Voice of the DBA

Tag: career

  • The DBA Office

    This is a great office.
    This is a great office.

    I’ve written about offices I like in the past. I’ve worked in a variety of offices, and having telecommuted for the last decade, I find that I mostly prefer a variety of environments. I have a standing desk, where I do most of my work, but I often find myself moving to another room with my laptop to work in a quieter, or louder, environment. I work at a coffee shop, in hotels, even in the car at times. It seems like I might be working too much, but I think I have a good balance between life and work. I just find myself working for short stretches in very disparate environments as I wander through life.

    For me, the ideal environment has varied according to the job that I did. Software development seems to require more quiet and separation than operational work. The more I coordinate with others, the more I like an open floor plan. The more I have to concentrate on my own work, the more I prefer a peaceful, solitary environment. As a DBA, I’ve had to work in both environments and I’ve had my own office, a shared office, a hot desk, and an open plan. I often haven’t had a choice of the arrangement in most jobs, so it’s a good thing I’m adaptable.

    I ran across a piece that looks at the history of the open and closed office, as well as different ways or organizing desks. There are great pros and cons in the article for each setup, and the compromises people make. This week, I’m wondering what many of you would like your arrangement to be.

    What would be your ideal office work environment?

    Would you prefer an open plan? A closed office? A hot desk arrangement that incorporates both of these? Do you want public spaces at times and private locations where you can get solo work done if you need it? If you have preferences, or comments about your current setup, let us know today. Maybe we can design a few “ideal” office spaces together.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

  • Data Darwinism

    A great look at the future, where data about you will decide much about your life.
    A great look at the future, where data about you will decide much about your life.

    A few years ago my son asked me to buy him The Unincorporated Man. After he finished it, he gave it to me and we read all four books in the series, which we both enjoyed. The premise of this future civilization is that each person is their own corporation, selling stock in themselves to anyone in the world. As with a company, the better your performance at life, the higher the price. However there is also accountability, with your actions, jobs, etc., potentially limited by your “board of directors”, who are the shareholders in your corporation. It sounds a little drastic, but it’s not as bad as you might think. It’s actually a neat idea.

    It’s also somewhat of the way the world works now, although without all the disclosure. In today’s world it’s actually much easier to hide your flaws and poor performance because the information isn’t always readily available to potential employers. Some of us see this in the poor performance of colleagues, who were hired with good recommendations or interviews. We may find out later that these were exaggerated, though we often can’t (or won’t) do anything about this, suffering through poor performance from the individual or company.

    That may be changing. I ran across an interesting article where vehicle drivers were let go from their jobs because clients had rated them poorly or complained about them. There is some controversy here, but it does bring up the issue of more companies that look to “go where the data goes” in operating their businesses. It’s all too easy to begin using metrics, measurements, feedback, and more to make business decisions. This is one of the driving forces being building business intelligence systems in our industry. However if the models, assumptions, or data are flawed, bad decisions are not only possible, but probable. It’s easy to trust the computer’s report more than is prudent, especially when we have no good way of measuring the quality, or even appropriate interpretation of the data.

    There are lots of BI systems that work well, and provide companies with many benefits, but there are probably also plenty of them that don’t work well and we don’t hear about them. There are systems that use flawed, incomplete, or otherwise compromised models to help business leaders make decisions. Ultimately a BI system needs lots of human intelligence added to it, including judgement and refinement, constant tweaking, and a bit of common sense. I would hope that using data to cut off some service, fire an employee (or decline to interview someone), or make any far reaching decision has a lot of experience and audit built into the system to prevent its abuse.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

  • Salaries in 2013

    Training is a big reason people give for making more money.
    Training is a big reason people give for making more money.

    Salaries are looking good, at least in software development in the US. Windows IT Pro released a report (PDF) that came from over a half million surveys that were completed in late 2012. You can read the report, but the highlights were that more people were satisfied with their jobs (nearly 60%) with two thirds of the respondents saying their received a raise with about half getting bonuses. The downsides were that salaries and bonuses had trended downward from the last 4 hours, which shows that economic conditions in IT are not as great as we might like.

    I found the survey on Trainsignal’s blog, which isn’t surprising given one other highlight. Eighter percent of respondents said that training in 2012 was a positive investment for themselves and their company. Ninety percent of those people said they learned new skills that could be used in their job. That’s a great point, and one that I think is worth emphasizing to your management. Budgets are tight, and companies can be reluctant to invest in training, but surveys like this can help convince them the investment is worthwhile.

    However I wouldn’t just expect my company to train me. Many of you reading this don’t, since you are a member of SQLServerCentral and are trying to learn more about your field. I’d point out those investments, and include any monetary or time investments you make on your own. If you attend events, buy books, practice at home, showcase those to your management and task that they make some investment in you as well.

    Everything is negotiable, and if they are worried you might take the training and leave, ask for an agreement that you will remain with the company for xx months for $yy spent on training. It’s a good trade, and if you get a great offer to leave, pay back the company and call it an investment in your career.

    I think technology is still one of the best fields to be in for working conditions and compensation, if you enjoy the work. However you to succeed and enjoy a good career, you need to continue to work on your skills on a regular basis.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We normally publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy. We have no podcasts today due to technical difficulties.

  • Inconsistency

    Being inconsistent isn't necessarily bad.
    Being inconsistent isn’t necessarily bad.

    Jeff Bezos has done an amazing job building Amazon into an amazing technology company. I still remember making my first purchase when they were just a bookseller. Now I buy a lot from them, and the various other vendors that use their platforms. While they are well known as a retail powerhouse, they might just as easily be seen as an incredible software company that provides a wide variety of platforms and services from the cloud.

    I’ve also followed the rise fo 37 Signals, and Jason Fried, who I think has built a company the right way. In many ways the things I admire about that company are also things I admire about Red Gate Software. These are companies that not only run successful and profitable businesses, but they do so in a way that inspires people and gives them more than just a paycheck.

    Recently Jeff Bezos stopped by 37 Signals and gave some advice. He said that the people he had found in his life that were “right a lot” about various subjects were those that often changed their minds. That’s a strong, but thought-provoking statement to me. As I think about it, it’s how I tend to view the world. I have some strong, well thought-out (I think) opinions, but I’m open to the fact that I might be wrong. Not because I don’t understand the problem or situation, but because I might not have all the information. I am very open to the idea that I don’t know what I don’t know about many subjects, especially databases.

    This week, I want to know what you’ve changed your mind about in your career. It could be something in databases, or technology in general, but I’m wondering:

    What strong opinion did you hold that has been changed over time?

    Please avoid political or socials issues and stick to something in technology that’s you have altered your standing on. And if you haven’t changed your mind on anything, perhaps that’s something to think about as well.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.