I mean, where do you even start?

How can you anticipate what questions the interviewers will

ask?

How do you answer questions?

The anxiety of thinking about the job interview causes many candidates to panic and make one
of the biggest mistakes a job seeker can make – that is ramble on and on.

One great way to prevent this during your interview is to follow a structure of answering
questions.

One popular strategy to use is the STAR Technique:

Situation OR Task: Describe a situation you were in or a task that you were required to
undertake that prepared you (is relevant) to tackle this problem.

For instance, “In my old company, I was challenged with the task of _______ that had similar
problems”

Action: Describe the action you took to solve the situation.

Results: Describe the outcome. And how you can bring what you learned to the company and
their challenges.

So now that you know how to answer questions, what are the questions you should prepare for?

Here is our list of the 10 most common interview questions and what they mean:

1. Tell Us About Yourself

The interviewer is not asking about your personal life, family and hobbies. Instead, they want a
summary of your career; how did you get here and where would you like to go.

For this, prepare a short (30 second) pitch about your professional journey (not every job you’ve
had, but the ones relevant to this job) and how what your experiences have prepared you for this
opportunity.
Bonus tip: Be a storyteller. Don’t be boring and provide dry answers like:

“In 1999 I went to Smith University to study marketing. In 2004 I got my first job…”

Instead, say something like,

“My love for marketing really started at the age of 12 when I saw the Coca Cola ad for the world
cup. I knew then that I wanted to spend my life telling stories that connected people with brands,
and so I attended Smith University – which has one of the best marketing degrees in the U.S, and
moved on to work for…After years of working, I wanted a new challenge and that’s why I’m
here today.”

2. Why Should We Hire You?

If you want to stand out, don’t simply tell them your list of qualifications and skills – the
interviewer already knows them. Instead, tell them how you can help them solve their problems
and challenges. To ace this question, make it about what you can do for them and not what they
can do for you.

For example, if you are being interviewed for a Social Media Manager position at a company
that hasn’t seen any monetary benefits to their business by having an online presence, say:

” I understand that your business has yet to see any tangible financial benefits to having a social
media presence. Well, I’m here to tell you that in addition to brand awareness, generating
revenue online is possible. I’ve done it at my past company, and I’ll do it here. To start off, I’ll
change your Instagram strategy…….”

3. What is Your Greatest Strength?

This is your opportunity to highlight a strength that you know is important to the company and
the position you want.  But don’t make the mistake of just saying “I’m a great communicator”,
instead, tell a story and use the STAR method to guide you.

For example:

One of my greatest strengths is my communication skills and this was proven when:

(Past situation): I was tasked to effectively demonstrate ____ brand values to a new market….
(Action you took): I did this by first conducting market research on the needs and values of the
local population and creating radio ads that emphasized those values and how they related to the
brand.

(Results): This resulted in a 27% increase in _____ in the first year. And it was mostly because I
was able to merge and effectively communicate the message in a localized setting.

4. What is Your Greatest Weakness?

What employers are looking for is to see if you are self-aware and willing to admit shortcomings,
and more importantly work on them.

So think of a weakness that isn’t too important to the job, and talk about the steps you have taken
to improve on it.

For example, ” I’m used to working on projects from start to finish on my own. So when it
comes time to collaborate and work with others, I struggle to let go of control and not do
everything myself. Though with time, I’ve learned that this isn’t the most effective way to work.
I’ve greatly benefited from the different perspectives that other team members bring to a task,
and also, the reduced stress and time a project takes when I work well with others (rather than try
to do everything myself).”

Never say, “I have no weaknesses, I’m perfect.” No one is.

5. Why do you want to work for us?

Once again, this is not about what the company can do for you, but instead what you can do for
them.

Your research on the company while writing your CV and cover letter will really help here.
Think deeply about how your role can help the company, and why you would be interested in
working there.

Employers are looking for people who genuinely want the job for more reasons than to just have
a job; they are looking for people with passion and ideas. So this is your chance to demonstrate
yours.

For instance,
“I want to work with you because I realize that the market is in a transition, and I want to help
you make it effectively and even grow further. I know it will be hard work, but a challenge is
what I’m looking for at this point in my career.”

