I got burned today at a SQL Server Interview!

  • Mark Markov (2/28/2008)


    Jeff Moden (2/28/2008)


    One piece of advice, I suspect these are meant to be open-ended questions,

    I suspect they're really meant to find out if you actually know SQL Server or not. πŸ˜› I've had folks that claim to be a "9 out of 10 in SQL server" right on the resume... one of them couldn't tell me how to get the current date and time in a query... the answer was "Dunno, we always used the GUI for that." S-w-e-e-e-e-t... just what I need for an SQL Developer...

    Even I know! Even I know! It's GetDate() πŸ™‚

    select GETDATE() as [dateorwhateveryouwant] in Management Studio. πŸ™‚

  • Brandie Tarvin (3/12/2008)


    You know, someone should mention (for the lurkers), that Jeff actually paid attention to the Corporate Culture before "letting loose". He didn't just do it without having some foresight as to what the end result might be.

    Ah! On the serious side, someone gets it... it's very important to do a couple of things before you go to any interview.

    1. Understand the position you're applying for. Meet most of the requirements you're applying for (despite what the head hunter says) and be prepared to discuss why you think you meet those requirements and how you'll make up for the ones you don't. This is where the technical questions usually come in... the only reason why they're asking is to find out if you can do the job you're applying for.

    2. Know what the company actually does. With the internet being available, there's just no excuses for not doing this. If you really think you want to work for the company, prepare well enough to use certain facts about the company in casual converstation. Part of the reason I got the "let loose" job πŸ˜€ is not only because I read the corporate "culture" while I was there, but I did some serious homework on the company.

    3. Be human. Show your personality without necessarily being "familiar" with the interviewers. Don't be a stuffed shirt just because your on an interview. The folks that are doing the interview are human, too. Talk with them like you knew them for a thousand years. I not suggesting the you employ tactics like I did (a bit too "familiar" for most)... I took an extreme chance on my ability to read those people and I'd already been in the interview for an hour building a "relationship". Be human. Talk normal. Show that you're human. I hate when someone tells me that they're a real people person but won't look at me while they're talking and they never smile and the tone in their voice never waivers.

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.
    "Change is inevitable... change for the better is not".

    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)
    Intro to Tally Tables and Functions

  • Jeff said:

    Ax? Bring it... can be used to make porkchops

    Porkchooooopppsss and applesaaaaauuuuce.

    Sorry. Had to be said. @=)

    Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

  • The axe is such a clumsy weapon. How about a katana? Unless the interviewers are wearing armor, then I'm going for a good broadsword.

    No pork chops!

    How about just coming as a good ole-fashioned human ranger? I've got a sweet bow. Or is that more appropriate for a development position?

    ----------------------------------------------------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

  • How close could you get with your axe before one of my nice homemade 32" POC arras pierces your steel breastplate? Of course, any arras left over make good spits for the porkchops...

    β€œWrite 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.
    Understanding and using APPLY, (I) and (II) Paul White
    Hidden RBAR: Triangular Joins / The "Numbers" or "Tally" Table: What it is and how it replaces a loop Jeff Moden

  • Chris Morris (3/12/2008)


    How close could you get with your axe before one of my nice homemade 32" POC arras pierces your steel breastplate? Of course, any arras left over make good spits for the porkchops...

    That could not... have sounded... any nerdier............. just kidding!! πŸ˜› Please don't be mad as I am sure I will need your help in the very near future with my SQL soap operas! :):):)

  • This thread has ample nerdiness for those amused by it! πŸ˜›

    β€œWrite 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.
    Understanding and using APPLY, (I) and (II) Paul White
    Hidden RBAR: Triangular Joins / The "Numbers" or "Tally" Table: What it is and how it replaces a loop Jeff Moden

  • We is all GEEKS!!!!

    @=)

    Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

  • Resume

    Goals: Have enough money to pay for my various RPG habits and new ones I plan to pick up (Age of Conan!), with some left over for vital necessities like food and a place to keep my computer out of the rain

    Reason I Want to Work for This Company: I hear the IT group has a good WoW guild

    Skills: Level 500 in The Realm, multiple level 60+ in EQ, guild leader and officer in WoW, beta tester and multiple high-level characters in City of Heroes/Villains, beta tester for Age of Conan, all versions of AD&D since original publication in the 1970s, Vampire/Werewolf/Mage (White Wolf) player and storyteller (tabletop/pen-and-paper, no LARP experience but willing to learn), Shadowrun (both sides of the table), some experience in Heroes RPG, limited experience in Gamma World

    Oh, and 6 years experience w/ MS-SQL (not sure what level that exp comes out to...)

