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Just Walk Away - Blacklisting - and Twits without Twitter

  • April 7, 2009 at 8:11 pm

    #973965

    I had a job interview once where I was asked if I had ever thrown large manuals at people. I thought it was a joke question until it turned out that's what got my predecessor fired. 😉

    __________________________________________________

    Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain. -- Friedrich Schiller
    Stop, children, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down. -- Stephen Stills

  • April 7, 2009 at 10:03 pm

    #973989

    Bob Hovious (4/7/2009)

    I had a job interview once where I was asked if I had ever thrown large manuals at people. I thought it was a joke question until it turned out that's what got my predecessor fired. 😉

    Did you say, "No, I've never thrown large manuals at people, but I'm willing to learn."?

  • April 7, 2009 at 10:09 pm

    #973990

    I DID sort of limber up my throwing arm while pondering my reply. 😀

    __________________________________________________

    Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain. -- Friedrich Schiller
    Stop, children, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down. -- Stephen Stills

  • April 7, 2009 at 10:35 pm

    #974002

    Currently at our Job, I am doing interviews and of the two post open, I took a lady because she had more common sense and an attitude to learn. That is what I am looking for in Junior DBA.

    There were people in the office that had an attitude of "What does that woman know. There are no Woman DBAs"... I just asked them to "F*** Of" She has way way better knowledge than any of those morons.

    I also asked them to check the knowledge base of couple of Lady DBAs here in SSC. They shut up after that.. 😀

    -Roy

  • April 7, 2009 at 11:55 pm

    #974022

    I grew up in Greece and, back when I was a student, the mere mention that I was studying Mathematics would elicit "Oh, so you'll want to become a teacher then?" in the best case scenario, or "Why bother with university when you'll just want to have kids in a couple of years" in the worst.

    I live in the UK now, and thankfully I have never been treated differently due to being female, in the 10 years I've been working in IT.

    I don't doubt that this sort of thing does happen in the UK though...

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Bite-sized fiction (with added teeth) [/url]

  • April 7, 2009 at 11:56 pm

    #974023

    Way to go, Roy! I had a similar experience where I'd interviewed person after person after person for a Sr. Developer position. They all had degrees and certs out the whazoo. But if common sense and actual practical knowledge were gasoline, they collectively wouldn't have had enough to run a sugar-ant's mini-bike through a match box. This kid with no certs and just a little college (heavy on the math side) comes in and bang, bang, bang... he just whips through all of my questions like he'd been doing things for a thousand years. To top it off, he actually had a decent personality where it seemed that all those other folks had become, ummmm.... "ring knockers".

    I asked him how he was able to answer all those questions (some simple, some not so simple, and a couple of "ace breakers"). He quietly stated that he liked SQL and databases and that it's kind of a hobby for him at home to "play" with SQL. NICE!!!!

    --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

  • April 8, 2009 at 1:02 am

    #974040

    Steve Jones - Editor (4/7/2009)

    GilaMonster (4/7/2009)

    Similar thing here. In my country, woman and IT don't usually go in the same sentence. The number of times I've been 'mistaken' for the project manager, the token HR representative, the clueless middle manager, etc

    That is until you've given them a black belt SQL lesson and a shodan toss across the mat 😛

    I was seriously tempted once. It was in an interview and the position we were looking to fill was a DB development/optimisation and anyone hired would have being junior to me.

    I started with my questions (reading off a sheet of paper that I'd scribbled notes onto earlier).

    The guy replied in a condescending, arrogant tone, directed at one of my colleagues and got the answer completely wrong with 100% confidence. It went downhill from there.

    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

  • April 8, 2009 at 2:55 am

    #974087

    Roy Ernest (4/7/2009)

    I also asked them to check the knowledge base of couple of Lady DBAs here in SSC. They shut up after that.. 😀

    I've had people look totally amazed when I tell them what Robyn Page is doing these days (http://www.simple-talk.com/author/robyn-page/). I've learned quite a few things from her Workbench series.

    Typical response: "What? The actress who played the barmaid in that soap opera?!!":w00t:

    Derek

  • April 8, 2009 at 3:08 am

    #974092

    Gail is awesome in the high velocity pork chop arena

    Any your not bad either Jeff 😉

    Ooooh! ouch, that damn pork chop, I was only kidding Jeff 😛

    Far away is close at hand in the images of elsewhere.
    Anon.

  • April 8, 2009 at 7:15 am

    #974247

    I'm not sure why I started reading this thread. As I did, I kept asking myself "Did I do that?", "Are they talking about me?"

    Don't you dare change, you old-timers, just keep on being as helpful and generous as you have always been. We need and appreciate that!

  • April 8, 2009 at 7:58 am

    #974300

    I don't think you need to worry, Jim. I've never heard your name mentioned by anyone in any context underlying the start of this thread. 😉

    Nobody is planning on stopping either.

    __________________________________________________

    Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain. -- Friedrich Schiller
    Stop, children, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down. -- Stephen Stills

  • April 11, 2009 at 12:28 pm

    #976162

    Jim Russell (4/8/2009)

    I'm not sure why I started reading this thread. As I did, I kept asking myself "Did I do that?", "Are they talking about me?"

    Don't you dare change, you old-timers, just keep on being as helpful and generous as you have always been. We need and appreciate that!

    Definitely never a problem with you, Jim. You've always been kind, courteous, thoughtful, and helpful in all your posts I've had the pleasure of addressing.

    --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

  • April 11, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    #976220

    I keep trying to get them to let Robin to a podcast. No luck so far.:-P

    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

  • April 12, 2009 at 10:25 am

    #976321

    GilaMonster (4/7/2009)

    Jeff Moden (4/7/2009)

    But then I saw it happen today. One of us made just the smallest snyde remark about helping someone on what was obviously a laundry list of interview or test questions, and he got lambasted for it by yet another newbie. Heh... that's fair, right? :sick:

    If I'm thinking about the same issue as you, the person in question has (as far as I've seen) posted very little of any use so far. Some posts picking holes in other people's solutions, some arguing semantics, some confusing the issue.

    Maybe I've missed some, will check history later. Hopefully that will change in the future.

    ...and welcome to the SQL Server Central Forums! :unsure:

    At least you've given the poor guy* a fair go, eh?

    😀

    * that'll be me then.

    Paul White
    SQLPerformance.com
    SQLkiwi blog
    @SQL_Kiwi

  • April 12, 2009 at 7:53 pm

    #976364

    GilaMonster (4/8/2009)

    Steve Jones - Editor (4/7/2009)

    GilaMonster (4/7/2009)

    Similar thing here. In my country, woman and IT don't usually go in the same sentence. The number of times I've been 'mistaken' for the project manager, the token HR representative, the clueless middle manager, etc

    That is until you've given them a black belt SQL lesson and a shodan toss across the mat 😛

    I was seriously tempted once. It was in an interview and the position we were looking to fill was a DB development/optimisation and anyone hired would have being junior to me.

    I started with my questions (reading off a sheet of paper that I'd scribbled notes onto earlier).

    The guy replied in a condescending, arrogant tone, directed at one of my colleagues and got the answer completely wrong with 100% confidence. It went downhill from there.

    I've been known to stop an interview after the first question for those same reasons. I've no tolerance for condescending or arrogant people especially where I work. Even if you're a bloody genius, you have to get along with the other people. Of course, giving the wrong answer on top of all that is instant grounds for a rapid fire volley of pork chops followed by an immediate military escort off the premises.

    I can handle wrong answers much better than any form of arrogance. Confidence is good. Anyone who doesn't know the difference needs to do some serious soul searching.

    --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

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