RE: [ActiveDir] OT: Interview Techniques

[Ken Schaefer]

I suppose there are several “roles” that senior people could hold: some are managerial, some are architectural, and some are deeply technical (i.e. high level support). Architects, in that taxonomy, would do design work. Whereas a PSS engineer would probably spend more time with a debugger than using Word and Visio to produce high-level designs.   Cheers Ken     From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, 24 July 2006 5:53 PM To: ActiveDir@mail.activedir.org Subject: RE: [ActiveDir] OT: Interview Techniques   A senior guy IMO should be more focused on "design" aspects than "support" and thus should be able to answer questions along the line of:   "How would you design a schema change process, encompassing initial request through to implementation."   The answer to the above should help determine alot of info from that person (see below) - even if they cannot answer the question fully.    - Does this person think logically  - Does this person explain ideas in a cohesive manner  - Does this person answer questions with fluff and BS or are they succinct  - etc   To answer 'what do the FSMOs do?' one can simply state - "I'd look it up in a book". I'd therefore always try to ask questions which can only be answered through experience (where possible) and not just through reading a book.   My 2 penneth, neil From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of mike kline Sent: 24 July 2006 07:16 To: ActiveDir@mail.activedir.org Subject: Re: [ActiveDir] OT: Interview Techniques Brian,   That was a good story, very funny.  So what did the guy do? Did he just get up and leave?  I know from reading your posts you are usually straight and to the point. I would be sweating if I had to interview with you.   Going off course a bit.  What are some types of AD questions that you all consider to be "senior level"?   For example what if you ask someone how to do a metadata cleanup?  Would you all consider that to be a mid level question?   Just wondering because I always grapple trying to figure out questions for the mid vs. senior level candidate.           On 7/23/06, Brian Desmond <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I've got no second thoughts about being an asshole during a tech interview. I ask the question, you either answer it or tell me you don't know. If you choose not to tell me you don't know and demonstrate that you don't know through what you tell me instead, I'm already pretty much through. If you're arrogant like this candidate you describe, I'm likely through as well. My favorite exchange as of late goes like this: Me - Tell me a little bit about your experience migrating Exchange 5.5 orgs to 2003 Them - blah blah blah Me - Ok, can you name the three types of connection agreements in the ADC? Them - well uh blah blah well uh excuse excuse Me - other questions Me - So would you be comfortable migrating a 10K user 5.5 org to 2003? Them - Absolutely Me - How can you be comfortable doing that when you can't even explain the first step of the migration to me? In any case, others have put some really good advice here. What you want in a technical lead is someone who can get their hands dirty without getting scared or screwing up. They should also have no second thoughts about delegating work and asking their subordinates for help. That person needs to be able to deal with upper management, and they also need to make sure their self esteem is in check - none of that "I did X" when all they did is watch. Hiring your new manager can be a little difficult on both sides from the point of view of why wasn't someone on your team promoted to that position?