    -----------

    Yeah! I like it! I'm definitely gonna have to write that sucker up and post it on Monster.com!

    - Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
    Property of The Thread

    "Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon

  • Evidently, geeks with weapons!

    :w00t:

    ----------------------------------------------------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

  • Grant Fritchey (3/12/2008)


    Evidently, geeks with weapons!

    :w00t:

    I built a crossbow when I was in high school. Darn thing can shoot a bolt through a 4 inch thick pine tree.

    - Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
    Property of The Thread

    "Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon

  • Nice. I made my long bow in a course with the Royal Bowyer of England. It's only about 50-60lb pull, but it'll throw a bodkin point about 75 yards. Only about 1/2 of what I'd need to stand in the line with King Harry.

    ----------------------------------------------------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

  • Bob Fazio (3/11/2008)


    I went ahead and took it. I took some tests a REALLY LONG time ago. Did better than I thought too 4.01. However, I really don't know replication/mirroring/clustering at all. (It was a weak area) and it seemed like there were a whole lot of questions about that. I was also rushed and I should have known better. Hard to take a test without taking off work... In any case. It was fun.

    Very impressive! You made it in to their top 50 scores (just!) for this category (SQL Server 2005 Admin).

    Score Name Date

    5.00 Vadim Chaplygin 2008-02-08

    5.00 Stanislav Taborov 2008-03-11

    4.76 Arkadij Bykov 2008-02-08

    4.69 Grigorij Borisjuk 2008-02-08

    4.44 Gary Hollis 2008-02-03

    4.44 Bhrigu Datta 2008-02-17

    4.36 Prashant Thakwani 2008-02-25

    4.28 Konstantin Karpov 2008-02-08

    4.26 Timur Sokolov 2008-01-30

    4.25 Karl Grambow 2008-03-05

    4.15 Tatyana Gribnikova 2008-03-03

    4.09 Peter Ross 2008-02-03

    4.09 Stan Vargo 2008-02-09

    4.09 Denis Ivin 2008-02-11

    4.07 Yongxiao Zhang 2008-01-21

    4.07 Wendel Meireles 2008-02-04

    4.07 Darin Seng 2008-02-11

    4.05 Andrew Glazko 2008-03-11

    4.03 Igor Shipunov 2008-01-23

    4.03 David Bartley 2008-02-02

    4.03 Igor Khvorostjuk 2008-02-08

    4.03 Stanislav Mastjukov 2008-02-08

    4.03 Fedor Ulko 2008-02-08

    4.03 S Giida 2008-03-05

    4.01 Nicoleta Triculescu 2008-01-24

    4.01 Donald Murphy 2008-02-27

    4.01 Robert Fazio 2008-03-11

    3.99 Daniel Howell 2008-01-29

  • WOW! and at the same time πŸ™ Because I feel the same as others that I REALLY have a LOT to learn. If I rate that high, then there really are a lot of incompetent people out there who call themselves DBA's.

    Another reason I really like this Forum! I can't say how well I would have done had I not started making this forum a daily exercise.

  • Grant Fritchey (3/12/2008)


    Nice. I made my long bow in a course with the Royal Bowyer of England. It's only about 50-60lb pull, but it'll throw a bodkin point about 75 yards. Only about 1/2 of what I'd need to stand in the line with King Harry.

    It has to be done. I have two Bickerstaffes, a Victorian - similar to yours I guess, in hickory, purpleheart and lemonwood, and a "warbow" in 5 laminates with hickory back and osage belly. Both are modest, 50#-ish. Recently I had the opportunity to shoot with warbow enthusiasts in the New Forest, both of them pulling 145# selfyew bows and sending broomsticks 300yards. My "warbow lite" consistently reaches 170yards with target arras, but it has a 32-33" draw, more power delivered to the arras than the Victorian.

    Gsquared, I've looked for but can't find a story on ArcheryInterchange of a lad who knocked up a crossbow using the leafsprings from an old car. He fired an 8" bolt, steel with feather fletches, at a tree, but it seemed to have missed...then he noticed the three fletches scattered at the base of the tree. Closer inspection revealed a small hole a couple of feet above the feathers. A screwdriver pushed into the hole went in about 4"...then hit metal...

    β€œWrite 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.
    Understanding and using APPLY, (I) and (II) Paul White
    Hidden RBAR: Triangular Joins / The "Numbers" or "Tally" Table: What it is and how it replaces a loop Jeff Moden

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