Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • Updates from Coping Tips

    I’ve written a lot of coping tips now. Over two years worth (Mon-Fri) since the pandemic began. It’s become an interesting thing to do on a regular basis, making me re-evaluate life and think about how I live and interact with others.

    A few times I’ve planned something, and then had to follow through. This is an update on a few items.

    An Exercise Goal

    I set an exercise goal on 18 Apr to ride. My plan was to try and do more biking as I prepared for ankle surgery and then recover with some biking. In that time, I traveled a lot. I didn’t often have access to a stationary bike, or have time to rent one/find one on the road. I also still wanted to make sure I was weight lifting and practicing yoga.

    I started a challenge, giving myself 2+ months to ride 463km.

    I finished at 117km, out of the challenge of 419.5km. I was thinking I might get 3-4 days a week, around my other exercise, but I didn’t. Too many travel days, too much yoga, and really I rode the bike 10-15km before lifting. I think there might have been 3-4 dedicated bike days, but not enough.

    A learning experience for me. I don’t love biking enough, and now rehab is more focused on hiking than biking.

    Kindness

    I wrote about helping my wife with her work.  Essentially a glorified videographer and gofer, which worked out well. Since then, she’s asked me a couple times to do this again, and when my daughter returned from university, she’s used her in this role.

    This effort from me has become something she values, and repeats with other people.

    Another Culture

    My tip on learning about another culture was related to a trip to Belgium. My wife joined me and then we toured around Brussels and Bruge, with a few days in Antwerp where I worked and she toured.

    We asked people on the trip about some of the interests I’d learned about. A chocolatier spent 30 minutes with us educating us on chocolate and food. Another person gave us (too) many recommendations on good places to go eat.

    We also asked people about the art, and stopped to take photos and read (or lookup online) about art that we saw in various places.

    Glad we had read a little, but more, my wife and I decided we really love Belgium and look forward to going back.

    Values

    I wrote about values. I continue to remember those, especially as the world and my community struggle. I’ve had friends go through tragedies, the last month in the US (for some of us) has been very trying and upsetting. I have other people concerned about how our community and the annual Summit are going.

    In all this, I am striving to be positive and push forward, not lash out and complain. I am trying to understand and be compassionate for those that feel differently or are struggling.

    I am trying to persevere and keep my world moving forward.

  • Daily Coping 30 Jun 2022

    I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

    Today’s tip is to make time to do something playful, for the fun of it.

    I spend a lot of time getting things done. For work, around the ranch, cooking for the family, hitting the gym, etc. Often I’m too type A and too driven to be playful that often. I do have fun, especially at events and with friends.

    I’m going to have some fun this weekend. I’m going to plan a night out at the movies, with my wife and kids, just having some fun and not being at all productive. Something we used to do in the past and have gotten out of the habit of wasting a few hours and having some fun with my family.

  • Returning To An Employer

    I’ve had a number of jobs in my career. In many instances, I left on good terms, and I’d go back to the organization if there was a job that suited me. I’d like to think that many of these organizations would rehire me if I applied, as I did good work and had success. I’ve always been pleased when someone is disappointed at my resignation.

    Intel had a large layoff in 2015/2016 where over 13,000 employees were dismissed. The CEO at the time implemented a no re-hire policy, meaning those who were laid off, or I’m guessing those that quit during that time, were not eligible for employment in the future.

    That policy has been rescinded, quietly, as the company is struggling to find qualified and experienced staff. I think quite a few companies are in the same situation, and they all are competing for good employees. That’s good for us workers, if we have a good reputation, brand, and skills, and likely will lead to higher salaries.

    I see both sides here. Certainly the people that an organization decides to let go would likely be the lower performers, those that don’t get along with others, or perhaps those that make too many mistakes. However, I’ve been through layoffs, and I know that those aren’t the only people selected for termination.

    Managers dislike some people and will let them go. Sometimes managers like someone and keep them, despite them not being as high a performer as others. Workers with other opportunities, sometimes the best workers, might lobby or volunteer to be laid off and get a severance package, knowing they can easily get another job.

    I think most blanket HR policies that don’t allow for flexibility are a poor idea.  There might be some hard rules, like we don’t hire people with financial crime convictions to work with money, but there should be few of these. While most times there are valid reasons not to hire someone, we ought to review individual cases and make a decision about that person. I resigned one job in anger because of an individual (who later quit themselves). I would, however, return to the company and work with many of the other people employed there if I found a good position. Actually, the people almost always matter to me, not the job itself. I value who I work with more than what I do.

    My view is that technology is still one of the best jobs you can take, doing physically easy work for good compensation solving interesting problems. It can be stressful and a burden at times, but many other careers include those same challenges, often without a better compensation-to-effort ratio.

    I am a big believer in finding a great job in your career field that suits you. Doing that takes work, and it takes regular effort to both improve your skills and your brand. Networking matters, whether looking for a new job or avoiding a layoff (or asking to be laid off). Showcasing who you are helps, especially when many other candidates might want the same position you do.

    Whether we are in a labor market of high demand or high supply, you want to give yourself the best chance to land that dream job. Work on your skills, your brand, and actively manage your career. With a little luck, you’ll wind up with an amazing job for you, just like I did.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher, Spotify, or iTunes.

  • Daily Coping 29 Jun 2022

    I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

    Today’s tip is to show your appreciation to people who are helping others.

    I want to show my appreciation two people that are trying to make the world better. Ben Weissman and William Durkin are a part of the SQL Community and they are working hard to help other people in many ways.

    They have the New Stars of Data coming this fall, along with DataMinutes. They’ve run DataiVerse as well, and host the annual DataGrillen, where I was lucky enough to attend this year.

    They also built a speaker improvement library, trying to ensure we can train a new generation of speakers at a high level.

    These two gentlemen have made an incredible impact on our community, always willing to help and support others, and come up with new ideas that make our community better.

    I would urge you to send a note to them today, letting them know you appreciate their efforts.