.5.

    I gave her a piece of paper, that had a single question.

    DECLARE @Num INT;
    Please write a SQL statement that will evaluate @Num, and return one of the following results
    If @Num is divisible by 3, return "Fizz"
    If @Num is divisible by 5, return "Buzz"
    If @Num is divisible by 15, return "FizzBuzz"

    She stared at the paper for about 5 mins, then burst into tears.  The request was way beyond her ability

    How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help.

  • July 5, 2017 at 10:17 pm

    #1949613

    Michael L John - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 10:20 AM

    Steve Jones - SSC Editor - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 9:42 AM

    Phil Parkin - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 9:05 AM

    Anyone who does that is setting themselves up for nightmare interview questions ... as long as they are prepared and capable of answering such questions, good luck to them.

    What Phil said. I wouldn't say expert. Usually just experienced with an example.

    I always liked creating a set of "rate yourself on the following" when doing an interview. It was always amusing when people automatically checked "expert" for every single topic.

    Do you find that the better people are usually more critical of themselves?
    Always something new to learn more about, so Expert in everything would mean some in depth questions would be in order.
    And many that don't consider themselves Experts have some pretty good ideas of what they would like to get a better grasp of.

  • July 5, 2017 at 11:13 pm

    #1949615

    @Grant Fritchey

    I believe that congratulations are in order, sir.

    How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help.

  • July 6, 2017 at 1:46 am

    #1949627

    jonathan.crawford - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 8:05 PM

    ChrisM@Work - Tuesday, July 4, 2017 1:21 AM

    Happy holidays to our wonderful neighbours across the water, celebrating Brexit 1776!

    hahahahaha!!! Beautiful!

    I suppose the UK should be throwing something in the Channel, since our own Tea Party worked so well for us, but I'm not sure what European delicacy the bloody English are into now?

    Not a delicacy, but how about the Labour Party leader?

    “Write the query the simplest way. If through testing it becomes clear that the performance is inadequate, consider alternative query forms.” - Gail Shaw

    For fast, accurate and documented assistance in answering your questions, please read this article.
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  • July 6, 2017 at 5:38 am

    #1949664

    DesNorton - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 11:13 PM

    @Grant Fritchey

    I believe that congratulations are in order, sir.

    Commiserations you mean.

    I promise to cause marginally less damage than Nero.

    ----------------------------------------------------The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood... Theodore RooseveltThe Scary DBAAuthor of: SQL Server 2017 Query Performance Tuning, 5th Edition and SQL Server Execution Plans, 3rd EditionProduct Evangelist for Red Gate Software

  • July 6, 2017 at 5:55 am

    #1949669

    DesNorton - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 11:13 PM

    @Grant Fritchey

    I believe that congratulations are in order, sir.

    Or condolences, whiskey and a shoulder to cry on. 🙂

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass

  • July 6, 2017 at 6:07 am

    #1949674

    GilaMonster - Thursday, July 6, 2017 5:55 AM

    DesNorton - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 11:13 PM

    @Grant Fritchey

    I believe that congratulations are in order, sir.

    Or condolences, whiskey and a shoulder to cry on. 🙂

    How about a monkey Shoulder?
    Image result for Monkey Shoulder with glass

    Thom~

    Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
    Larnu.uk

  • July 6, 2017 at 6:32 am

    #1949682

    DesNorton - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 10:08 PM

    Brandie Tarvin - Wednesday, July 5, 2017 8:48 AM

    Speaking of excellence... If someone puts "expert at ..." on their resume, how large a grain of salt do you take it with? Is it an automatic turnoff or a warning flag?

    Or do you accept it at face value until interview time?

    I sat in on an interview of candidate for a Dev position that was an "expert" at SQL.  She was very proud of the fact that she had worked with every version since SQL6.5.

    I gave her a piece of paper, that had a single question.

    DECLARE @Num INT;
    Please write a SQL statement that will evaluate @Num, and return one of the following results
    If @Num is divisible by 3, return "Fizz"
    If @Num is divisible by 5, return "Buzz"
    If @Num is divisible by 15, return "FizzBuzz"

    She stared at the paper for about 5 mins, then burst into tears.  The request was way beyond her ability

    I used to have that in a screening exam that I would later review with the candidates. One question asked to build a fizzbuzz solution. They all left the question as a big blank. I had to ask the question: "You came for a SQL Developer position. Why did you leave the only question that required code unanswered?" I don't remember if someone even tried.

    Luis C.
    General Disclaimer:
    Are you seriously taking the advice and code from someone from the internet without testing it? Do you at least understand it? Or can it easily kill your server?

    How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help: Option 1 / Option 2

  • July 6, 2017 at 6:36 am

    #1949686

    So, our 3rd party data engine failed today at 10:15. Took someone about an hour to notice, as it's extremely rare any of the DB team are looking at data from the last hour. It looked like some of the processes stopped updating the core tables,so we restarted the service, and told it to rebuild (not ideal, but an hour of down time, compared to the rest of the day with stale). Entire process failed, with our third party server saying its run out of disc space... /sigh. We made a system down call at about 11:30. it's now 13;30 and still no call from them.

    If this keeps up, looks like I'll be going home early with no database backend. Not sure if that's a good thing..? (Especially as I overslept by an hour today, and was rather late for work, so the failure had happened before i ever got to the office).

    I really dislike it when you literally have no control over the problem, yet the company who does just seems to be doing nothing. >_<

    Thom~

    Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
    Larnu.uk

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