What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
This question will give you clues about the mindset of the DBA. When asked what is challenging about the DBA job, the DBA’s answer will reveal a great deal about his or her personality and ability to work well with other people. The DBA who talks about the technical challenges of the job and difficulties administering and maintaining the database may not be ideally suited for a position where contact for the development staff is critical. On the other hand, the DBA who speaks openly of the challenges associated with getting the developers fast answers and accurate information might be a better consideration.
How do you perceive the relationship between the DBA and the development staff?
The answer to this question is critical when evaluating a DBA candidate. Many DBAs, by virtue of their high pay and product-specific knowledge, tend to think of developers as underlings; in some cases, DBAs view developers with outright contempt, believing their queries to be naive. On the other hand, DBAs with the proper attitude will respond to this question by talking about the developers as clients to whom they provide data services essential to the application. In some shops, the DBAs may be responsible for code, reviewing SQL queries, or DML statements written by developers; so, a good relationship is vital.
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