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robvolk
Most Valuable Yak

15732 Posts

Posted - 2010-10-21 : 15:55:24
http://www.midnightdba.com/DBARant/?p=443

This has been burning up the SQL Server spaces on Twitter. There's some followup too, but I'll let you find that on your own. He has more stories like that since July-August, but that one is tops. I've only just managed to get my lungs back in my chest from laughing so hard.

jezemine
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker

2886 Posts

Posted - 2010-10-21 : 20:51:52
I actually agree with the dolt a little about "HAVING" though. Always thought it was silly to have another keyword for "WHERE" just because it came after a group by.

what I don't get is how so many questions got to be asked. when I interview it goes for an hour, but I never get that many questions in, even when it goes badly.


elsasoft.org
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russell
Pyro-ma-ni-yak

5072 Posts

Posted - 2010-10-21 : 22:05:34
Exactly why I phone screen all candidates b4 interviewing anyone
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elwoos
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker

2052 Posts

Posted - 2010-10-22 : 04:42:29
It makes me wonder what this guy has been pushing out for all those years, unless of course he lied on his CV and we know that no one does that do they?


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I used to think I wasn't a morning person but it never got better in the afternoon
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Michael Valentine Jones
Yak DBA Kernel (pronounced Colonel)

7020 Posts

Posted - 2010-10-22 : 10:03:30
It’s amazing how long someone can be in a job without learning anything of value.

I interviewed someone with 9 years of experience who did not know that you could create custom database roles, and interviewed somone with 10 years of experience who could not tell me what function you would use to subtract 3 days from the current date and was unable to write a select with a simple join. I know the second one was not lying about his years of experience because someone on my team had worked with him before.







CODO ERGO SUM
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TG
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker

6065 Posts

Posted - 2010-10-22 : 10:08:25
quote:
I know the second one was not lying about his years of experience because someone on my team had worked with him before.
what did your team member think of this candidate? I assume they had some other redeeming qualities?

Be One with the Optimizer
TG
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tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess

38200 Posts

Posted - 2010-10-23 : 15:07:59
Wow, this sounds eerily similar to interviews we did last year. It is amazing how much liars people are on their resumes. We even phone interviewed people first and only brought those in that did well. It's like we interviewed someone different on the phone than we did in person even though the voices were similar/same. One person thought so much of himself that he mentioned the job was going to have to pay him a lot due to all of his DBA experience and yet he couldn't answer junior-intermediate DBA questions.

Tara Kizer
Microsoft MVP for Windows Server System - SQL Server
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/

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GilaMonster
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker

4507 Posts

Posted - 2010-10-23 : 17:20:10
I remember someone coming for an interview and, when my team lead met him at reception the interviewee stated that due to his in-depth technical knowledge and extensive experience he would not sit a technical interview (HR interview only) and he would not write any technical test.

My team lead's reply: 'Thank you for coming, sorry to have wasted your time. Have a nice day. Goodbye'

His CV wasn't even that impressive.

--
Gail Shaw
SQL Server MVP
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elwoos
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker

2052 Posts

Posted - 2010-10-25 : 06:44:06
A very long time ago I knew someone who said in his CV that he could speak French. Despite the blatant lie he managed to get the job, I'm not sure if that says more about the interviewers or him. Interestingly he's now working for IBM.

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I used to think I wasn't a morning person but it never got better in the afternoon
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Michael Valentine Jones
Yak DBA Kernel (pronounced Colonel)

7020 Posts

Posted - 2010-10-25 : 10:13:52
quote:
Originally posted by TG

quote:
I know the second one was not lying about his years of experience because someone on my team had worked with him before.
what did your team member think of this candidate? I assume they had some other redeeming qualities?

Be One with the Optimizer
TG



I only found that they had worked together after the interview. They hadn't worked closely, so my team member didn't really know much about their level of skill.



CODO ERGO SUM
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Michael Valentine Jones
Yak DBA Kernel (pronounced Colonel)

7020 Posts

Posted - 2010-10-25 : 10:26:01
quote:
Originally posted by elwoos

A very long time ago I knew someone who said in his CV that he could speak French. Despite the blatant lie he managed to get the job, I'm not sure if that says more about the interviewers or him. Interestingly he's now working for IBM.

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I used to think I wasn't a morning person but it never got better in the afternoon



How could someone hope to get away with such an easy to discover lie: "How do you say cow, clock, egg, garden, ocean, street, and sun in French?"

It shows they're both dishonest and stupid. Does that make them a good fit for IBM?





CODO ERGO SUM
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russell
Pyro-ma-ni-yak

5072 Posts

Posted - 2010-10-25 : 13:02:23
quote:
Originally posted by GilaMonster

I remember someone coming for an interview and, when my team lead met him at reception the interviewee stated that due to his in-depth technical knowledge and extensive experience he would not sit a technical interview (HR interview only) and he would not write any technical test.

My team lead's reply: 'Thank you for coming, sorry to have wasted your time. Have a nice day. Goodbye'

His CV wasn't even that impressive.

--
Gail Shaw
SQL Server MVP


I had that happen too.
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