6. Why did you leave the last job?

Don’t badmouth your former employer or coworkers. Instead just say that you are ‘seeking new
challenges’, but go a step further and explain how this job will give you challenges that your
previous one didn’t.

Say something like,

” I’ve outgrown the position I have in my current company, and I’m seeking to be challenged
more. I handled accounts for a small business and learned a lot from it, but now I’m ready to deal
with bigger numbers at a bigger company like yours.”

7. What do you hope to get from this experience?

Talk about what you hope to achieve, but be realistic. Don’t be too broad, pick a specific goal
that is important to the company and set a target. Nevertheless, acknowledge that it will take time
for you to learn more about the company and where best to set your focus.

For instance,

“As the English teacher, my goal is to increase the percentage of students that pass the English
national exam to 85% of my class. While it will take some time to learn the particular challenges
of the students at this school, I’m confident that I’ll be successful.”

8. Describe a difficult work situation and what you did to overcome it

This is a pretty straightforward question, but not preparing for it may cause you to ramble.

Pick an example that demonstrates a key skill required for the job. Then utilize the STAR
technique to structure your answer.

A quick example:
” (Situation) I was assigned as the project lead for a television and radio advertising campaign
for our company, however, the budget was very small and my research showed that the
likelihood for the campaign to reach our target audience was slim. (Action) So I proposed an
alternative, shoot an ad and spread it to our target audience via paid online advertising, social
media, and email marketing. This made more sense for our budget and our target
audience. (Results) The result was increased visits to our e-commerce website, and sales for
our latest products increased by 15%. ”

9. What salary range are you looking for?

Make sure you research the market rates for the job and you go into the interview with a salary
range you want. The lower number should be the price you are willing to accept and the high
number should be your best (realistic) outcome.

If you don’t prepare and just guess, you may end up underselling yourself to the employer. And
while you may think that being ‘cheap’ will get you the job (and it may), every professional
should not settle for less than what they deserve – especially if the company can afford to pay
more.

10. Do you have any questions for us?

At the end of the job interview, you will usually be asked if you have any questions. Don’t ask
about salary and benefits. Instead ask general questions about:

 Office culture.
 Your supervisor’s leadership style.
 The team you’ll be working with.
 Clear up concerns or confusions with the job role.
 The next steps in the hiring process, like when you expect to hear from them.

Bonus Question:

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

This is a trick question that reveals whether you just need a job, or it actually plays your career
goals. The interviewer wants to see if you will be happy in the role and if it aligns with your long
term plans.
So, while many of us aren’t sure where we would like to be, just brainstorm a couple of options
and demonstrate how the position will help you get there.

For instance,

“In 5 years I hope to be the lead researcher at a major development think tank, and I believe that
working as a data analyst for you will not only hone my research skills but teach me about the
Tanzanian population…etc.

The best cure for interview stress is preparation

Although interviews can appear to be nerve-wracking and stressful, if you plan for them just like
other things in your life, you would be surprised by how well you do.

The interview is your last chance to dazzle your employer, following the tips above should help
you in doing so and bring you very close to your dream job. Just by being called in for one
means you are halfway there, use the tips above to make it a done deal.

Remember, just like entering an exam hall in university, there is no reason to panic if you are
prepared.
Frequently Asked SQL Server DBA Interview
Questions - Updated 2020
 What purpose does the Model Database Server?
 Explain about your SQL Server DBA Experience?
 What is DCL?
 What is Replication?
 What is Transparent Data Encryption?
 What are Patches and Hotfixes?
 What are the different ways you can create Databases in SQL
Server?
Q1) MS SQL Server Vs MySQL
MS SQL Server Vs MySQL

Name MS SQL Server MySQL

Define Microsoft Relational DataBase Wide usage of Relational DataBase

Management System Management system

Primary DB Relational DB Management Relational DB Management System

Model System

Secondary DB Graph DBMS, Document & Document & Key-Value store

Model Value store

Developer It is developed by Microsoft It is developed by Oracle

Server OS It supports Windows, Linux It supports Linux, Solaris, Windows, OS X

Supporting Java, PHP, Ruby, C#, C++, R etc Python, TCL, Scheme, Haskell, Javascript,
Languages Ruby, C, C++, C# few more 

FK(Foreign Key) Yes they support Yes they support

API's JDBC, ODBC, OLE DB, TDS ODBC, ADO.NET, JDBC

License Permit Only Commercial OpenSource (Free)

Q2) What purpose does the model database serve?

