October 29, 2013 at 7:19 am
L' Eomot Inversé (10/28/2013)
Lynn Pettis (10/28/2013)
It has been said there are three piles of knowledge: The things you know you know, The things you know that you don't know, and The things you don't know you don't know. With more experience, you usually find that as you move things from the second pile to the first, you usually find you are adding more to the second from the third.I prefer the theory that knowledge (and its absence) comes in 5 piles: (1) the things you know that you don't know and don't want to know, (2) the other things you know that you don't know, (3) the things you don't know that you don't know, (4) the things that know but don't know that you know them, and (5) the things that you know that you know. The more I read the low quality British tabloids (something I only do when I can't get to sleep on a train or plain and someone has left one of them lying around and I've finshed reading any available decent newspapers) the more I realise that the first pile is (at least for me) much larger than I used to think it was. The most useful pile is pile 4, because when using that sort of knowledge you don't have to think particularly hard or apply any great effort. Movements from pile 3 to pile 2 and from pile 2 to pile 5 are fairly common, but there is some movement from pile 5 to pile 3 and there is small trickle from pile 5 to pile 1 (eg knowledge of the autocode for a machine last manufactured about 1958 and already obsolete when I had to learn it) and an even smaller one from pile 5 to pile 4.
Poor Tom, sleeping out in the fields at night...:hehe:
---------------------------------------------------------
How best to post your question[/url]
How to post performance problems[/url]
Tally Table:What it is and how it replaces a loop[/url]
"stewsterl 80804 (10/16/2009)I guess when you stop and try to understand the solution provided you not only learn, but save yourself some headaches when you need to make any slight changes."
October 29, 2013 at 7:21 am
Ed Wagner (10/28/2013)
GilaMonster (10/28/2013)
Apparently the current top database guy at the company I'm joining is ecstatic about my joining them. From what I heard from one of the other devs, he has a whole bunch of questions he's planning to drop on my desk first day.It's a good thing, if he resented someone coming in above him, could make things really unpleasant.
Personally, I really enjoy working with someone who knows more than I do in a specific area. I learn the most from them. That's also why I read so much that's posted here.
Always hang out with smarter people than yourself, that's my rule. Easier for me to accomplish than most;-)
---------------------------------------------------------
How best to post your question[/url]
How to post performance problems[/url]
Tally Table:What it is and how it replaces a loop[/url]
"stewsterl 80804 (10/16/2009)I guess when you stop and try to understand the solution provided you not only learn, but save yourself some headaches when you need to make any slight changes."
October 29, 2013 at 7:26 am
The Dixie Flatline (10/28/2013)
Note to self: Just say 8, if they insist on a number.Since I started attending PASS, I've actually started evaluating myself based on the session rating system. In areas where I don't get much from attending 400 level sessions I feel fairly competent. In areas like SSIS, where I actually learn a lot from 300-level sessions, I rank just a step above novice.
Sitting on the other side of the desk, you could learn a lot from having candidates perform simple exercises with hands on the keyboard, asking them whose blogs they read and why, or finding out where they go to get answers to questions. (HyderabadTechies?)
secant of 83 degrees?
---------------------------------------------------------
How best to post your question[/url]
How to post performance problems[/url]
Tally Table:What it is and how it replaces a loop[/url]
"stewsterl 80804 (10/16/2009)I guess when you stop and try to understand the solution provided you not only learn, but save yourself some headaches when you need to make any slight changes."
October 29, 2013 at 9:08 am
We use the scale of 1-10 to help give us an idea of how tough to start the interview questions, but we usually give the scaling factor at the beginning - 0=I've never heard of that before, 10=I wrote it. Anyone who responds with 9 or 10 should be able to answer any trivial or obscure question we can come up with. We've had people give us a 0 or 1 before and it was a quick way to skip over that part of the interview. I like it because you can go through several technologies or areas very quickly and from the answers determine which areas you want to talk more about (the ones ranked high) and which areas there is no need to talk about (the ones ranked low).
October 29, 2013 at 9:16 am
Chad Crawford (10/29/2013)
We use the scale of 1-10 to help give us an idea of how tough to start the interview questions, but we usually give the scaling factor at the beginning - 0=I've never heard of that before, 10=I wrote it. Anyone who responds with 9 or 10 should be able to answer any trivial or obscure question we can come up with. We've had people give us a 0 or 1 before and it was a quick way to skip over that part of the interview. I like it because you can go through several technologies or areas very quickly and from the answers determine which areas you want to talk more about (the ones ranked high) and which areas there is no need to talk about (the ones ranked low).
