Yikes. Hiring people is a pain in the ass.
I’m trying to hire an entry level DBA. Had quite a few interesting experiences so far.
We’re being very open minded. I am not looking for a person who satisfies every little bullet point on the advert. For what we’re willing to pay I don’t expect a SuperStar, just someone smart, can get things done, and is interested in databases long enough to stick around for a few years.
Honestly I would have killed for this entry level job if I wanted to get into enterprise level DB stuff. We don’t pay the best but we are using a bunch of cool Oracle features that most businesses don’t bother with. We try to keep a flat structure so we all get to work on cool new features and share the pain of drudge work.
So whenever I get ready to start hiring I review Joel on Software’s article here: Guerilla Guide to Interviewing.
Its more geared towards code monkeys but there are lot of valid points for hiring any position. I’ve also learned a few things from Mentors in my day.
John (can’t remember his last name) from ECR Software in Western NC perceived software development as a type of Alchemy. He always wanted you to bring some lead to the table and he would help you turn it into gold, but only if you brought high quality lead (did your homework, researched possible solutions, etc). No lead and you got an earful from him. Never mind that he named his variables pb.. pbb… pbbb… pbbbb. Some cruel sick joke for people maintaining his code.
Scott W. taught me the importance of finding someone who has really mastered at least one thing in their career. Depth of knowledge is as important as breadth.
One thing I’ve noticed and will impart to my minions when I attain Mentor status is: Does the candidate ask good questions? One of our best recent hires had as many questions for us as we did for him. And not annoying “do you like working here” questions but questions about process, questions about responsibilities, questions about physical work area, questions about desktop environment they will be expected to work in.
These are the things that aggravate me:
o How about someone who wants a job that requires 24×7 support. But they don’t want to carry a pager. Oh yeah, and they don’t have a computer at home and don’t have any plans to obtain one. Oh yeah, they’de really prefer if the emergencies happened between 6am and 10pm so they could get some sleep. Duh. That’s only 16×7 support mang.
o Another one applying for 24×7 support but doesn’t have a cellphone. We don’t want to require people to be tied to their home phone all weekend. We assume most people have lives. We encourage it even. As long as we can reach you and get you in front of a computer within an hour or so then that’s good enough for us.
o Or the one whose objective states they want to become a SQL Server DBA. Never mind the ad says we’re using says we’re using Oracle. Sorry, no chance of flexing your SQL Server DBA skills here.
o We’ve also seen a rash of people with 20 years experience who want us to warp the position to fit their perceived worth. Even though its $30k higher than the top of the hiring range. Guess what? For the forseeable future, the position is what it is, no matter how blue you get telling us how you’re worth more.
o One guy brought his friend to the interview. Said friend bothered the receptionist to use a microwave, hang out in the kitchen, and nosh on his breakfast.
o Candidates that can’t form sentences with more than 3 words. And they nod a lot, even when they don’t understand what you’re asking. Even when I explain it 3 different ways. Still nodding.
o Candidates that refuse to answer questions. Not sensitive questions. Just refuse to answer questions. Sure some of them are tough and meant to feel you out, but none are illegal.
o If you got it on your resume its fair game for questions. Even if you’re not a guru on the subject any more I expect at least a couple of sentences about how you applied the skill. This shout out goes to the girl that came in with SQL and reports writing experience on her resume. Ask her to do a simple query and we learn “other people in the project did this part”. I don’t understand why its even on her resume then. That interview got cut short.
o The guy that looked and smelled like a dog. I’m commenting on his attire. Dressed from head to toe in black and coming to an interview after playing with your dog is not such a good idea. Actually would have been a good fit for the position except no one wanted to share an office with him.
o Guy that couldn’t stop talking about how much his current employer sucked and what idiots he worked with. Dude, bottle that energy and put it to use in your next job. Think of the positive, those idiots are helping you determine what you _don’t_ want to do for the rest of your life. You should be thanking them for chasing you out of there.
o People that just run out of steam in the interview. Maybe they decide the job isn’t for them. Maybe their wonderful smokescreen interview techniques aren’t working on us and they decide to bail.
Still none of them beats the lumberjack resume I received while trying to hire a reports developer a few years back. Actually if this guy wasn’t located in the midwest he probably would have had a better shot at this job than anyone. At least the lumberjack had a lot of ‘hobbyist’ projects in his resume which shows a lot more initiative than the DB candidates we’ve gotten so far.