Re: Informix Questions (fwd)

> > I am looking for a list of questions that can be used to qualify > > candidates for Informix positions. My company hires all levels of > > Informix specialists (4GL, programmers, analysts, DBAs) and we are > > looking for a series of technical questions to help judge a > > consultant's qualifications. > > > > If you know where I can find such a technical test > > > > I just spoke with Harvey, only 200 or so people have taken the Informix test > to date and either it's too hard, or there aren't a lot of Informix experts > out there. His opinion is that it's hard, but fair. The nice thing about > his testing strategy is that it provides an accurate picture of the > persons capabilities. It is a computerized test. As the person gets more > right answers, the questions get harder, as they miss more the questions get > easier until the test has found the level at which the person can respond > effectively - which is the whole idea behind the test anyway. > > cheers > j. There are times when such a test is appropriate, and times when it is not. By "not appropriate" I mean it is not a good indicator of performance, or does not measure the desired quality. This type of test measures the knowledge about one specific topic. When interviewing a contractor to perform *exactly that task* and then leave, the test is a useful tool. The employer wants to ascertain the ability of the applicant to use one set of tools. When I interview someone to work for me full-time, or longer term than the lifespan of the current toolset (months, in the case of DEC software :) ) I am much more concerned with that person's *ability to learn* than with what that person already knows. As the systems change the careful memorization and rote learning required to pass a test or to accomplish one specific task becomes obsolete. Rather than knowing, in this business the ability to find out is much more important. The reason I am able to include references to the manuals in many of my responses to this forum is that I had to look up the answers. If I were to give a test to a prospective employee, it would consist of piecing together an answer from several manuals, both with index references and without. It's been my experience that if you can RTFM, and aren't afraid to go menu-hopping, and have enough experience to have gained a "feel" for what's likely to work then you are a a candidate for guru-hood. Whew! I hope you got your $0.02 worth. It's intended positively... __________________________________________________________________ | Clem Akins Standard Disclaimers Apply | |Reynolds Metals Co, Alloys Plant "Climb High, Cave Deep!" | | Muscle Shoals, Alabama USA cwakins@leia.alloys.rmc.com | |________________________________________________________________|