That sounds like a great approach. As long you do skip those areas with a low ranking.
My wife went to an interview right out of school and they asked her what she knew about n-tier architecture. She replied something along the lines of "I am sort of familiar with it as a concept but have not had any real experience implementing it". They took that in stride since she was a recent grad, then proceeded to grill her for the next hour over n-tier methodologies. Yet she still took the job...she is still there nearly 15 years later and is one of the managers of the entire development group now. 😛
_______________________________________________________________
Need help? Help us help you.
Read the article at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/ for best practices on asking questions.
Need to split a string? Try Jeff Modens splitter http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/.
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/
October 29, 2013 at 11:22 am
Sean Lange (10/29/2013)
Chad Crawford (10/29/2013)
We use the scale of 1-10 to help give us an idea of how tough to start the interview questions, but we usually give the scaling factor at the beginning - 0=I've never heard of that before, 10=I wrote it. Anyone who responds with 9 or 10 should be able to answer any trivial or obscure question we can come up with. We've had people give us a 0 or 1 before and it was a quick way to skip over that part of the interview. I like it because you can go through several technologies or areas very quickly and from the answers determine which areas you want to talk more about (the ones ranked high) and which areas there is no need to talk about (the ones ranked low).That sounds like a great approach. As long you do skip those areas with a low ranking.
My wife went to an interview right out of school and they asked her what she knew about n-tier architecture. She replied something along the lines of "I am sort of familiar with it as a concept but have not had any real experience implementing it". They took that in stride since she was a recent grad, then proceeded to grill her for the next hour over n-tier methodologies. Yet she still took the job...she is still there nearly 15 years later and is one of the managers of the entire development group now. 😛
So is she now in a position where she gets to conduct better interviews than she received? Personally, I always enjoyed being interviewed by a developer or DBA so much more than people who don't know the technology.
October 29, 2013 at 11:40 am
jcrawf02 (10/29/2013)
The Dixie Flatline (10/28/2013)
Note to self: Just say 8, if they insist on a number.Since I started attending PASS, I've actually started evaluating myself based on the session rating system. In areas where I don't get much from attending 400 level sessions I feel fairly competent. In areas like SSIS, where I actually learn a lot from 300-level sessions, I rank just a step above novice.
Sitting on the other side of the desk, you could learn a lot from having candidates perform simple exercises with hands on the keyboard, asking them whose blogs they read and why, or finding out where they go to get answers to questions. (HyderabadTechies?)
secant of 83 degrees?
8.2055 - but would finding where to get that be a sensible interview excercise for a DBA or BI or database developer job? After all, most such jobs don't involve trig functions, for most of the few that do the trig functions will be limited to sine, cosine, and tangent, and although some of us would just use calc (unless our mobile phones had trig functions in their calculators) or use the trig table at maths.com to look up csc(7°), I imagine that most people would either look up secant in wikipedia to find out what it meant and then look for a secant function table using a search engine, or say they didn't know.
On second thoughts, maybe it is a good question - if someone says "I don't know" the interviewer can ask "how would you find out?" and anyone who couldn't find out clearly wouldn't fit any job that required a bit of initiative.
Tom
October 29, 2013 at 12:05 pm
L' Eomot Inversé (10/29/2013)
jcrawf02 (10/29/2013)
The Dixie Flatline (10/28/2013)
Note to self: Just say 8, if they insist on a number.Since I started attending PASS, I've actually started evaluating myself based on the session rating system. In areas where I don't get much from attending 400 level sessions I feel fairly competent. In areas like SSIS, where I actually learn a lot from 300-level sessions, I rank just a step above novice.
Sitting on the other side of the desk, you could learn a lot from having candidates perform simple exercises with hands on the keyboard, asking them whose blogs they read and why, or finding out where they go to get answers to questions. (HyderabadTechies?)
secant of 83 degrees?
8.2055 - but would finding where to get that be a sensible interview excercise for a DBA or BI or database developer job? After all, most such jobs don't involve trig functions, for most of the few that do the trig functions will be limited to sine, cosine, and tangent, and although some of us would just use calc (unless our mobile phones had trig functions in their calculators) or use the trig table at maths.com to look up csc(7°), I imagine that most people would either look up secant in wikipedia to find out what it meant and then look for a secant function table using a search engine, or say they didn't know.