The model database, as its name implies, serves as the model (or template) for all
databases created on the same instance. If the model database is modified, all
subsequent databases created on that instance will pick up those changes, but earlier
created databases will not. Note that TEMPDB is also created from model every time
SQL Server starts up.
Q3) How do you trace the traffic hitting a SQL Server?
SQL profiler is the SQL Server utility you can use to trace the traffic on the SQL Server
instance. Traces can be filtered to narrow down the transactions that are captured and
reducing the overhead incurred for the trace. The trace files can be searched, saved off,
and even replayed to facilitate troubleshooting.
Q4) What types of replication are supported in SQL Server?
SQL Server has three types of replication: Snapshot, Merge, and Transaction. Snapshot
replication creates a snapshot of the data (point-in-time picture of the data) to deliver to
the subscribers. This is a good type to use when the data changes infrequently, there is
a small amount of data to replicate, or large changes occur over a small period of time.
Merge replication uses a snapshot to seed the replication. Changes on both sides of the
publication are tracked so the subscriber can synchronize with the publisher when
connected. A typical use for this type of replication is in a client and server scenario. A
server would act as a central repository and multiple clients would independently update
their copies of the data until connected. At which time, they would all send up their
modifications to the central store.
Transaction replication also begins with a snapshot only this time changes are tracked
as transactions (as the name implies). Changes are replicated from publisher to
subscriber the same as they occurred on the publisher, in the same order as they
occurred, and in near real-time. This type of replication is useful when the subscriber
needs to know every change that occurred to the data (not point-in-time), when the
change volume is high, and when the subscriber needs near real-time access to the
changes.
Q5) Why would you use SQL Agent?
SQL Agent is the job scheduling mechanism in SQL Server. Jobs can be scheduled to
run at a set time or when a specific event occurs. Jobs can also be executed on
demand. SQL Agent is most often used to schedule administrative jobs such as
backups.
Q6) What happens on checkpoint?
Checkpoints, whether scheduled or manually executed, cause the transaction log to be
truncated up to the beginning of the oldest open transaction (the active portion of the
log). That is, the dirty pages from the buffer cache are written to disk. Storing committed
transactions in the cache provides a performance gain for SQL Server. However, you
do not want the transaction log to get too big because it might consume too many
resources and, should your database fail, take too long to process to recover the
database.
One important thing to note here is that SQL Server can only truncate up to the oldest
open transaction. Therefore, if you are not seeing the expected relief from a checkpoint,
it could very well be that someone forgot to commit or rollback their transaction. It is
very important to finalize all transactions as soon as possible.
Q7) What is DBCC?
DBCC statements are Database Console Commands and come in four flavors:
Maintenance, Informational, Validation, and Miscellaneous. Maintenance commands
are those commands that allow the DBA to perform maintenance activities on the
database such as shrinking a file. Informational commands provide feedback regarding
the database such as providing information about the procedure cache. Validation
commands include commands that validate the database such as the ever-popular
CHECKDB. Finally, miscellaneous commands are those that obviously don’t fit in the
other three categories. This includes statements like DBCC HELP, which provides the
syntax for a given DBCC command.
Q8) How can you control the amount of free space in your index pages?
You can set the fill factor on your indexes. This tells SQL Server how much free space
to leave in the index pages when re-indexing. The performance benefit here is fewer
page splits (where SQL Server has to copy rows from one index page to another to
make room for an inserted row) because there is room for growth built into the index.
Q9) Why would you call Update Statistics?
Update Statistics is used to force a recalculation of query optimization statistics for a
table or indexed view. Query optimization statistics are automatically recomputed, but in
some cases, a query may benefit from updating those statistics more frequently.
Beware though that re-computing the query statistics causes queries to be recompiled.
This may or may not negate all performance gains you might have achieved by calling
update statistics. In fact, it could have a negative impact on performance depending on
the characteristics of the system.
Q10) What is a correlated sub-query?
A correlated sub-query is a nested query that is linked to the outer query. For instance,
say I wanted to find all the employees who have not entered their time for the week. I
could query the Employee table to get their first and last name, but I need to look at the
TimeEntry table to see if they’ve entered their time or not. I can’t do a straight join here
because I’m looking for the absence of time data, so I’ll do a correlated sub-query
similar to this:

