Trimble Mock Interview
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Question 7 of 28
In SQL, how do you explain the differences between clustered and non-clustered indexes? Can you name a time that you used each?
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Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
Trimble uses indexes to improve query performances within their software and for this question, your interviewer is looking to hear that you have a basic understanding of both clustered and non-clustered indexes. Explain the differences between the two types of indexes and be sure you can either speak to relevant times that you've used each or when would be the appropriate application to use each.
Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
"In the simplest of terms, a clustered index order records in a table the way that they are physically stored. There can only be one clustered index per table. Non-clustered indexes do not store data to match the physical order that it is stored. Rather, it can hold up to 249 indexes per table. Both types come with their own benefits over the other. In my experience, clustered indexes are suited best for programs that use primary key as an identity integer column. On the other hand, non-clustered make the most sense for programs that need JOIN and WHERE clauses within them."
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I don't have experience working with clustered and non-clustered indexes.
Chad's Feedback
As Trimble uses indexes to improve query performances within their software, I would suggest you avoid focusing this response on your lack of experience working with clustered and non-clustered indexes. Instead, discuss the differences between the two types of indexes, based on your pre-interview research, and provide an explanation of when would be the appropriate application to use each. You also want to ensure you mention your ability to learn more about clustered and non-clustered indexes, and your interest in doing so.
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