Tag: career

I  have no idea what the first software I saw working on a computer system was. I’m sure it was some  basic demo program on a Vic-20, which I convinced my mother to buy for us. I remember learning to program on this machine for a year or so before saving up enough money to get an Apple II system. I purchased a few games, but most of the software that ran on my computer was written by me. Programs to solve chemistry and physics labs, early attempts at making our own Dungeons and Dragons programs and even a baseball statistics program to “replay” games from the past.

The first real software I saw in a business setting was a construction estimation program that combined a spreadsheet with some basic CRUD application for managing projects. A neighbor had a business and hired me one summer to help him get it running in his office and train his staff to use it. I’m not sure how well it worked, but I remember being amazed at how much effort and paper it reduced for his company.

Since that time computers have evolved and software has grown tremendously to incorporate many more graphical elements than I imagined as a kid. However those early programs still stick in my mind and I’m sure have influenced the way I view the world today. Dave Winer wrote about early software and how it’s influenced the applications we have today. I do think there are a lot of influential programs, and the wide variety of them, and the different ways people reacted to them, resulted in what we have today. This Friday, I wanted to ask you this:

What software first inspired you to work with computers.

What programs changed your career, or perhaps motivated you to work more closely with the data and less with the programs. Is there any software you really enjoy working with? Do you wish you could build something similar? Let us know today.

Steve Jones

The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy. Today there are no podcasts due to various issues, but the podcasts will return on Monday.

Not in the way you think, but in the hookup process. When I shovel enough horse presents to fill up the device, I get to the point where I need to connect it to one of our farm vehicles and go a-spreadin’.

My wife complained at one point that I was unhooking the spreader and resting the tongue on the ground. When it got full she had trouble lifting it up and getting it on the hitch. I understood that and since I didn’t want to be the permanent manure-speader-hooker-upper, we found a block to rest it on so that the hookup was easier. However you still want to jockey the ATV or tractor close enough that you can easily get one to meet the other and minimize the lifting.

As I was performing this process one morning, it got me thinking about work and some of the conflicts I’ve seen with other people. To be fair, I’ve had a few conflicts at one of my companies and was struggling to budge from my position. I try to work with people, but I’ll admit I can be a bit stubborn and pig-headed at times, especially when I think I’m right.

But I think you must bring things together to be effective. Even the most adamant leaders, while they mostly get their way, they have to find a way to get the other side to bridge the gaps between them. Unless people can find a way to bridge those gaps, I really think that any enterprise is doomed to much less success than they might otherwise have. It doesn’t matter if you’re the CEO of a billion dollar company or a development team of 2, you need to find ways to work together.

That means compromise, and that means that you have to make an effort to find some common ground, to really examine your position and see if there is a way you can make changes that are acceptable to the other side.

I see my kids sometimes unable to do this, neither side willing to budge or consider any position other than their own. I’m amazed at how often this also occurs in business as well. There is always a way to work together and modify our position or argument. Often it comes down to just communicating with the other side. You might be amazed at how often you find out that that thing each of you cares about the most is not only different for each of you, but it’s something the other side doesn’t even worry about.

The next time you find yourself locked in a battle at work, think about me out there jockeying the manure spreader. Even if you can’t find a way to work together, you’ll probably end up smiling.

Steve Jones

If you want to see the process, check out the video podcast.

The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

The podcast feeds are now available at sqlservercentral.mevio.com to get better bandwidth and maybe a little more exposure :). Comments are definitely appreciated and wanted, and you can get feeds from there.

Overall RSS Feed: or now on iTunes!

• Windows Media Podcast – 28MB WMV
• iPod Video Podcast – 26.4MB MP4
• MP3 Audio Podcast – 5.3MB

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

The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

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

• Watch the Windows Media Podcast – 24.1MB WMV 
• Watch the iPod Video Podcast – 18.7MB MP4 
• Listen to the MP3 Audio Podcast – 3.8MB MP3 

What’s your job? Most of you will answer “DBA”, or “developer”, or “manager”, or something that corresponds to your title. That’s partially true, but for the most part if you are in Information Technology, I think your job is to solve problems. You should ensure that your systems, or your code, or whatever you work on, is running smoothly for the people that use them.

That isn’t always possible. There will be times that things break, that bugs crop up or systems fail. When that happens, people don’t want to hear about the inherent problems, or even what went wrong. They might ask, and they might be curious, but really what they want to know is when will the system be fixed and what will it cost.

I’ve never had a manager that was really interested in the problems that caused a failure when systems were down. I’ve rarely had managers interested in potential problems I’ve noticed in our organization. Managers might be curious about the issues, but they don’t want you to bring them problems. They want you to bring them solutions when you see a problem, multiple choices to fix things, and a recommendation for the option you feel is best. They want a solution that works well, doesn’t cost a lot, and can be implemented quickly.

Competition for jobs gets more intense all the time and the employees that look for problems and provide solutions without being asked will be the most valuable. They will stand out from their peers and are more likely to not only keep their jobs during down times, but will get asked to solve the interesting and challenging problems.

Steve Jones

The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

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

• Watch the Windows Media Podcast – 13.0MB WMV 
• Watch the iPod Video Podcast – 16.0MB MP4 
• Listen to the MP3 Audio Podcast – 3.2MB MP3