Database Manager - what do you wish you had asked in the interview?

Lisa Horsch Clark

We are getting ready to start interviewing for our Database Manager position and I thought I ask the pros…what do you wish you had asked in your last interview for a database manager?

Bobby Steurer

“Now, if I may be so frank, when you say ‘Our data could use a little work,’ how bad is it exactly?” ?

La Donna Borth

“Is all of your team held responsible for good data? And does your team know and understand the phrase, ‘Good Data In, Good Data Out’?”

Carlene Johnson

If I were going to a new org using Blackbaud products I'd ask the following: Where are you in your contract with Blackbaud? (Year 1 of a 3 year contract?) Who is responsible for negotiating the contract? Are there any considerations of moving to a different platform? Are there other platforms that I will be expected to manage, integrate with, and/or support? What are the 3rd party tools available to me to manage any integrations?

Basically, I want to make sure that if I'm being hired to do a Raiser's Edge job that I'll get to do a Raiser's Edge job. I don't want to come on board and then find out that our contract is coming up for renegotiation and that the organization is actually considering a move to Salesforce or something like that.

I would also ask about professional development and whether or not the organization will commit to sending me to the conference of my choosing in person. It is expensive to attend bbcon or other conferences in person once airfare and hotel are included, so I want to be sure that the organization is committed to (and has the budget for!) me to attend bbcon, AASP, or DRIVE conference. While we have the opportunity to attend many things virtually these days, nothing replaces the face to face for me and ensuring that I can attend in person if I choose to do so is a deciding factor to me in exploring a new position.

JoAnn Strommen

? @Lisa (@pulls 30 names containing “lisa” but not this one), just to clarify…

… I read your post as you are interviewing and what questions should you ask the applicant. Is that correct.

Looks like others interpret it differently.

Carlene Johnson

I interpreted as she was curious what questions a candidate may ask so that she can be sure to provide necessary information about the position to the candidate.

However, Lisa, if you are asking what questions you should ask OF the candidates I'd suggest the following:

• Tell me about a time in the last 6 months where you taught yourself something.
• What are the ways in which you stay current with technology?
• Tell me about how you manage changing priorities.
• What is your biggest frustration or challenge with Raiser's Edge and/or Blackbaud products?
• What resources do you avail yourself of when you are “stuck” on a problem with the database?

Dana Burton

Lisa Horsch Clark should as potential applicants as well. I was not interviewed for such a position but thrown into it. LOL

Lisa Horsch Clark

Great news…we found a great new database manager for Friends of Acadia. Thanks for your answers to my question.

Dariel Dixon 2

I have a question for you @Lisa Horsch Clark? Which of the suggestions did you find most helpful and why? Was there a question that allowed you to really help determine which was the best candidate for you?

Alex Day 2

@Lisa Horsch Clark glad to hear you found a great candidate! We will be looking to hire a database coordinator here at Washington's National Park Fund pretty soon, and I'm pulling together a job posting now from scratch. If you're willing to share it, I'd love to see the language you used to capture the skills and competencies, core responsibilities and job tasks, etc. - my email is alex@wnpf.org. Thank you!

Karen Stuhlfeier

If I were to consider another job at a different organization I would ask to look at the database. I wouldn't need to look at individual records, but I would want to see how it is structured and if it looks like it's a mess that has every query that has ever been written still on it. I would really want to see how it is currently being used before considering whether I want to take it on.

Jeremy Freemantle

For future reference, defining key performance indicators (KPI) from their perspective.

“What are your top 3 priorities when managing a database?" [top 3 KPIs]
I'd expect answers like - data quality, security, user training (ensuring processes and procedures being followed), analysis and reports etc, etc; which 3 they think are top priorities is an insight into their strengths, and what is a top priority for you, but they failed to include ?(ask why?).

And follow up on those 3 priorities with:

“How do you ensure that [priority 1 & 2 & 3] is achieved?” [Metric to measure KPI performance]
test how they would achieve these priorities, for example - regular reviews of security groups, database users' refresher courses, queries to check data is consistent, professional development & training - that sort of thing.

Maryrose Larkin

These are all great questions. I would ask about any experience writing policies and procedures, and experience training. As a current job hunter, I always ask to see the database (especially in database mode) because it helps me understand the expectations of the job. I usually check on the code tables. I contract a little on the side, and my favorite code table snafu was an organization that had 18 email types (HomeEmail, Home Email) and one of them was emeow ?