Database Administrator Interview Questions UK: 8 Real Questions and What Interviewers Want

Applying for a Database Administrator job in the UK? Here is what you are likely to be asked. These questions come from our Database Administrator question bank of 25 questions, written for UK employers at mid-level level.

Eight Database Administrator interview questions, and what the interviewer is thinking

1. Talk me through your backup and recovery strategy for a business-critical SQL Server or PostgreSQL database.

Why they ask: Backup and recovery is the DBA's first responsibility, and they want to see you design around business needs rather than habit.

2. How would you diagnose and fix a query that has suddenly become slow in production?

Why they ask: Performance troubleshooting is a daily DBA task and shows your methodical approach.

3. Explain how indexes work and how you decide which indexes to create, and which to remove.

Why they ask: Index design is one of the most common technical areas tested for DBAs.

4. What is the difference between high availability and disaster recovery, and which technologies have you used for each?

Why they ask: They need to know you can design resilient systems and explain the trade-offs.

5. How do you secure a database, and what do UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 mean for the way you manage one?

Why they ask: Databases hold the organisation's most sensitive data, and DBAs are directly accountable for protecting it.

6. The production database server has crashed at 2am and users cannot work. Talk me through your response.

Why they ask: They want to see calm prioritisation and incident discipline when it matters.

7. Tell me about a time you significantly improved the performance of a database.

Why they ask: They want real evidence of hands-on tuning skills and measurable impact.

8. What does a typical day as a database administrator involve?

Why they ask: They want to confirm you understand the realities of the role beyond the technology.

A sample answer to question 1

Talk me through your backup and recovery strategy for a business-critical SQL Server or PostgreSQL database.

I start by agreeing the recovery point objective and recovery time objective with the business, because those drive everything else. For SQL Server on a critical system I'd use the full recovery model with a weekly full backup, daily differentials and transaction log backups every fifteen minutes or less, written to separate storage with a copy offsite or in immutable cloud storage. Backups use compression and checksums. For PostgreSQL I'd use pgBackRest or Barman with continuous WAL archiving, which allows point-in-time recovery. The crucial part is testing: I schedule automated restores to a test server, run DBCC CHECKDB or pg_amcheck, and record how long a restore really takes, so the RTO is evidence rather than a guess. I monitor backup jobs and alert on failures or missed log chains, and I document the runbook, including how to restore to a point just before a bad change. Backups are encrypted, and retention follows policy and UK GDPR requirements.

Common mistake to avoid: Saying you just run nightly backups; Never mentioning restore testing

Want the rest?

Full model answers, key points and common mistakes for all 25 questions are on the Database Administrator interview questions page. The first five are free, no sign-up needed.