Voice of the DBA

Tag: career

  • Goal Progress– October 2020

    This is my report, which continues on from the Aug report. After that report, I made an effort to work a little harder. This is where I am.

    Reading Goals

    Here were my goals for the year.

    • 3 technical books
    • 2 non-technical books

    Books I’ve tackled:

    I made an effort during some lunches and breaks to work on Making Work Visible and finished it. The middle of the book was hard, but the end got me thinking again. I’ll write a review soon.

    No Power BI or White Fragility. I’ve been a little unfocused and struggling to cope for a couple months and trying to let my brain relax when I can.

    I added the last book after hearing the author talk about poker and how it relates to life and decision making. So far, it’s a mix of poker, fear, and the challenges of imperfect information.

    Project Goals

    Here were my project goals, working with software

    • A Power BI report that updates from a database
    • A mobile app reading data from somewhere
    • A website that showcases changes and data from a database.

    I started compiling some data, grabbing some stats from my life. I’m loading that into a db , as a part of life and some content work, so I’ll write about that. Once I get that loaded, I’m thinking to use that db as a way to kick start some of these items.

    Work is not slowing this fall,but I did take a bit of time and start to build a PowerBI report that has some data in a database. Early days here, and I really think this is about 10% done, but it’s moving.

    Nothing on the mobile app, nothing on the website for now.

  • Career Goals and Inspiration

    Many of us start working in technology because we enjoy programming or software or data or some other aspect of computing. We usually have some excitement that gets us motivated to start learning or apply for a job. Over time, we may move our area of focus, pick up new platforms, change jobs, and more. I’d like to think that most people actively make choices, rather than fall into the next situation, but I see the latter more often than the former. People take jobs quickly, when offered, even if the opportunity isn’t one for they were aiming.

    This certainly isn’t all bad, as there are times when we get opportunities we weren’t expecting. We may not realize what possibilities are available. However, I do regularly see people not thinking about the next step in their career until they need a job or they hate the one they are in. With that in mind, asking you to think about where you might want to go or what to achieve, I have a question for you.

    What things have  you seen others do and accomplish in their careers that you want to do as well?

    If you look at people you read about in the media, or see speak at an event, or hear about from friends, are there things that impress you? Are there jobs, roles, projects, or something else you’d like to accomplish?

    I think there are some neat goals that Brent has written about in his Epic Life Quest. These are bucket list items, and it’s a mix of business, career, and personal goals. I’ve had a similar bucket list, but I let it go and only started to rebuild it this year, along with my partner as we think about our future together.

    I will say that one of my big goals was speaking at the Ignite (formerly TechEd) conference. That was one of the biggest events in my industry, and I wanted to get there. I did get accepted, but a surgery required me to cancel, which was disappointing. Still, it’s a high point of my career.

    I still have a few private goals that I am aiming for in my career, but we’ll see if I get them. If you don’t have any, perhaps this weekend is a good time to stop and think of a few. You don’t need to set them all, or even commit to them, but just start actively managing your career and make a few goals.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • T-SQL Tuesday #131–An Analogy

    tsqltuesdayThis month the T-SQL Tuesday invitation is from Rob Volk, the last of the crew that I pushed to host last year at a SQL Saturday. I managed to get four people to agree to host, and all did so. Rob is the fourth this year, and I’m grateful for him and the others for doing this.

    In any case, this month’s invitation asks us to explain what we do. The title is data analogies, which makes sense as most of us participating work with data and so we likely all get asked what we do and we talk about databases. I’ve often said I worked with computers, then I work with databases if someone asks more. Few people want more depth.

    However, while I do work with data, that’s not really the main part of my job. It’s more an adjunct responsibility that I enjoy.

    A Newspaper

    When I started SQLServerCentral with my partners and worked for myself, I had no shortage of people asking me what I did. At Boy Scouts, Volleyball practices, scholarship committees, and more, I was regularly asked what I did for a living. I tried a number of ways to explain the site, but eventually settled on this.

    “I run a newspaper.”

    I really do. I have a daily publishing newsletter that contains information for subscribers. Ads, sometimes funnies or puzzles, and articles they want to read. I have a daily deadline of getting things ready, but fortunately, I don’t have a lot that is time sensitive. It’s hard enough to keep up with a schedule without worrying about article A publishing tomorrow and article B needing to go out the next day.

  • How Important is a Conference?

    The PASS Virtual Summit is coming up next month, and Andy has a few thoughts on how to get your employer to send you to the virtual conference. As someone that has been through this many times, Andy has good advice, and his thoughts are the types of things I’ve done in the past at various jobs I’ve had. Having a good reason why was important before I started speaking.

    Once I started speaking, I often made a deal with my boss that I’d cover some parts of the event and they’d cover others. We both made a shared investment in my career, which made sense to me. I often used Andy’s line, which is what I was thinking about today.

    This is important to me.

    That’s a good phrase to use. Usually I do a good amount of self learning, I ask lots of questions, scan message boards, and I teach myself various things. However, a conference is a chance to help me think. I get to consider new technologies, I get to talk with others about how they solve problems, or more often, what problems new technologies can cause me. I get the chance to grow in a wider way than I can in the office.

    That’s important to me, and it’s been valuable to my employers. I think that’s the case for some conference attendees, but I do think that some drive and desire are important if you get more out of a conference than a couple days off. Let your boss know you have that drive, and show it off. Remind them of the things you do to invest in yourself.

    Can you put into words why a conference is important to you? Why it’s valuable for you personally, what you get, and does the chance to go to an event make you more likely to value your current position? If so, then maybe ask to go. There are some valuable packages to help you learn. If not, that’s fine, but maybe ask yourself why not. What don’t you get out of the Summit, or any other conference.

    Maybe the main thing to think about today is what is important to you when it comes to benefits and requests of your employer?

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.