On second thoughts, maybe it is a good question - if someone says "I don't know" the interviewer can ask "how would you find out?" and anyone who couldn't find out clearly wouldn't fit any job that required a bit of initiative.
I was thinking of it more as a kick in the teeth to the interviewer for asking such an inane question. Kind of like my favorite interview quote from the American show "The Middle" - "Q: If you could be any color, what color would you be? A: I...don't think you're allowed to ask me that..."
---------------------------------------------------------
How best to post your question[/url]
How to post performance problems[/url]
Tally Table:What it is and how it replaces a loop[/url]
"stewsterl 80804 (10/16/2009)I guess when you stop and try to understand the solution provided you not only learn, but save yourself some headaches when you need to make any slight changes."
October 29, 2013 at 12:22 pm
Ed Wagner (10/29/2013)
Sean Lange (10/29/2013)
Chad Crawford (10/29/2013)
We use the scale of 1-10 to help give us an idea of how tough to start the interview questions, but we usually give the scaling factor at the beginning - 0=I've never heard of that before, 10=I wrote it. Anyone who responds with 9 or 10 should be able to answer any trivial or obscure question we can come up with. We've had people give us a 0 or 1 before and it was a quick way to skip over that part of the interview. I like it because you can go through several technologies or areas very quickly and from the answers determine which areas you want to talk more about (the ones ranked high) and which areas there is no need to talk about (the ones ranked low).That sounds like a great approach. As long you do skip those areas with a low ranking.
My wife went to an interview right out of school and they asked her what she knew about n-tier architecture. She replied something along the lines of "I am sort of familiar with it as a concept but have not had any real experience implementing it". They took that in stride since she was a recent grad, then proceeded to grill her for the next hour over n-tier methodologies. Yet she still took the job...she is still there nearly 15 years later and is one of the managers of the entire development group now. 😛
So is she now in a position where she gets to conduct better interviews than she received? Personally, I always enjoyed being interviewed by a developer or DBA so much more than people who don't know the technology.
Yes she conducts most of the interviews now. Although her technical skills are not like they used to be. She hasn't written a single line of code probably 3-4 years and nothing full time coding for closer to 5-6. I agree though that being interviewed by technical person usually goes a bit smoother because you speak the same language.
_______________________________________________________________
Need help? Help us help you.
Read the article at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/ for best practices on asking questions.
Need to split a string? Try Jeff Modens splitter http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/.
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/
October 29, 2013 at 12:30 pm
Sean Lange (10/29/2013)
Ed Wagner (10/29/2013)
Sean Lange (10/29/2013)
Chad Crawford (10/29/2013)
We use the scale of 1-10 to help give us an idea of how tough to start the interview questions, but we usually give the scaling factor at the beginning - 0=I've never heard of that before, 10=I wrote it. Anyone who responds with 9 or 10 should be able to answer any trivial or obscure question we can come up with. We've had people give us a 0 or 1 before and it was a quick way to skip over that part of the interview. I like it because you can go through several technologies or areas very quickly and from the answers determine which areas you want to talk more about (the ones ranked high) and which areas there is no need to talk about (the ones ranked low).That sounds like a great approach. As long you do skip those areas with a low ranking.
My wife went to an interview right out of school and they asked her what she knew about n-tier architecture. She replied something along the lines of "I am sort of familiar with it as a concept but have not had any real experience implementing it". They took that in stride since she was a recent grad, then proceeded to grill her for the next hour over n-tier methodologies. Yet she still took the job...she is still there nearly 15 years later and is one of the managers of the entire development group now. 😛
So is she now in a position where she gets to conduct better interviews than she received? Personally, I always enjoyed being interviewed by a developer or DBA so much more than people who don't know the technology.
Yes she conducts most of the interviews now. Although her technical skills are not like they used to be. She hasn't written a single line of code probably 3-4 years and nothing full time coding for closer to 5-6. I agree though that being interviewed by technical person usually goes a bit smoother because you speak the same language.
I actually like being interviewed by non-technical managers. It gives me more freedom to talk about what I've done and what I do without answering extra-specific questions I'd probably look up the answers to in the workplace. I can show my approach and my communication skills that way.
Some of the technical people I've been interviewed by have focused on utterly unimportant trivia like syntax or noticing trick questions. One interview I was on around 4 years ago we spent half the interview with me brainstorming how to fix or approach a weird problem. At the end of it, when I hadn't come up with a solution he liked I asked what the correct solution was. He answered "I have no idea, this has been stumping us for months. We had a Microsoft expert come in last week and he couldn't figure it out either."
