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How Do You Interview A Sysadmin Candidate?
benedict writes: "The article No Shortage of Programmers? sparked a really interesting thread about how to interview programmers. Being a systems administrator, I am curious about the Slashdot community's collective wisdom on how to interview sysadmins. I have come up with a few questions of my own to prime the pump. 'What is tcpdump? What is it good for?' 'How about truss/ktrace/strace? What are they good for?' 'What's the largest number of machines you've maintained? What have you done to make it easier on yourself (e.g. what types of automation, file distribution, etc.)' 'Do you use source code control? What for?' I would also present a couple of 'hypothetical' situations from my own experience and ask how people would approach them. How about you: what kinds of questions would you ask, what situations would you describe, what kinds of answers would you look for?"
on this file I send you?
DataSquid.net, a little about me.
My favorite means of testing this out? Troll them. Ask them which editor they use. Ask them which O'Reilly books they own. Ask them which distro of Linux they prefer. If they're zealots about things like that, its going to make it a lot harder for me to get along with them.
Of course, it's very important that you don't make them feel like they're being grilled/trolled, because they're also interviewing you, and deciding whether or not they want to be a part of your team.
--Cycon
Your Brain + EEG + LEGO Robots = Brainstorms
No, no! You know the drill! If there's any chance that he'll end up as a marketeer we have to drive a stake through his heart, decapitate him and bury the remains at a crossroads at midnight.
There may be something involving salt as well, but maybe I'm just I'm just thinking about tequila.
I would be a paid subscriber if Taco and Hemos weren't such cunts
Not so fast, marketing is hiring too!
Say no to software patents.
Handwriting test: if their handwriting is anything but completely illegible, don't hire them.
/dev/null? If the answer is not 'for redirecting Web proxy logs' forget it.
Eye test: if they aren't near-sighted, just say no.
Wrist test: if they don't have carpal tunnel, nix 'em.
Clothing test: if they show up to the job interview wearing a suit, they have no clue.
Jargon file test: Do you know what RTFM means? Can you recite the entire "Story of Mel"?
Caffeine test: If they don't ask for coffee, tea, Coke, or some other form of caffeine several times throughout the interview, forget it.
Slashdot test: What is your slashdot karma? (Don't hire if Karma 25)
Microsoft test: show them a picture of Bill Gates naked. If they don't turn away and run in disgust, don't hire 'em. (NOTE: a good hire will be very difficult to catch)
/dev/null test: What is the true use for
My journal has hot
There is loads of highly concentrated wisdom in here
Robust
Synergy
Think-outside-the-box
Current- state
Pro-active
Throw them out of your office.
CIO: "So what do you do?"
ME: "I play a lot of games."
CIO: "Ever make a UT Server behind a firewall?"
ME: "Yeah."
CIO: "Windows or Linux?"
ME: "Both."
CIO: "Go to HR and get a badge."
True story.
This
The interviewer brought up an xterm on the terminal on his desk, typed `ls
For added difficulty, they were using a version of UN*X I didn't have experience with (BSDi). The question tested:
Lucky for me, I'm pretty curious by nature and got the job.
One of the big things I would check for is troubleshooting skills. And in a non-obvious way, so they don't zero in on what you're asking for and give the "right" answers. Asking to give an example of a problem in the past and what they did, give some hypothetical situations (though some people think better in front of a keyboard then in when speaking.)
On big one with me is automation and tools. I don't care if you know a specific tool - that can always be learned. But once you get to real sizes, you need to use automation and tools, you can't do everything by hand. If you told me that you speced out or even wrote tools to fit the specific circumstances of the last job, that's a big plus. Along the same lines, any sysadmin that can't take the time to be fluent in a shell probably isn't worth my time. I ask them for their prefered shell and why. It doesn't really matter what they answer, as long as they have an answer. Along those lines, tellign me that "they used to love [insert shell], but now they don't care as much because they always use perl (or other appropriate language)" is also fine.
Sysadmining is sometimes periods of boredom followed by periods of extreme need. If you can keep your cool in that extrene need, that's very good, but hard to judge on an interview. It's very important, though. If you're a self-starter, and those periods of boredom will be used on projects to make your job easier, either from a manager or self-starting, is also good, and something that might be easier to detect in an interview.
Many sysadmins have a large (and fairly well-deserved) ego. This is almost a "necessary evil". However, a prima-donna or someone who will not work with other team members is a problem, and that can be determined to a point during an interview. Also watch out for loose cannons. They can be great, but they're hard to control. A small company might benefit more then a large one by a loose cannon, but no matter how good they are they can get you in trouble. You just need to balance if it's worth it.