SELECT FirstName, LastName

FROM EMPLOYEE e
WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM TimeEntry te
WHERE te.EmpID = e.EmpID
AND te.WeekID = 35)

Notice that the inner query relates to the outer query on the employee ID, thus making it
a correlated sub-query. The inner query will be evaluated once per outer query row.
Q11) What authentication modes does SQL Server support?
SQL Server supports Windows Authentication and mixed-mode. Mixed-mode allows
you to use both Windows Authentication and SQL Server Authentication to log into your
SQL Server. It’s important to note that if you use Windows Authentication, you will not
be able to log in as sa.
Q12) Explain about your SQL Server DBA Experience.
This is a generic question often asked by many interviewers. Explain what are the
different SQL Server Versions you have worked on, what kind of administration of those
instances has been done by you. Your role and responsibilities carried out in your
earlier projects that would be of significance to the potential employer. This is the
answer that lets the interviewer know how suitable are you for the position to which you
are being interviewed.
Q13) What are the different SQL Server Versions you have worked on?
The answer would be depending on the versions you have worked on, I would say I
have experience working in SQL Server 7, SQL Server 2000, 2005 and 2008. If you
have worked only some version be honest in saying that, remember, no one would be
working on all versions, it varies from individual to individual.
Q14) What are the different types of Indexes available in SQL Server?
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The simplest answer to this is “Clustered and Non-Clustered Indexes”. There are other
types of Indexes what can be mentioned such as Unique, XML, Spatial and Filtered
Indexes. More on these Indexes later.
Q15) What is the difference between Clustered and Non-Clustered
Index?
In a clustered index, the leaf level pages are the actual data pages of the table. When a
clustered index is created on a table, the data pages are arranged accordingly based on
the clustered index key. There can only be one Clustered index on a table.

In a Non-Clustered index, the leaf level pages do not contain data pages instead it
contains pointers to the data pages. There can multiple non-clustered indexes on a
single table.
Q16) What are the new features in SQL Server 2005 when compared to
SQL Server 2000?
There are quite a lot of changes and enhancements in SQL Server 2005. Few of them
are listed here:
 Database Partitioning

 Dynamic Management Views

 System Catalog Views

 Resource Database

 Database Snapshots

 SQL Server Integration Services

Support for Analysis Services on a Failover Cluster.

1.Profiler being able to trace the MDX queries of the Analysis Server.
2.Peer-to peer Replication
3.Database Mirroring
Q17) What are the High-Availability solutions in SQL Server and
differentiate them briefly.
Failover Clustering, Database Mirroring, Log Shipping, and Replication are the High-
Availability features available in SQL Server. I would recommend reading this blog of
mine which explains the differences between these 4 features.
Q18) How do you troubleshoot errors in a SQL Server Agent Job?
Inside SSMS, in Object Explorer under SQL Server Agent look for Job Activity Monitor.
The job activity monitor displays the current status of all the jobs on the instance.
Choose the particular job which failed, right-click and choose view history from the drop-
down menu. The execution history of the job is displayed and you may choose the
execution time (if the job failed multiple times during the same day). There would
information such as the time it took to execute that Job and details about the error
occurred.
Q19) What is the default Port No on which SQL Server listens?
1433
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Q20) How many files can a Database contain in SQL Server? How many
types of data files exist in SQL Server? How many of those files can
exist for a single database?
1. A Database can contain a maximum of 32,767 files.
2. There are Primarily 2 types of data files Primary data file and Secondary data file(s)
3. There can be only one Primary data file and multiple secondary data files as long as
thetotal # of files is less than 32,767 files
Q21) What is DCL?
DCL stands for Data Control Language.
Q22) What are the commands used in DCL?
GRANT, DENY and REVOKE.
Q23) What is Fill Factor?