I've never had my time wasted like that by a non-technical person, but it happens more frequently than I'd like with the technical interviewers.
--------------------------------------
When you encounter a problem, if the solution isn't readily evident go back to the start and check your assumptions.
--------------------------------------
It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.
What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?
You ask a glass of water. -- Douglas Adams
October 29, 2013 at 12:35 pm
Stefan Krzywicki (10/29/2013)
Sean Lange (10/29/2013)
Ed Wagner (10/29/2013)
Sean Lange (10/29/2013)
Chad Crawford (10/29/2013)
We use the scale of 1-10 to help give us an idea of how tough to start the interview questions, but we usually give the scaling factor at the beginning - 0=I've never heard of that before, 10=I wrote it. Anyone who responds with 9 or 10 should be able to answer any trivial or obscure question we can come up with. We've had people give us a 0 or 1 before and it was a quick way to skip over that part of the interview. I like it because you can go through several technologies or areas very quickly and from the answers determine which areas you want to talk more about (the ones ranked high) and which areas there is no need to talk about (the ones ranked low).That sounds like a great approach. As long you do skip those areas with a low ranking.
My wife went to an interview right out of school and they asked her what she knew about n-tier architecture. She replied something along the lines of "I am sort of familiar with it as a concept but have not had any real experience implementing it". They took that in stride since she was a recent grad, then proceeded to grill her for the next hour over n-tier methodologies. Yet she still took the job...she is still there nearly 15 years later and is one of the managers of the entire development group now. 😛
So is she now in a position where she gets to conduct better interviews than she received? Personally, I always enjoyed being interviewed by a developer or DBA so much more than people who don't know the technology.
Yes she conducts most of the interviews now. Although her technical skills are not like they used to be. She hasn't written a single line of code probably 3-4 years and nothing full time coding for closer to 5-6. I agree though that being interviewed by technical person usually goes a bit smoother because you speak the same language.
I actually like being interviewed by non-technical managers. It gives me more freedom to talk about what I've done and what I do without answering extra-specific questions I'd probably look up the answers to in the workplace. I can show my approach and my communication skills that way.
Some of the technical people I've been interviewed by have focused on utterly unimportant trivia like syntax or noticing trick questions. One interview I was on around 4 years ago we spent half the interview with me brainstorming how to fix or approach a weird problem. At the end of it, when I hadn't come up with a solution he liked I asked what the correct solution was. He answered "I have no idea, this has been stumping us for months. We had a Microsoft expert come in last week and he couldn't figure it out either."
I've never had my time wasted like that by a non-technical person, but it happens more frequently than I'd like with the technical interviewers.
That is a case where people use "interviews" as free consulting. I have heard of that being done but never been involved in one. I have even heard that there are people like that conducting those types if interviews when they don't even actually have an open position. :w00t:
_______________________________________________________________
Need help? Help us help you.
Read the article at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/ for best practices on asking questions.
Need to split a string? Try Jeff Modens splitter http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/.
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/
October 29, 2013 at 12:35 pm
*sigh* More contract work requests in the month since I resigned than in the 4 months prior to that.
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
October 29, 2013 at 12:42 pm
Stefan Krzywicki (10/29/2013)
Sean Lange (10/29/2013)
Ed Wagner (10/29/2013)
Sean Lange (10/29/2013)
Chad Crawford (10/29/2013)
We use the scale of 1-10 to help give us an idea of how tough to start the interview questions, but we usually give the scaling factor at the beginning - 0=I've never heard of that before, 10=I wrote it. Anyone who responds with 9 or 10 should be able to answer any trivial or obscure question we can come up with. We've had people give us a 0 or 1 before and it was a quick way to skip over that part of the interview. I like it because you can go through several technologies or areas very quickly and from the answers determine which areas you want to talk more about (the ones ranked high) and which areas there is no need to talk about (the ones ranked low).That sounds like a great approach. As long you do skip those areas with a low ranking.
My wife went to an interview right out of school and they asked her what she knew about n-tier architecture. She replied something along the lines of "I am sort of familiar with it as a concept but have not had any real experience implementing it". They took that in stride since she was a recent grad, then proceeded to grill her for the next hour over n-tier methodologies. Yet she still took the job...she is still there nearly 15 years later and is one of the managers of the entire development group now. 😛
So is she now in a position where she gets to conduct better interviews than she received? Personally, I always enjoyed being interviewed by a developer or DBA so much more than people who don't know the technology.
