Welcome to T-SQL Tuesday for August 2017!

T-SQL Tuesday is a chance for you to join in the SQL Server community and write a blog post on a suggested topic. You can use this as a way to start a new blog, dust off a blog you haven’t used in a while, or make it part of regular blogging: your choice!

I would love for you to participate. The whole SQL Server community would. Please, join us!

To participate:

1. Write a post on the topic below
2. Schedule the post to go live on Tuesday, August 8 (between zero am and midnight, UTC)
3. Include the TSQL Tuesday logo in the top of your post
4. Link the post back to this one (it’s easier if you comment on this post and link it)
5. Optional: Tweet a link to your post using the #tsql2sday hash tag on Twitter

Extra credit: if you’d like to host your own TSQL Tuesday in the future, read the full rules for info on how to sign up.

I will write a round-up post on Monday, August 14 summarizing up all the magic you guys write.

This month’s topic: Interviewing Patterns and Anti-Patterns

What advice do you have for people preparing for or going through an interview?

Feel free to be creative on this topic. Take whichever approach you like best:

• You may focus on patterns to follow for success
• You may list anti-patterns, too: things that might seem like a good idea, but are a recipe for disaster
• You can write about your own highs and lows as a candidate or as an interviewer
• Be as specific as you want for interviewing for or hiring for your given skillset, whether you’re a developer, DBA, manager, consultant, or something else entirely

Whichever route you take, it’s probably a good idea to disguise the identities of past employers, candidates, etc.

Personally, I’m going to take the approach of writing about an interview for a SQL Server position that I completely bombed as a candidate, and why it ended up being one of the best learning experiences of my life (although it was painful at the time). It taught me a lot about successful interviewing patterns.

I can’t wait to learn about YOUR interviewing patterns and anti-patterns as well.

Get ready, get set, get blogging!