August 13, 2009 at 7:24 am
Hi Forum-Admin & Tech-Guys,
I come accross below kind of statements many times when i appear for SQL Server DB interviews:
- Candidate need to have experience of Insurance industry.
- Person should have exposure of Financial Services Industry.
- Guy needs to have knowledge of banking/lending industry.
Now i see that there are various sites which posts/talk about various Tech
topics related to SQL Server DB / .NET activities.
But i don't find much articles which talk about above topic.
More precisely,
- What knowledge DB Developer / DBA should have in relation to above skills ?
- What knowledge / key points the interviewer is looking in the candidate in relation to above skills ?
- Do you have come accross any specific Third Party tools which help in above ?
Manytime hiring manager just rejects resume, because he cannot find above stuff in my resume.
If anyone can post some article which discuss about tech topics related to DB, which helps in answering above requirements, then it would help many people.
I hope that i am posting this question at right place, if not then please move to right place.
you guys can also reply me : dal_hit@yahoo.com
Thanks
Dal Hit
August 13, 2009 at 7:36 am
dal hit (8/13/2009)
What knowledge / key points the interviewer is looking in the candidate in relation to above skills ?
In my experience, statements like that mean they want someone who has worked in that industry before, so it's not book knowledge or training, but actual prior work experience in the particular field.
Whether or not the manager wanting that is valid or not is a completely different question.
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
August 13, 2009 at 9:39 am
GilaMonster (8/13/2009)
dal hit (8/13/2009)
What knowledge / key points the interviewer is looking in the candidate in relation to above skills ?In my experience, statements like that mean they want someone who has worked in that industry before, so it's not book knowledge or training, but actual prior work experience in the particular field.
Whether or not the manager wanting that is valid or not is a completely different question.
Agreed - although in my experience, it's usually enough that you understand the concepts that banking or insurance professionals would be tossing around. So, familiarity with, say, compounding interest, or concepts like IBNR, fully earned, ISO Statistical data, etc...
The manager is looking for someone who won't need a training in the field and can have a meaningful conversation with the user community.
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Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
August 16, 2009 at 6:15 am
I am not sure about the US, but i can speak about the UK in general. having worked in the financial industry as a whole, including the investment banking industry. if that helps.
Generally, the banking industry is the hardest industry to work in, as they tend to want people who already have experience of working in the banking industry. the only shortcut you can find, is that some banks and financial organisations, will employ people without relevant business experience, these organisations are known to people in the trade, and you will find that adverts will say 'No banking experience required'.
There are a couple of reasons why they want people with relevant experience, the business model is different to other industries, and the learning curve is harder, and they want people who can hit the ground running. to learn how the various business units and internal auditing systems work, could take up to a month, before they let you near any of the production systems.
You cannot learn this, outside of working for the company. there are no training courses or books that can help you with working in a bank. it is purely down to finding a financial role where they will take someone without the relevant banking experience, and these roles do exist.
It took me 14 years before I managed to find a role with a bank and that was with me, having worked in the financial industry!!!.
Recruiters always look at the companies you have worked for, and if none of them are a bank, you will normally be discarded at that point.
~Silverfox~
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August 16, 2009 at 6:29 am
I'd worked with AIG which used to be the leading insurer (and re-insurer). I didnt have idea of insurance domain when i joined but gradually i did come to know abt their products. we had developed applications for their contact center/products/their details/catalogs. There were several databases for different LOB as each LOB had different concepts and managed as a unit like health, motor, marine etc...
August 17, 2009 at 4:10 pm
When we were looking for the DBA in the HedgeFund, most important was a proven previous experience in Financial sector. Among the questions we asked were the following: what is swap, derivative, call, put, etc...
On the other hand when I was hired 6 years to work in one of the major insurance players of NJ, not a single question was asked about insurance industry and terminology.
August 18, 2009 at 3:53 am
It's a catch-22 situation. I was interested in the finance world, but like you, all of the jobs would require a decent knowledge of finance. To be honest, I pretty much gave up on the finance world until I saw an advert for my current job.
While they would of preferred someone with that background, they were willing to speak to DBAs without the experience - maybe it is because we are a small company?
It does make a difference to your job though - aside from understanding the terminology, it's like learning a new language. You can get 3 requests which are worded differently but all mean the same thing - that was what caught me out to begin with!
Good luck with your search though!
August 18, 2009 at 7:43 am
Write an excellent cover letter, with references as to why you will be a good employee. It might help.
August 18, 2009 at 8:04 am
Steve Jones - Editor (8/18/2009)
Write an excellent cover letter, with references as to why you will be a good employee. It might help.
You wouldnt be volunteering as a cover letter writer, would you :-P, I dare say you might make a ok reference, not perfect but better than nothing 😀
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August 18, 2009 at 4:14 pm
That is interesting but I’ve never been asked on a interview a business related questions, especially when was moving from insurance company to a financial services company. In most of the cases terminology should support your business knowledge, which is critical if you work on a database design.
But I was hired as a Prod DBA in a Hedge Fund, not to mentioned 5 hrs interview on site with 6 different people (and 2 phone interviews prior that) and then 10+ hrs workday after that, sleepless nights when you are on call and people from Europe calling you in the middle of the night.
Go figure.
But I also agree with Steve, if you can prepare a nice resume with a sound cover letter, answer technical and some business terminology questions and show your personality to the hiring team, most likely you will be hired. Just keep tryin…
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