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A comment on Ask HN: Can you explain how a database index works in an interview?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: Can you explain how a database index works in an ... by mountaineer on Tuesday June 06, 2017 @01:21PM (#14499024)
I'm posting here in part to get a feel for the "fairness" aspect, so appreciate the feedback. I haven't eliminated anybody over this single question, but do see many interviewees get frustrated with it which may hinder their performance afterwards in the interview. If I were to dig in re: "when to use it and how it affects lookups", that would be good discussion.
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Re:Ask HN: Can you explain how a database index works in an ... by arockwell on Tuesday June 06, 2017 @02:09PM (#14499550)
If most of your candidates cannot answer the question, but you would still hire them I would drop the question. Knowledge of when to use an index is more valuable than the specific mechanics of how the index is implemented.

When I want to test database knowledge, I usually give the candidate a simple database schema and ask them to write progressively harder SQL queries. Database modeling questions are also good for teasing out the seniority of a candidate as well.

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Re:Ask HN: Can you explain how a database index works in an ... by flukus on Wednesday June 07, 2017 @03:09AM (#14504279)
Not all interview questions are about eliminating candidates, you want to rank them as well. If all 5 candidates are roughly equal but one knows much more about databases then they are the one that gets hired.
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