Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • Mining for Quitters

    This editorial was originally published on Jun 10, 2009. It is being re-published as Steve is on vacation.

    I thought this was pretty interesting, a story about a story about Google trying to figure out which people are likely to quit. Apparently Google is worried about losing talented workers, like  those they’ve taken from Microsoft, Yahoo, and other places. Actually they haven’t taken anyone. They built a company that excited people and anyone that wants to get a job there (and can), should be allowed to go work there.

    Some people have decided they don’t want to stay, and quite a few executives, and Google wants to try and see if they can keep them. So they are looking for signs that a person might think about leaving, and then hopefully doing something about it. And in typical Google fashion, they’ve built an application that crunches data to identify those people likely to leave.

    I think it’s great, especially in an age where it seems so many companies don’t care if you stay or go. While there’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to convince people to stay, at least they can make an attempt to convince them. Sometimes that’s all takes. Show someone that you care, and that you want to keep them around, and many times they might decide to stay. And perhaps it’s in response to this note that the Justice Department in the US considers any agreement among tech firms illegal. Even if it’s an understanding not to poach each others’ executives.

    With any technology, there’s a flip side as well. Who knows if employees at Google will try to “game” the system, fake the data that shows the might leave, and then see if they can get a raise or some other benefit from the company. It might not work for all employees, but it might work for some.

    It will be a flawed system, but it’s a good idea. It’s a good use of business intelligence computing to try and protect the company’s most valuable assets: its people.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    Everyday Jones

    The podcast feeds are available at sqlservercentral.mevio.com. Comments are definitely appreciated and wanted, and you can get feeds from there.

    You can also follow Steve Jones on Twitter:

    Overall RSS Feed:  or now on iTunes! 

    Today’s podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

    I really appreciate and value feedback on the podcasts. Let us know what you like, don’t like, or even send in ideas for the show. If you’d like to comment, post something here. The boss will be sure to read it.

  • Memories of 2013

    the holiday season and are not too busy at work.  I hope most of you had a great year in 2013, and with that in mind, I wanted to ask you a simple question:

    What’s your best SQL Server memory of 2013?

    Maybe it was when you solved a problem or completed a project successfully. Maybe it was an event that you enjoyed, like a SQL Saturday or conference? Maybe it was a talk or a conversation you had with another SQL Server professional. Perhaps it was some social event involving SQL Server.

    It could be something you laughed at, a situation that taught you something, or an inspirational moment. Share it with us today, and remember what you enjoy about working in this field.

    I hope you had multiple great memories in 2013 and will make more in 2014. Happy Holidays.

    Steve Jones

    Video and Audio versions

    Today’s podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

    Follow Steve Jones on Twitter to find links and database related items and announcements.
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  • It’s not the platform

    I agree with Brent. Actually, I’ve felt this way for years when I’ve been asked the SQL Server v Oracle question, or even earlier in my career when I was asked about Windows v Unix. The choice doesn’t matter that much and it’s not really the platform; it’s the people.

    Oracle is often seen as the top platform in our industry for handling relational data, but if you give a copy of Oracle 12C to many of the SQL Server staffs that read this newsletter, and it likely won’t scale too well. At least not until they learn a bit about how the platform works. The same is true of SQL Server, which is often given to many under-trained and under-qualified people with the idea that they’ll just make it work.

    We should all be aware that while platforms can be expensive, they really pale in comparison to the cost of the people that will build software on the platform. You certainly might save money with a cheaper platform if you’re buying software, but don’t forget that additional platforms do need additional training for your staff. As I told a friend recently, anyone can setup SQL Server and get it to run. Until it doesn’t.

    Education and investment in knowledge is one of the most important areas that technologies and their employers can spend time and money on. However, it takes both of them working together to ensure it pays off.

    Steve Jones

    Video and Audio versions

    Today’s podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

    Follow Steve Jones on Twitter to find links and database related items and announcements.
    Steve Jones Windows Media Video ( 13.1MB) feedMP4 iPod Video ( 15.5MB) feed

    MP3 Audio ( 3.3MB) feed

    Feeds are available at iTunes and Mevio

    To submit an article, rant or editorial,
    log in to the Contribution Center

  • How Do You Find a DBA?

    This editorial was originally published on May 11, 2009. It is being re-run as Steve is on vacation.

    You’d think it would be easy, but I saw this post about looking for a DBA and I can certainly appreciate the problem. I’ve been in the situation of looking for someone to hire and getting hundreds of resumes for a position. In that case, I hate to say it, but I’ve sometimes only looked at the first 40 or 50 resumes I receive, sending the rest to a circular file. That’s not the way to find the “best” person for the job, whatever that means, but it certainly means that the early bird has a chance at the worm.

    But where is a good place to look? That really depends on where DBAs go to look for jobs, so where do you look?

    In the past, when I was looking for a job, I used Monster and Dice, getting slightly different results from each. There were a few other sites I tried, but I’m not sure that any of these other sites do a better job of listing jobs. Since you need to have a lot of jobs and traffic to be useful, the larger the site the better. Also it seems that many consulting companies or recruiters post jobs to multiple sites (usually Monster and Dice), so I’m not sure you can find more jobs on any one site over another.

    Today, however, I think I’d take a different approach to looking for a job, using the people I know, or my network, to see what’s available. If I were hiring someone, I think I’d do the same thing. I posted in the thread that using your local user group, the people you know, contacts on LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. to post the job and let those people pre-filter for you, might be the best solution.

    Hiring someone and finding a good employee is a hit and miss affair. I’m sure most people wish they had a better process, and a better way to evaluate someone’s skills. I think by looking for recommendations from people, people that you will see again, you have a better chance of finding someone that fits the position.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    Everyday Jones

    The podcast feeds are available atsqlservercentral.mevio.com. Comments are definitely appreciated and wanted, and you can get feeds from there.

    You can also follow Steve Jones on Twitter:

    Overall RSS Feed:  or now on iTunes! 

    Today’s podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.