What are the common DBA activities you do every day?
This is somehow a hard question and might need a little rephrasing like, “What DBA activities do you like doing every day?” to be answered. However, in answering this type of question, one should not be limited only to retelling the typical operational issues that need to be looked upon every day. Of course, part of the job as a DBA would be to rebuild indexes and monitor systems and the session waits that occurred for the day. In asking the daily activities of a DBA, things like the spaces added to a data file might also be talked about. However, these are all typical operational issues every day. DBAs also attend meetings in order to direct those in the database field. DBAs also get to meet other people and conversations would often include answering adhoc questions about using databases. Another possible activity of a DBA is to model businesses within the databases and go the extra mile – get up early in the morning or go on late at night – to get the work done. The “today” in the question does not really mean “today” in the life of a DBA. Most of the times, “today” is a compilation of many good days spent on a particular job. This question may also be asked this way: “What DBA activities do you perform daily for the X Company?”
Please tell me How to do spend your typican day in office?
If much time had been spent to answer the first question then there would be no need for this second one. It is actually just a continuation of the first only here, you will be asked to open up a little bit and to tell of the things you love doing. If it were up to me, I would continue telling what I had started on the first question. Here, the answer is not limited daily operational activities of a DBA – this might have to include things that would make the interviewer know you more as an individual. Maybe you could tell things that do not have to do with your job as the question did not mention it. However, if the interviewer asks for job-related answers then do not divulge your personal information. You can also try looking around the room and see the pictures. For example, if you see a family picture hanging on the wall, you could say things like, “I get up at 5 to prepare for work and bring my kids to school”.
What and How is your interaction with different departments of your organization?
If you have talked much on the first two questions, there would be no need for this one. However, if you were a little hesitant about opening up yourself then the interviewer is most likely bored with the interview process. You could be in a little trouble if you get to this question so stop being apprehensive and start talking about the things you love doing as a DBA. You could also talk about why you love working for a certain company.
Where do yuo best fit? Development DBA or a Production DBA?
This could be somehow a trick question. If you tried to ask a development staff, you would know that much money and time is lost if their development systems are down. It should be emphasized how both are important – production and development – and the two could be considered as development systems. Both are important because they are relied upon and money would be lost if either of them was down. Of course, in most companies, the production system is often more important – which means more money is lost – when it is done. It cannot be argued, but if you worked in a software company, both systems are equally important. Often, million dollar deals are at stake with the next release of the program.
Are you a nuts-n-bolts DBA or a tools-n-props DBA?
Often, if you have to answer this type of question, you will have to define the terms first. The first type of a DBA is one who loves to know every little detail regarding the database while the other one is the exact opposite. The former hates GUI and loves working on the command line to get things done – just like me. I grew up at a time when GUIs did not work as well as they do now and therefore, using the command line to do the work is more reliable. The latter love to be in the GUI environment and get things done fast even without having to learn other details of the database – usually beginners belong to these types of DBA. Since computers were very complex before and had a great lack of documentation, we had to learn things the hard way – and everything – to figure out how they would work. However, as of today, GUIs have become very reliable unlike before and far more intelligent as well so I am starting to become a tools-n-props DBA myself.