Yes she conducts most of the interviews now. Although her technical skills are not like they used to be. She hasn't written a single line of code probably 3-4 years and nothing full time coding for closer to 5-6. I agree though that being interviewed by technical person usually goes a bit smoother because you speak the same language.
I actually like being interviewed by non-technical managers. It gives me more freedom to talk about what I've done and what I do without answering extra-specific questions I'd probably look up the answers to in the workplace. I can show my approach and my communication skills that way.
Some of the technical people I've been interviewed by have focused on utterly unimportant trivia like syntax or noticing trick questions. One interview I was on around 4 years ago we spent half the interview with me brainstorming how to fix or approach a weird problem. At the end of it, when I hadn't come up with a solution he liked I asked what the correct solution was. He answered "I have no idea, this has been stumping us for months. We had a Microsoft expert come in last week and he couldn't figure it out either."
I've never had my time wasted like that by a non-technical person, but it happens more frequently than I'd like with the technical interviewers.
That's very interesting that you say that because the approach is exactly where I try to get on those rare occasions when I get to conduct an interview. If they know the exact intricacies of every single SQL statement isn't nearly as important to me as the approach taken to solve a problem.
October 29, 2013 at 12:46 pm
GilaMonster (10/29/2013)
*sigh* More contract work requests in the month since I resigned than in the 4 months prior to that.
Irony at its best
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
_______________________________________________
I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
Learn Extended Events
October 29, 2013 at 1:01 pm
Ed Wagner (10/29/2013)
Stefan Krzywicki (10/29/2013)
Sean Lange (10/29/2013)
Ed Wagner (10/29/2013)
Sean Lange (10/29/2013)
Chad Crawford (10/29/2013)
We use the scale of 1-10 to help give us an idea of how tough to start the interview questions, but we usually give the scaling factor at the beginning - 0=I've never heard of that before, 10=I wrote it. Anyone who responds with 9 or 10 should be able to answer any trivial or obscure question we can come up with. We've had people give us a 0 or 1 before and it was a quick way to skip over that part of the interview. I like it because you can go through several technologies or areas very quickly and from the answers determine which areas you want to talk more about (the ones ranked high) and which areas there is no need to talk about (the ones ranked low).That sounds like a great approach. As long you do skip those areas with a low ranking.
My wife went to an interview right out of school and they asked her what she knew about n-tier architecture. She replied something along the lines of "I am sort of familiar with it as a concept but have not had any real experience implementing it". They took that in stride since she was a recent grad, then proceeded to grill her for the next hour over n-tier methodologies. Yet she still took the job...she is still there nearly 15 years later and is one of the managers of the entire development group now. 😛
So is she now in a position where she gets to conduct better interviews than she received? Personally, I always enjoyed being interviewed by a developer or DBA so much more than people who don't know the technology.
Yes she conducts most of the interviews now. Although her technical skills are not like they used to be. She hasn't written a single line of code probably 3-4 years and nothing full time coding for closer to 5-6. I agree though that being interviewed by technical person usually goes a bit smoother because you speak the same language.
I actually like being interviewed by non-technical managers. It gives me more freedom to talk about what I've done and what I do without answering extra-specific questions I'd probably look up the answers to in the workplace. I can show my approach and my communication skills that way.
Some of the technical people I've been interviewed by have focused on utterly unimportant trivia like syntax or noticing trick questions. One interview I was on around 4 years ago we spent half the interview with me brainstorming how to fix or approach a weird problem. At the end of it, when I hadn't come up with a solution he liked I asked what the correct solution was. He answered "I have no idea, this has been stumping us for months. We had a Microsoft expert come in last week and he couldn't figure it out either."
I've never had my time wasted like that by a non-technical person, but it happens more frequently than I'd like with the technical interviewers.
That's very interesting that you say that because the approach is exactly where I try to get on those rare occasions when I get to conduct an interview. If they know the exact intricacies of every single SQL statement isn't nearly as important to me as the approach taken to solve a problem.
When I get that approach from a technical interviewer it tends to indicate a great work environment. I had that for my currently ending assignment and it has been a great job here. And I do get that approach from technical people occasionally, just as sometimes I get non-technical people trying hard to do a very technical interview. Like so much, "It depends" 🙂
--------------------------------------
When you encounter a problem, if the solution isn't readily evident go back to the start and check your assumptions.
--------------------------------------
It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.
What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?
You ask a glass of water. -- Douglas Adams
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