Voice of the DBA

Tag: career

  • Learning From Breakage

    I’ve had the fortunate, or maybe unfortunate, experience of being thrown into a few jobs with no training. At a couple of my bartending jobs, I had to start working without any training, calling over someone to help run the ordering machine while I made and served drinks. I managed to slowly learn how things worked throughout that first shift, so I was ready to work on my own the second night. I had a similar experience at a tech job, starting as the lead DBA/IT Manager in a crisis, having to try and solve problems after ask others how things were supposed to work. I ended up fixing a bit of code, adjusting networking, and directing others on my first day.

    When we have a crisis, we often learn a lot from the situation. I’ve been through crashed upgrades, virus breakouts, hardware failures, and more in my career. While each was stressful and often not enjoyable, I learned a lot each time and came through the incident a more capable developer/DBA/whatever. When we work through a tough time, we are often better equipped for the next time something goes wrong.

    I ran across a great piece that says you never really know a system unless you’ve broken one. This is Tim O’Brien, a software architect who has learned a lot about databases from failure. In fact, I love his interview question for data professionals: “tell me about the worst database schema you ever created. What did it teach you to avoid?” I’ve certainly learned a few things over time from my schema designs, but those are stories for another piece.

    The piece draws parallels to today’s use of GenAI technology and vibe coders who seem to have success that they highlight in posts without discussing the problems. I do believe AI technology is going to make a lot of things easier (and faster) to build and then fix when they break. And they are going to break, partially because AI tech might not do a great job, and partially because we might not direct it well enough. Clear communication is key when working with AI.

    I’ve started to build some skills with AI, but as I try to tackle more complex tasks or scale up my work, I realize that I often don’t know enough about either the problem or AI technology, and I’m going to make mistakes. I’m going to break things and then have to fix them, or more likely, learn how to get the AI to reduce the number of broken things in some way before I have to take over.

    And learning to take over might be the number one skill with AI tech, but that’s something that you will only learn from the AI not working well for you in a variety of situations.

    Steve Jones

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

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  • Where Your Value Separates You from Others

    I ran across a post that discusses what makes you a senior engineer (via Brent Ozar). The main point of the post is that there is a core skill that separates senior engineers from others, which is reducing ambiguity. When a senior engineer gets an ill-defined (or ill-communicated) request, they can deliver a solid, or even great, result.

    When someone says “performance is poor,” what do you do with that? Can you build a plan to identify the issues and solve them? Or do you expect the customer to explain what is slow and why it’s slow? Do you ask what metrics they have showing things are slow? A senior engineer can ask questions to find the problem and then determine how to move forward.

    The post also discusses the way many companies hire senior people, often basing decisions on years of experience and answering specific questions in an interview or on a test. It’s hard to interview and test a person who is given a vague requirement and develops a solution. Most interviewers don’t want to have to wprl that hard and compare what might be very disparate answers to ambiguous questions. How can you judge two people who give very disparate answers to questions with no clear answer?

    It’s hard, and I know this because when I’ve run interviews that lightly describe a situation and let the candidate lead me to the next question, so that I can see how they work and think. It’s very hard to judge the end result and rate the candidate as effective. Often, I find myself deciding if I like the person more and if they fit in our company. That’s if I think they can probe to find information and make decisions when that information is incomplete. If they can’t probe and find a way to solve the problem without direction, that’s an issue.

    And that really is the senior skill. In all fields, not just engineers or DBAs. Managers, customer service, analysts, and more. Can someone handle an unstable atmosphere and clarify, identify, simplify, and present a way forward? If they can, then they are likely someone to consider for a senior role. They still need expertise in their area, but can they get things done when they aren’t being directed?

    Are they self-starters?

    That might be the main thing I consider for senior people. Can they drive themselves and get things done, things we need done, but without a lot of direction and hand-holding? If a senior person struggles to move forward without more direction or supervision, then maybe they aren’t really a senior-level employee.

    Steve Jones

     

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

    Note, podcasts are only available for a limited time online.

  • The North Star for the Year

    It’s the beginning of the year, and some of you likely have today off. But plenty of you are at work, moving slowly through this Friday at the start of the year—handling busywork, catching up on maintenance you’ve let slide, or preparing for the tasks you know will start coming Monday.

    At Redgate, most engineering teams work toward a North Star goal: a high-level direction that guides your various tasks. Perhaps it’s growing a customer base or achieving an overarching product specification. For example (this is completely made up), one North Star might be achieving feature parity across all platforms for SQL Compare.

    Many people set New Year’s Resolutions to adjust their behavior for the year ahead. Many of us also need to set work goals—often SMART goals—that support company direction or personal ambitions. I’m setting mine for Q1 right now, though we’re still negotiating the exact items and measures. Some organizations require these in December, others allow January. Some require them multiple times throughout the year.

    As we kick off the new year, take a few minutes to think about where you’d like to be at this time next year. What would you like to accomplish? How would you like your career to change before 2027 begins? Whether you formally set goals in your organization, have them assigned to you, or pursue personal aims, the first Friday of the year is likely slower than most—making it perfect for reflection.

    Think about your career, your ambitions, and your future direction. Let your dreams and desires guide you.

    Set that North Star today and keep it in mind as you move through 2026. It might help guide you toward a better career.

    Steve Jones

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

    Note, podcasts are only available for a limited time online.

  • Finding Motivation

    I ran across a tweet (are they still tweets?) on X/Twitter that was titled: how to ruin yourself. It had these items, which seem to be coming from a young person. Either a student or in their first job.

    1. Stay on your phone all day.
    2. Feel sad for no clear reason.
    3. Stop eating well and ignore your studies.
    4. Sleep super late and wake up in the afternoon.
    5. Let sadness take over everything.
    6. Always look at others’ lives and feel yours isn’t enough.
    7. Keep blaming yourself for the past but never try to let it go.
    8. Compare your progress with people who started years before you.
    9. Get stuck imagining outcomes instead of creating them.
    10. Keep waiting for motivation instead of building discipline.

    What was interesting to me is I saw people doing similar things when I was younger. Either adults with careers or fellow students. I’d change “sad” to “anger”, which I saw a lot in the 80s. Replace the phone with TV, as I saw lots of people start to invest a lot of time in TV with the growth of cable and 24-hour channels in the early 80s. Eating well was less of a thing, but drinking more was a thing. However, many people stagnated, or maybe ruined, themselves in similar ways.

    What things motivate you? What gets you to become better at, well, anything you want. From your career to a new career to a better parent or coach or friend? What gets you away from short-term enjoyment (or wallowing) into action?

    I write about working on your career on a regular basis, but I’ll summarize my advice for making a better you:

    1. Be curious about the world
    2. Dream of something better
    3. Make a plan to realize a dream
    4. Give up some leisure time
    5. Make adult decisions
    6. Be Kind to Yourself

    I’ll try to expand on each of these on my blog over time. The list are things I try to do to make changes in my life. Whether at Redgate, while coaching, or even improving a hobby skill. I have to invest a bit of myself to get something back.

    Though the journey is by far the most satisfying part.

    Steve Jones

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

    Note, podcasts are only available for a limited time online.