Voice of the DBA

Tag: career

  • What Helps You Learn?

    There was a post recently asking how to train a junior DBA. What tasks do you give them, how to get them productive, etc. The responses were interesting, but I was struck by one note from a person that is a junior DBA. This person mentioned a few things that have helped them get better at their job, some of which I hadn’t thought about before.

    Since I try to teach people about SQL Server in writing, in presentations, and longer formats, I decided this might make a good poll question. If you spend a few minutes thinking about how you’ve improved your skills at your job, let us know what works best for you.

    What things can others do to help you learn more about your job?

    Are there specific things that have actually worked better for you? Perhaps you prefer to learn alone, but even then, what works well for you that builds skills. Is there a format or style of presentation that reaches you?

    I’m a big believer in multiple voices and multiple ways to teach people. This is one reason we sometimes have 2-3 articles on the same topic from different authors. Each will reach different people, and speak to them in different ways. I think the format (text, video, live, etc. ) also has some impact on what helps different people learn. Let us know today what works best for you.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.1MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio.

  • The 10X Programmer

    Is there such a thing as a 10x programmer? It’s an interesting idea, and one that is discussed from a few perspectives in this Q&A. There’s some talk about how to define “x” as well as the idea that the environment and project might make a big difference in productivity. Certainly the baseline of the staff measured makes a difference. If most of your programmers aren’t very productive, then a more talented developer might easily outperform the average by a factor of 10. Depending on how you measure productivity.

    I wonder, though, is there a 10x DBA or database developer? What would that look like? If we examined the effectiveness of a DBA managing systems, I have seen DBAs that managed 10x the absolute number of databases and instances. Working inefficiently, connecting the individual systems to apply updates or check statuses could easily make you ten times less efficient then the DBA making use of scripting and the ability to apply changes across many systems, not to mention managing them for issues.

    In terms of database development, if we have some programmers that can produce code using 10x less resources than others, I’d consider that a 10x programmer. Given the state of questions I see asked on SQLServerCentral and other sites, it definitely seems that there are plenty of developers being paid to produce poorly written T-SQL code. We don’t have great definitions of how we can measure productivity, but there is plenty of code posted that can be dramatically optimized. It’s the rare week that I don’t see someone noting they’ve reduced the runtime of some code from hours to minutes. Isn’t that 10x more productive?

    Ultimately one of the amazing things about software is that we aren’t bound to a particular structure once it’s created and used. We can quickly, and easily, change the way the code is built so that it works differently, does more, runs efficiently, or really anything we want. Of course, testing that the code produces the desired effects and deploying that to different environments in a way that minimally impacts clients is a challenge, but a challenge many in our industry work on constantly, seeking improvement.

    I think there are definitely 10x programmers, but that really depends on your situation and how you utilize the people working for you.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 4.2MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio.

  • Data Science Education

    One of the good skills to have for a data professional is how to analyze data. Most of us could learn more about data science and data analysis for some aspect of our jobs. We are data professionals, so we should understand how to analyze data. I’d expect that a competent data professional would be able to put together a report on some set of data that means something to an end user. If we administer systems, then analyzing usage (index, space, etc) is a skill we need. If we write code, sooner or later we’re going to write some report for a client. Either way, we need to perform some sort of analysis.

    How can you learn more? There are lots of resources available. I thought it was interesting that Microsoft has teamed up with edX for their own data science degree. While there are mixed feelings on this, I think edX has a good platform and strong partnerships for teaching. There are other places, such as Coursera, that are doing the same thing, offering a variety of courses online.

    In fact, it appears that quite a few educational institutions and businesses are starting to increase their data science related offerings. There’s a good summary of some of the options in a piece from Dataversity. In response to all the demand, or at least perceived demand, there is everything from a boot camp getting you up to speed on some quick analytic techniques and tools to full degree programs. Some programs have different levels, depending on the amount of statistical knowledge you have.

    Learning something about statistics is probably the best way for most people that would like to get started. I’ve seen quite a few people start learning by reviewing some statistics techniques. From Buck to Mala, putting your own learning down in a blog will force you to ensure that you actually understand the principles. As for getting started, there are lots of great books you can buy, or read information online. One note, be careful and double check the information written on random blogs. Or check out places like the Khan Academy.

    In some sense this reminds me to the rush to get a CNE in the early 90s, or the many boot camps that appeared to help people a MCSE certification in the mid to late 90s. Lots of people passed the tests, but weren’t very qualified, which has contributed to the general distrust of certifications today. I hope that doesn’t happen too much today, though I’m sure it will to some extent. The chance to make more money, or just find a job, will drive lots of people to look for quick wins.

    While I’m sure some of you will get better jobs, perhaps making a lot of money with minimal data science experience, I hope many of you continue to learn and improve your skills in the data analysis area over time, whether you are paid to be a data scientist or not.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 3.5MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio .

  • Impressive Accomplishments

    This editorial was originally published on February 15, 2013. It is being republished as Steve is out of the office.

    Most of us have had an interview or two in our lives. We’ve had to assemble a resume or CV, create cover letters, and practice answering questions in preparation for an interview. In all of these things, we are looking for ways to market our past work and present it in the best light as evidence that we will make a good employee in our next position.

    We each have our own experiences, successes, and failures, but we aren’t bound by what’s happened in our career so far. We have the ability to shape our brand for the future by making changes in the way we approach our career from this day forward. I have a talk and blog on this subject, but I certainly don’t have all the answers. I’m always looking for more ideas and suggestions to help people and wanted to ask for your ideas this week.

    What would impress you most about a job candidate?

    Is there something that you’ve seen or heard about in the past that impressed you? If a candidate had written a book, or created some software, would that make you look upon them favorably? I know that a candidate needs to present themselves well in an interview and be able to write SQL, or manage an instance, but when you are examining dozens of resumes, is there something that stands out?

    Take a moment and tell us what has impressed you in the past, and whether it was an indicator of a good employee or not.

    Steve Jones