Are the posted questions getting worse?

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Are the posted questions getting worse?

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TomThomson SSC Guru Points: 104773 More actions · Answer 1

GSquared (2/28/2012)
I keep getting hit on by recruiters looking for .NET devs (my resume specifically says "trivial experience in .NET"), data entry clerk positions (the word "data" appears on my resume several times, that is true), and even for a data verification position for a law office (scary thought there in its own way).
I concluded a while back that these recruiters are:
a) Illiterate - their resume search software says my resume is a match based on keywords, but they can't read it themselves to see what it actually says.
b) Desperate - "maybe if we throw enough random people at it, someone will be a good match, get hired, and we'll make payroll this month".
and/or
c) Evil - Muahahahahah! Let's send them a DBA to be their legal data verification clerk! The resulting chaos will bring civilization that much closer to its inevitable collapse! Events are going exactly as I have forseen them!
I prefer (c), for the entertainment value, personally.

I (unfortunately) know a few inaccurate recruiting agents (both as someone who ended up round filing lots of completely irrelevant CVs every day when recruiting and as someone who gets probes about jobs doing things for which I have neither knowledge nor experience nor any desire to do).

I prefer your (a) because it's extremely plausible (I've known a lot of recruiters, a few of whom were literate and competent to read and understand a CV). It's certainly possible that some are operating plan (b) too, in fact I can imagine no more plausible explanation for some of my experiences as a hiring manager. I suppose it's possible (even probable, given the number of loony extremists our education system trains) that some literate recruitment agents are attempting to operate plan (c), but suspect such are extremely rare.

Tom

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004365 More actions · Answer 2

Gianluca Sartori (2/28/2012)
Based on the number of interview questions we see on the forums lately, we could safely say that the IT job market is quite healthier than it used to be a couple of years ago.
Good sign.

Either that or some companies have finally figured out that their "outsourced" DBAs aren't all they're cracked up to be. For example, imagine the delight if you were interviewing the following person for a DBA position... whom, apparently, doesn't know how to use BOL or Google on top of it all.

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1258844-146-1.aspx

Please... don't dogpile this non-qual anymore than he's already been. I just wanted to show you the kind of... ummmm... (trying to clean this up)... ummmm... (there it is and no 4 letter words)... underqualified candidates a lot of companies have been getting.

{EDIT} Sorry. Didn't see that Gail had already posted a link for this one.

--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)

Lynn Pettis SSC Guru Points: 442467 More actions · Answer 3

Jeff Moden (2/28/2012)
Gianluca Sartori (2/28/2012)
Based on the number of interview questions we see on the forums lately, we could safely say that the IT job market is quite healthier than it used to be a couple of years ago.
Good sign.
Either that or some companies have finally figured out that their "outsourced" DBAs aren't all they're cracked up to be. For example, imagine the delight if you were interviewing the following person for a DBA position... whom, apparently, doesn't know how to use BOL or Google on top of it all.
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1258844-146-1.aspx
Please... don't dogpile this non-qual anymore than he's already been. I just wanted to show you the kind of... ummmm... (trying to clean this up)... ummmm... (there it is and no 4 letter words)... underqualified candidates a lot of companies have been getting.
{EDIT} Sorry. Didn't see that Gail had already posted a link for this one.

I didn't pile on, I just tried to explain what that one particular question he was asking regarding updatation and insertion.

Koen Verbeeck SSC Guru Points: 259115 More actions · Answer 4

Lynn Pettis (2/28/2012)
Jeff Moden (2/28/2012)
Gianluca Sartori (2/28/2012)
Based on the number of interview questions we see on the forums lately, we could safely say that the IT job market is quite healthier than it used to be a couple of years ago.
Good sign.
Either that or some companies have finally figured out that their "outsourced" DBAs aren't all they're cracked up to be. For example, imagine the delight if you were interviewing the following person for a DBA position... whom, apparently, doesn't know how to use BOL or Google on top of it all.
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1258844-146-1.aspx
Please... don't dogpile this non-qual anymore than he's already been. I just wanted to show you the kind of... ummmm... (trying to clean this up)... ummmm... (there it is and no 4 letter words)... underqualified candidates a lot of companies have been getting.
{EDIT} Sorry. Didn't see that Gail had already posted a link for this one.
I didn't pile on, I just tried to explain what that one particular question he was asking regarding updatation and insertion.

I did pile on 🙂

Posting such a list of questions and then claiming you've done intensive research, ... well that kind of ticks me off.

Need an answer? No, you need a question
My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

Koen Verbeeck SSC Guru Points: 259115 More actions · Answer 5

Triple heart attack this morning when I stumbled accross this:

NOLOCK is good practice

It's even marked as answer. :crying:

What's even more unsettling, is that that a link to this thread was provided by a Microsoft moderator in another thread...:blink:

Need an answer? No, you need a question
My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004504 More actions · Answer 6

Lynn Pettis (2/28/2012)
I didn't pile on, I just tried to explain what that one particular question he was asking regarding updatation and insertion.