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Fill Factor is a setting that is applicable to Indexes in SQL Server. The fill factor value
determines how much data is written to an index page when it is created/rebuilt.
Q24) What is the default fill factor value?
By default, the fill factor value is set to 0.
Q25) Where do you find the default Index fill factor and how to change
it?
The easiest way to find and change the default fill factor value is from Management
Studio, right-click the SQL Server and choose properties. In the Server Properties,
choose Database Settings, you should see the default fill factor value in the top section.
You can change to the desired value there and click OK to save the changes.
The other option of viewing and changing this value is using
Q26) What is a system database and what is a user database?
System databases are the default databases that are installed when the SQL Server is
installed. Basically, there are 4 system databases: Master, MSDB, TempDB, and Model.
It is highly recommended that these databases are not modified or altered for the
smooth functioning of the SQL System.
A user database is a database that we create to store data and start working with the
data.
Q27) What are the recovery models for a database?
There are 3 recovery models available for a database. Full, Bulk-Logged and Simple
are the three recovery models available.
Q28) What is the importance of a recovery model?
Primarily, the recovery model is chosen keeping in view the amount of data loss one
can afford to. If one expects to have minimal or no data loss, choosing the Full recovery
model is a good choice. Depending on the recovery model of a database, the behavior
of database log file changes. I would recommend you read more material on log
backups and log file behavior and so on to understand in depth.
Q29) What is Replication?
Replication is a feature in SQL Server that helps us publish database objects and data
and copy (replicate) it to one or more destinations. It is often considered as one of the
High-Availability options. One of the advantages of Replication is that it can be
configured on databases which are in simple recovery model.
Q30) What the different types of Replication and why are they used?
There are basically 3 types of replication: Snapshot, Transactional and Merge
Replication. The type of Replication you choose depends on the requirements and/or
the goals one is trying to achieve.For example, Snapshot Replication is useful only
when the data inside the tables does not change frequently and the amount of data is
not too large, such as a monthly summary table or a product list table etc. Transactional
Replication would useful when maintaining a copy of a transactional table such as sales
order tables etc. Merge Replication is more useful in case of remote / distributed
systems where the data flow can be from multiple sites, for example, sales done at a
promotional event which might not be connected to the central servers always.
Q31) What the different components of Replication and what is their
use?
The 3 main components in Replication are Publisher, Distributor, and Subscriber. The
publisher is the data source of a publication. The distributor is responsible for
distributing the database objects to one or more destinations. The subscriber is the
destination where the publisher's data is copied/replicated.
Q32) What are the different Topologies in which Replication can be
configured?
Replication can be configured in any topology depending keeping in view of the
complexity and the workload of the entire Replication. It can be any of the following:
 Publisher, Distributor, and Subscriber on the same SQL Instance.

 Publisher and Distributor on the same SQL Instance and Subscriber on a separate Instance.

 Publisher, Distributor, and Subscriber on individual SQL Instances.

