ROLE-SPECIFIC SKILLS

Database management and administration test for hiring

See how candidates reason through practical decisions that come up in day-to-day database work.

10 minutes
15 questions
Intermediate
Multiple choice
Questions in English
Phone and desktop

Use this test free See the question formats

The short answer

The Database Management and Administration test is an intermediate hiring assessment for DBAs, data platform and analytics engineers, and others who look after production databases or the data built on them. It uses short work scenarios to assess judgment in schema changes, recovery, query performance, security and integrity, and data warehousing.

What it measures

Practical judgment in schema design and change, availability and recovery, query performance, security and integrity, and data warehousing.

Design reviews and change

Candidates consider schema reviews and how to plan database changes.

Availability and recovery

Candidates consider how to keep data available and restorable.

Performance tuning

Candidates reason about tuning slow queries.

Security and integrity

Candidates consider how to protect data and keep it consistent.

Data warehousing

Candidates work through scenarios involving the operation of a data warehouse.

Question formats

Multiple choice

The candidate: Reads a short situation, table or statement and picks the right answer, or every right answer.

You see: Whether the candidate knows the material well enough to apply it, not just recognize it.

15 questions in 10 minutes, served one at a time.

Roles this test fits

People who look after production databases or the data built on them: DBAs, data platform and analytics engineers, backend developers who own their own schemas and migrations, and leads of database operations teams.

What this test can show

Recovery judgment before an outage
Availability and recovery scenarios show how a candidate keeps data restorable, evidence that a resume listing database products cannot give.
Reading a query plan
Questions built around small query plans show whether a candidate can find why a query is slow, without depending on one product’s tools.
Warehouse work alongside operations
The same test covers running a data warehouse as well as production databases, useful when one hire looks after both.

What you get for each candidate

Example report (fictional data)Database Management and Administration

81%Percentile 68. Benchmark: HireValid candidates, n = 614

Design reviews and change71%

Availability and recovery90%

Performance tuning85%

Security and integrity88%

Data warehousing71%

Integrity ScoreHigh confidence

Stayed on the test tab throughout
No pasted answers
Answered at a steady pace

Scores, profiles and integrity signals are evidence for you to review alongside an interview, never an automatic decision.

Use this test free

Test integrity signals

Each candidate receives a different set of questions from large pools. Question order changes between attempts, and answer options are shuffled. The browser shows one question at a time, while answer keys stay on HireValid’s servers. Timing runs on the server, so reloading restores the same question with only the time left. Question text cannot be copied or selected. HireValid records signals such as time away from the test tab, pastes into answers, and answers submitted faster than a question can be read. These appear in an Integrity Score and evidence timeline for the employer to review; the system never decides on its own. With candidate consent, an employer can add random webcam photos. Learn more in How we build our tests.

How we prevent AI cheating · Integrity signals

Use the score as evidence

Review the score alongside a work sample and a structured interview; do not use it alone as a hiring decision or pass mark. A work sample can give you a chance to see how a candidate approaches a database task in context. The SQL Coding: Querying test offers a separate focus on querying. Compare the evidence with the job’s needs and the candidate’s explanation of their choices.

Structured interview questions

Tell me how you would review a proposed schema change before it is made.
Listen for a clear process for reviewing the schema and planning the change, including how they explain the decisions they would make.
A production database needs to be restored after an interruption. How would you approach the situation?
Listen for practical reasoning about keeping data available and restorable, and how they would work through the situation.
Walk me through how you would investigate a slow query using the information available to you.
Listen for how they use query-related evidence, such as a query plan, to reason about performance.

Understand scoring and benchmarks

Fairness and accommodations

Questions are vendor-neutral and use standard SQL, so a candidate's experience with one particular product gives no advantage, and no question turns on product-specific syntax or menu names. Scenarios come from ordinary businesses such as stores, clinics, warehouses and booking services. They use plain US English, names from many backgrounds, no money symbols and no local knowledge, and every number needed is shown in the question.

You can give any candidate extra time as an accommodation. Results are evidence for a person to review, never an automatic decision.

Provisional: no norms exist yet. Reliability will be reported once 200 candidates have completed the test.

Read our fairness approach

Test details

A ten-minute check of the judgment that day-to-day database work calls for. It covers reviewing schemas and planning changes, keeping data available and restorable, tuning slow queries, protecting data and keeping it consistent, and running a data warehouse. Questions are short work scenarios built around small tables, query plans and SQL snippets, and they do not depend on any one database product.

Questions are in English.
Aids allowed: Scratch paper.
Each question is answered once, in order, with no going back.
4 practice questions, 4 minutes, before the timed test.

Frequently asked questions

How does the Database Management and Administration test handle different database products?+

The test is vendor-neutral and uses standard SQL. Questions do not depend on product-specific syntax or menu names, and the scenarios include small tables, query plans, and SQL snippets. If you also want to assess a specific product, see the separate [PostgreSQL test](/tests/software-skills/postgresql).

Who is the Database Management and Administration test designed for?+

It is an intermediate assessment for people who look after production databases or the data built on them: DBAs, data platform and analytics engineers, backend developers who own their schemas and migrations, and leads of database operations teams. Questions on planning schema changes and on running a data warehouse suit people who own migrations or analytics data as well as live systems.

What can candidates use during the Database Management and Administration test?+

Candidates may use scratch paper, and every number a scenario needs is shown in the question. The 15 questions are in English and answered once each, in order, with no going back, on a phone or a desktop. A separate practice set has 4 questions and takes 4 minutes.

What does the Database Management and Administration test's current reliability information mean?+

The test is provisional and has no norms yet. Reliability will be reported once 200 candidates have completed it. Treat a score as evidence to review with a work sample and structured interview, not as a standalone verdict.