=Blue(23)
LITTLE GIRL: But which cookie will you eat FIRST? C. MONSTER: Me think you have misconception of cookie-eating process.
It's important when formulating the questions for a sysadmin to avoid trying to ask "catch out" questions, and better to have a good stock of "standard" questions that will ensure you know the candidate has a solid understanding of the principles. Knowing all of the flags to "ls" or "tcpdump" for example, doesn't tell you much, but knowing that they understand the differences between RAID 1 and RAID 5 is. Crank up the difficulty as appropriate for the position.
Asking questions that only catch out the candidate, leaves them feeling bad throughout the interview, and you with little more knowledge than what they don't know, and maybe a pointless feeling that you caught them out. If that floats-your-boat, go for it, but not me. been there, done that, thinkgeek ain't got the t-shirt.
Also, once you've identified that the candidate has a good foundation of knowledge, start asking about approaches they've taken to problems. One of my favourite questions is "What's your biggest f#&* up". Everybody makes mistakes. If a candidate can't think of a big fubar situation that they've been involved in, chances are they're either very good or inexperienced. It's also a good talking point to base additional questions around. Bring in your own situations as a way of lightening the questioning. You can reverse the question for the age-old fav "Tell me about your biggest achievement", but I prefer problem solving skills in an SA.
I'm also a big believer in "fit". If the candidate "feels" right, but has made a few boo-boo's in the answers given to questions, better to take them than somebody who doesn't "feel" right, and got all the questions right.
At the end of the day, it's a judgement call, and there are plenty of other factors to take into consideration that i've not mentioned here (and I'm sure others will). In a nutshell, find a questioning style/interview technique that ensures the candidate is at ease, feels they can be honest, and covers all of the main points.
Oh, and personally I hate giving and doing technical tests where they're left to fend for themselves for an hour in an empty office. Wasted time all round. Get somebody to interview them in that time who can get more out of them.
Needless to say, get different people to interview as well. Technical skills are but one part of a good employee. HR departments sometimes come out with very good points all the techies in the world couldn't find out.
Hope that helps.
ooooooh! What does this button do? - DeeDee, Dexters Lab.
...Is for references on the employees he/she has helped.
Lets face it, there are two types of sysadmins:
1.) The type that sits in a locked server room never to be bothered (see BOFH).
2.) The type that wants to help you in a kind manner.
Sure, it is more important to have a knowledgable sysadmin that can knows a ton, and knows some clever little techniques to make everyone's life easier, but its also important to have one that is good with employees and treats everyone well.
One of my former employers had a sysadmin that everyone was afraid to go to because of the tone he'd use. He always shouted and was just generally mean to everyone. He was fired, and the man that replaced him knew just as much, but was always helping people with a smile and would stick with you until the problem was solved. It was a huge difference. People loved the new guy.
I'm digressing, but the point is, a sysadmin job usually requires that you help fellow employees, and that is something to check for in an interview.
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
You ask a Sr. level admin what are the file types on unix and he will LAUGH AT YOU.
You ask a Sr. level admin how he runs his systems, how he works under pressure, if he/she is available during odd hours and get a personality feel for them. Find out if they're resourcefull, independant and a good co-worker. Don't play 20 questions and post the answers on slashdot :)
1 Good admin can run 4-5 nt servers, all your unix servers and maintain your business applications, databases and still have time to read his (her) email.
Don't ask "what is tcpdump?".
Instead, ask "what would you use to view the contents of TCP packets on the network?"
We start with the basics "what would you use to list the contents of a directory?" and work up from there, to gauge the level of knowledge.
Also, technical folks conduct that part of the interview over the phone, and the person doesn't get a face-to-face with a manager about non-technical issues until AFTER we've made our recommendations.
Ask him something he obviously doesn't know the answer to, something he hasn't put on his resume. If he gives you a bullshit answer, kick him out the door. If he says, "I don't know", ask him how he'd find out and listen to what he says. Not every sysadmin knows everything, but the truelly good ones will know how to find the information they need. A sysadmin who says, "I dont know we need to hire a consultant" is not someone you eant working for you.
just ask for their Slashdot ID, and then you can evaluate their competence based on their comments and their karma ;-)
Don't sort through 300 random Slashdot trolls. Join the System Administrators Guild and get their booklet on Hiring System Administrators. That should answer all your questions in one hit.
Ade_
/
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