Q33) If you are given access to a SQL Server, how do you find if the SQL
Instance is a named instance or a default instance?
I would go to the SQL Server Configuration Manager. In the left pane of the tool, I would
select SQL Server Services, the right side pane displays all of the SQL Server
Services/components that are installed on that machine. If the Service is displayed as
(MSSQLSERVER), then it indicates it is a default instance, else there will be the
Instance name displayed.
Q34) What are the different authentication modes in SQL Server and how
can you change authentication mode?
SQL Server has 2 Authentication modes; Windows Authentication and SQL Server and
Windows Authentication mode also referred to as Mixed Mode.
Q35) What are the differences in Clustering in SQL Server 2005 and 2008
or 2008 R2?
On SQL Server 2005, installing SQL Server failover cluster is a single step process
whereas on SQL Server 2008 or above it is a multi-step process. That is, in SQL Server
2005, the Installation process itself installs on all of the nodes (be it 2 nodes or 3
nodes). In 2008 or above this has changed, we would need to install separately on all
the nodes. 2 times if it is a 2 node cluster or 3 times in a 3 node cluster and so on.
Q36) What is meant by Active-Passive and Active-Active clustering
setup?
An Active-Passive cluster is a failover cluster configured in a way that only one cluster
node is active at any given time. The other node, called as the Passive node is always
online but in an idle condition, waiting for a failure of the Active Node, upon which the
Passive Node takes over the SQL Server Services and this becomes the Active Node,
the previous Active Node now being a Passive Node.
An Active-Active cluster is a failover cluster configured in a way that both the cluster
nodes are active at any given point in time. That is, one Instance of SQL Server is
running on each of the nodes always; when one of the nodes has a failure, both the
Instances run on the only one node until the failed node is brought up (after fixing the
issue that caused the node failure). The instance is then failed over back to its
designated node.
Q37) List out some of the requirements to setup a SQL Server failover
cluster.
Virtual network name for the SQL Server, Virtual IP address for SQL Server, IP
addresses for the Public Network and Private Network(also referred as Heartbeat) for
each node in the failover cluster, shared drives for SQL Server Data and Log files,
Quorum Disk, and MSDTC Disk.
Q38) What is Transparent Data Encryption?
Introduced in SQL Server 2008 Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) is a mechanism
through which you can protect the SQL Server Database files from unauthorized access
through encryption. Also, TDE can protect the database backups of the instance on
which TDE was setup.
Q39) Does Transparent Data Encryption provide encryption when
transmitting data across the network?
No, Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) does not encrypt the data during transfer over a
communication channel.
Q40) What are the operating modes in which Database Mirroring runs?
Database Mirroring runs in 2 operating modes High-Safety Mode and High-Performance
Mode.
Q41) What is the difference between the 2 operating modes of Database
Mirroring (mentioned in the above answer)?
1. High-Safety Mode is to ensure that the Principal and Mirrored database are
synchronized state, that is the transactions are committed at the same time on both
servers to ensure consistency, but there is/might be a time lag.
2. High-Performance Mode is to ensure that the Principal database run faster, by not
waiting for the Mirrored database to commit the transactions. There is a slight chance of
data loss and also the Mirrored database can be lagging behind (in terms being up to
date with the Principal database) if there is a heavy load on the Mirrored Server.
Q42) When setting Replication, is it possible to have a Publisher as 64
Bit SQL Server and Distributor or Subscribers as a 32 Bit SQL Server.
Yes, it is possible to have various configurations in a Replication environment.
Q43) What is the difference between dropping a database and taking a
database offline?
Drop database deletes the database along with the physical files, it is not possible to
bring back the database unless you have a backup of the database. When you take a
database offline, you the database is not available for users, it is not deleted physically,
it can be brought back online.
Q44) Which autogrowth database setting is good?
Setting an autogrowth in multiples of MB is a better option than setting autogrowth in
percentage (%).
Q45) What are the different types of database compression introduced in
SQL Server 2008?
Row compression and Page Compressionn.
Q46) What are the different types of Upgrades that can be performed in
SQL Server?
In-place upgrade and Side-by-Side Upgrade.
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Q47) On a Windows Server 2003 Active – Passive failover cluster, how

do you find the node which is active?
Using Cluster Administrator, connect to the cluster and select the SQL Server cluster.
Once you have selected the SQL Server group, on the right-hand side of the console,
the column“Owner” gives us the information of the node on which the SQL Server group
is currently active.
Q48) How do you open a Cluster Administrator?
From Start -> Run and type CluAdmin (case insensitive) and the Cluster Administrator
console is displayed OR you can also go to Start -> All Programs -> Administrative
Tools -> Cluster Administrator.
Q49) Due to some maintenance being done, the SQL Server on a failover
cluster needs to be brought down. How do you bring the SQL Server
down?
In the Cluster Administrator, rick click on the SQL Server Group and from the popup
menu item choose to Take Offline.
Q50) What are the different ways you can create Databases in SQL
Server?
 1.T-SQL; Create Database command.

 2.Using Management Studio

 3.Restoring a database backup

 4.Copy Database wizard

Q51) When setting Replication, can you have a Distributor on SQL Server 2005,
Publisher of SQL Server 2008?
No, you cannot have a Distributor on a previous version than the Publisher.
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