SQLRecruitment

Do you want my job?

simonsabin — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:22:41 GMT

I've decided its time to move on from Totaljobs Group to work for myself. That leaves an opportunity for someone to join Totaljobs Group and be responsible for a really challenging database architecture.

Totaljobs Group is the largest internet job board company in the UK and has been growing rapidly for the past 6 years. We are responsible to for 9 job sites in the UK and internationally with more planned in the future.

SQL Server is at the heart of the job sites providing many functions including the core job and candidate searching services. You will be responsible for,

Developing the database architecture
Mentoring the SQL team
Liasing with the business to develop technical solutions
Reccommending and championing the use of SQL Server to enhance the services TJG offer

Totaljobs Group is an early adopter of new technology where it benefits the business, SQL 2005 was in production shortly after RTM and there is already a commitment to using SQL Server 2008 (Katmai).

If you like to develop innovative solutions in SQL Server and want to see how you can get the most out of SQL Server, working in a fast moving, friendly, relaxed environment then this is the job for you.

If you're interested then you can apply for the job here

Fancy taking the pill?

simonsabin — Mon, 14 May 2007 21:32:31 GMT

If you do there are some great positions available in the SQL Server team. Paul has blogged 4 of them

http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlserverstorageengine/default.aspx

I'm really interested to see a role for a PM for Service Broker, what a great role.

Should you ask leading or non-leading questions in an interview

simonsabin — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 16:52:28 GMT

I am reviewing my interview questions to try and make them more exhaustive.

I intially started off interviewing with the view that the interviewee should be able to stand up on there own. I'm not going to give them anything. If they can't think of the right answer then mustn't know it. I never wanted to give a interviewee the answer as I felt that defeated the objective.

This I have realised is a bit drastic and you have to find a middle ground. Obviously the more non-leading questions you can give and get the answers you want the better. but where would you start.

For example would you ask "How do you manage replication?" or would you ask "What is RMO/Remplication Monitor etc?" An other example "How do you improve the performance of a query?" or "What is an index?"

I do find the open questions lead on to a few or more more detailed questions. If the interviewee hasn't made that connection and you have to make the step to the more leading questions then you know the level they are at.

TOP 10 CV Tips

simonsabin — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 19:27:59 GMT

My team and I have been reviewing more CVs than you can shake a stick at recently for the roles we are trying to fill. This is a list of the top 10 things that make your CV work for you,

1. Don't make it too long.
3 pages is a good size. I get board easily.

2. Don't try to get to point 1 by using 5pt font.
I don't want to have to use a magnifying glass

3. Don't spend too much time on what the company does.
I want to know about you not the company

4. Don't use terms (TLAs etc) that are specific to the company.
I won't know what they mean.

5. Cover your employment in reverse order. i.e. current job first.
I get bored easily I might not make it to the bottom

6. Highlight keys terms.
This allows me to focus on the areas of the CV that would interest me.

7. Have more than one CV if going for different roles.
Makes sure that I think you are what I am after, and not a jack of all trades.

8. Sell yourself.
Always have a blurb that makes you the best person for the job you want. Don't forget to do point 6.

9. Don't lie.
Its not worth it.

10. Avoid lists of technologies and years experience.
Its a bugger to maintain and doesn't add a huge amount of value.

The bottom line is make it readable and easy to scan. What is easier to read a large article in a broad sheet newspaper that has many paragraphs or a small article in a tabloid that covers 1 column.The reason is that the latter requires little commitment and concentration, you can read it and don't have a chance to get bored.

The same applies to a CV. If I have to read every line of a CV to find out what you have been doing then I will get board and probably reject your CV.

Other posts on CVs can be found here How to make your CV stand out and CVS for IT jobs

Job Opportunities at Totaljobs Group

simonsabin — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 13:07:00 GMT

We have 2 openings for Database Developers at Totaljobs Group. We are the largest internet job board company in the UK and use SQL Server as our core service.

We currently use a mixture of SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 to provide solutions to our business of matching jobs and job seekers.

Replication, Full Text Indexing, Partitioning, Log Shippnig, Integration Services and Reporting Services are the features we use very aggressively

If want to be part of our database team take your SQL Server skills to a new level developing new solutions using the latest technology then contact me.

Make your CV stand out

simonsabin — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 17:34:00 GMT

Following on from my previous post on CVs I thought I would see if I could get as much response from another post on CVs.

Make your CV standout, when reading CVs. I am looking for ones that standout, these are generally those that, rather than just stating what the job role is, goes into detail about the difference the person made. For example, a previous experience that looks something like this doesn't do anything but tell me that you can copy topics from BOL,

May 2001 - Current Some Big Company

Senior DBA responsible for 100 database servers. Tasks include

Backup and restores
DR plan
Index maintenance
Maintenance Plans
SQL Agent Jobs
DTS
Batch jobs in TSQL using cursors
Performance montioring using profiler and perfmon

Whereas the following indicates a bit more aptitude and the difference is that it shows the result of your actions and one can infer the above

May 2001 - Current Some Big Company

Senior DBA responsible for 100 database servers with an availability of 99.999% for 24x7. Work undertaken include

Implemented monitoring solution using NetIQ
Automated operational checks reducing proactive checking to 5 mins per hour from a full time job
Improved failover time for DR from 2 hrs to 10minutes.
Proactively monitored servers reducing incidents from 20/month before I joined to 5/month.
Reduced a number of batch processes by 300%

Bottom line is that I'm looking for makes me want to employ you and not the other person thats done exactly the same thing.

Its all about getting to the next stage when you can explain yourself more and prove yourself.

Cvs for IT jobs

simonsabin — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 09:22:00 GMT

I'm recruiting again at the moment and havign to sift through loads of CVs 2 things that amuses/annoys me are

1. Putting MSDOS and Office as skills. Why?

You're applying for a job in IT, if you feel you need to enhance you list of skills with outdated and general skills then one has to start wondering about your calibre. If you can't use word you should be, where have you been for the past decade, MARS!

2. Putting too much history.

I don't really care that you wrote a program on a ZX spectrum to repeat Hello World all over the screen in the 80s.

What I want to know is what have you done that is going to make you a good fit for the role I'm recruiting.

To this end I am all for tailoring CVs for the job, We've all done lots of stuff thats really, cool, clever, saved lots of money etc. But much of the time, only a small proportion of those things are relevant for the job your applying for.

Keep it focused.

IT Jobs in the UK

simonsabin — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 10:19:00 GMT

CWJobs has been rebranded with an enhanced search engine.

You can now search for jobs, by salary, location and keywords.

It also now has the ability to apply fore more than one job at the same time by using the job basket.

Want to earn more than 100k have a look at http://www.cwjobs.co.uk/JobSearch/Results.aspx?Keywords=sql&JobType1=20&Rate=100000&RateType=1