Which, btw, I could interpret just fine, was trying to convey to OP that the question was badly phrased to the point of not being understandable.

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

spaghettidba SSC Guru Points: 105732 More actions · Answer 7

Revenant (2/28/2012)
Gianluca Sartori (2/28/2012)
Lynn Pettis (2/28/2012)
I guess we need to start encouraging more people to consider DBA work as a career choice.
What??? You mean less people!
What would I do for a living with all those DBAs around doing it much better than me??
No, no, no! More than enough DBAs!! 😛
You would manage them, and daily told them how surprised you are how long they take to accomplish their tasks.

HA! I don't see it happening anytime soon.

I'm genetically unable to manage people. When I disagree with somebody (on a technical matter I am quite sure of) I try to explain my point of view at most twice. If you insist doing things your way, go ahead and bang your head to the wall.

This doesn't make a good boss...

-- Gianluca Sartori

Koen Verbeeck SSC Guru Points: 259115 More actions · Answer 8

Gianluca Sartori (2/29/2012)
Revenant (2/28/2012)
Gianluca Sartori (2/28/2012)
Lynn Pettis (2/28/2012)
I guess we need to start encouraging more people to consider DBA work as a career choice.
What??? You mean less people!
What would I do for a living with all those DBAs around doing it much better than me??
No, no, no! More than enough DBAs!! 😛
You would manage them, and daily told them how surprised you are how long they take to accomplish their tasks.
HA! I don't see it happening anytime soon.
I'm genetically unable to manage people. When I disagree with somebody (on a technical matter I am quite sure of) I try to explain my point of view at most twice. If you insist doing things your way, go ahead and bang your head to the wall.
This doesn't make a good boss...

Maybe it's no so good for the company if people bang their heads to the wall (all those holes), but as a learning experience for that person it's quite OK. They probably have to bang their heads only a couple of times before they realize you know what you're talking about.

Need an answer? No, you need a question
My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

spaghettidba SSC Guru Points: 105732 More actions · Answer 9

Koen Verbeeck (2/29/2012)
Gianluca Sartori (2/29/2012)
Revenant (2/28/2012)
Gianluca Sartori (2/28/2012)
Lynn Pettis (2/28/2012)
I guess we need to start encouraging more people to consider DBA work as a career choice.
What??? You mean less people!
What would I do for a living with all those DBAs around doing it much better than me??
No, no, no! More than enough DBAs!! 😛
You would manage them, and daily told them how surprised you are how long they take to accomplish their tasks.
HA! I don't see it happening anytime soon.
I'm genetically unable to manage people. When I disagree with somebody (on a technical matter I am quite sure of) I try to explain my point of view at most twice. If you insist doing things your way, go ahead and bang your head to the wall.
This doesn't make a good boss...
Maybe it's no so good for the company if people bang their heads to the wall (all those holes), but as a learning experience for that person it's quite OK. They probably have to bang their heads only a couple of times before they realize you know what you're talking about.

I partially agree. Sometimes head meets wall years after the discussion and there's not much left to do at that point.

Saying "I told you so" doesn't fix things.

-- Gianluca Sartori

Koen Verbeeck SSC Guru Points: 259115 More actions · Answer 10

Gianluca Sartori (2/29/2012)
I partially agree. Sometimes head meets wall years after the discussion and there's not much left to do at that point.
Saying "I told you so" doesn't fix things.

Ah yes, I see.

That's probably because you forgot the little dance that comes with "I told you so" 😀

Need an answer? No, you need a question
My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

spaghettidba SSC Guru Points: 105732 More actions · Answer 11

Koen Verbeeck (2/29/2012)
Gianluca Sartori (2/29/2012)
I partially agree. Sometimes head meets wall years after the discussion and there's not much left to do at that point.
Saying "I told you so" doesn't fix things.
Ah yes, I see.
That's probably because you forgot the little dance that comes with "I told you so" 😀

:hehe: Yes, that must be the reason why. :hehe:

-- Gianluca Sartori

spaghettidba SSC Guru Points: 105732 More actions · Answer 12

Oh my!

This is hlarious! I had never noticed it before:

-- Gianluca Sartori

Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004504 More actions · Answer 13

There are some fun easter eggs. He'll be UDP Broadcaster in a sec iirc. (1434)

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

Koen Verbeeck SSC Guru Points: 259115 More actions · Answer 14

Gianluca Sartori (2/29/2012)
Oh my!
This is hlarious! I had never noticed it before:

It seems Steve had quite a blast when defining those statuses 😀

(I think there's also a special one for 666. And a status called UDP broadcaster)

Need an answer? No, you need a question
My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

Brandie Tarvin SSC Guru Points: 173068 More actions · Answer 15

Koen Verbeeck (2/28/2012)
Some try to add my to their LinkedIn network with "Person X has indicated that you are a Friend". Euh.... no.

That one is annoying me. Although, the headhunters are using the "Person X has indicated you are a colleague at Company Y" form instead.

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.