There's a still a certain level of familiarity with the subject matter required to do a job. If the role can be defined as an "SQL job" (say something in data warehousing or reporting) - not knowing what types of joins are available could lead to terrible solutions.
I would agree with you if the interview question was more specific, say about Oracle window functions for example.
An SQL developer not familiar with full joins would be similar to a Java developer who is not familiar with interfaces, or a Javascript developer who has never heard of closures. It's a significant part of the language, not a piece of arcane reference.
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There's a still a certain level of familiarity with the subject matter required to do a job. If the role can be defined as an "SQL job" (say something in data warehousing or reporting) - not knowing what types of joins are available could lead to terrible solutions.
I would agree with you if the interview question was more specific, say about Oracle window functions for example.
An SQL developer not familiar with full joins would be similar to a Java developer who is not familiar with interfaces, or a Javascript developer who has never heard of closures. It's a significant part of the language, not a piece of arcane reference.