Tag: career

Building a career is hard work. It takes time and focus to move along a path that you choose for yourself. What I have seen across a few decades of work is that most people don’t bother to find a path, and are happy to wander from job to job, finding new positions or projects when they are forced to do so. As much as I advocate for others to continually learn, there’s nothing wrong with wandering randomly through a career, sticking with a job or employer as long as you can.

The one thought that I’d like to see everyone adopt is a conscious decision to do so. Make the choice to have the career you want, and the life you want, whatever that is for you.

Recently on Twitter, there has been a lot of career advice that I’ve seen posted. One very interesting item was that a developer shouldn’t compare themselves to anyone else. They should be proud of what they’ve done and work towards the goals and achievements that mean the most to them. Good advice, but often hard to follow.

Most of us only see a fraction of the world, and a limited view of potential opportunities for languages, projects, positions, and skills. We often do look at others’ accomplishments and then try to model ourselves in some way to be like others. Not completely but we may choose to learn a skill another has, or pass a test that someone else completed, or maybe go work for the company that a colleague has enjoyed. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Think about what others do and decide what aspects of that you’d like to adopt. As much as I’ve coached others to think for themselves, make their own decisions, and be proud of the things they accomplish, I also want them striving forward. That often requires a goal and an ideal, which we often find in others we admire. Compare yourself to others, but don’t judge yourself by their standards. Decide on your own if you’re living up to the measurements that make sense to you.

Steve Jones

Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

Most of us try our best to do the best job they can each day at work. We never try to make mistakes. We might be lazy at times, or avoid some work, but we don’t try to do anything incorrectly. We might shortcut something, hoping a partial completion or quick patch is enough to satisfy a requirement, but we don’t actively do things incorrectly.

At least I hope that’s the case for all of you. I assume there are some BOFH people out there, but they are few and far between.

That being said, we’re human. We will have accidents, we’ll do something without thinking, or we’ll click (or type) the wrong item. Sometimes these errors go unnoticed until we can correct them. Perhaps they go unnoticed for years, and we completely forget about them.

Other little “whoops” mistakes have widespread consequences. I’ve seen incorrect firewall rules deployed that took down entire swaths of a business. There are incorrect deployments by developers, putting out old, or even future, code that breaks things down. DBAs might change, or even truncate, the wrong data at times. That’s something I’ve certainly been guilty of in the past.

In your job, are there mistakes you make that are forgivable? I’d hope that most are, and you don’t worry about certain tasks affecting your employment status. I’m sure there are potential mistakes that might require termination, but I’d hope these are repeated mistakes and not one time events.

Let us know today what mistakes might be forgivable in your organization. These might not be something you’ve done, but perhaps something you’ve witnessed. How much mercy does your management have for the humans trying to manage their database systems?

Steve Jones

Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

Most of us don’t get any sort of training budget from our employer. In fact, some of our employers expect us to learn more and get certified on our own time and our own dime. Relatively few of us get to attend a conference that our employer pays for, which is a shame. I think conferences can be exciting and encouraging in helping you drive your career and knowledge forward.

This is one reason that Andy Warren and I started SQL Saturday. We wanted to bring the conference experience to many people whose employers might not pay for a trip. That has grown to over 100 events a year, all around the world, primarily thanks to tons of local efforts and the support of PASS.

For most of us, however, training involves some cost, often financial. Some people pay for a class or conference themselves, many pay for books, and some get their employer to provide funds. Asking an employer, however, is a chore, and this can be intimidating for many people.

Managers often are whimsical about approving training budgets, even for things like books. Either the employee really has to justify the cost (conference) or they may feel silly about asking for a small amount (a book). Managers also need to track and somehow justify their spending on training and balance this among employees. This creates friction and hassles for everyone.

Perhaps there’s a better way. For those in the US, you might be familiar with the Health Savings Accounts (HSA) for medical expenses. In these, an employee can put away their own money for use on whatever medical costs they may incur. There are tax advantages here, but perhaps that would be something that would work for training.

Imagine an HSA for training, where the employer would designate an amount that each employee could use for training. This would be per year, with carry over amounts. The total budget per year might also be based on job and seniority. There also wouldn’t be a need to seek approval, but rather, notify someone that you were using funds for some educational experience.

In any case, the employee would have a fund that they could use at their own discretion, and be both responsible and accountable for training. Maybe there are caps on accrual, or a limited list of places to spend the money, but this would remove some of the friction of keeping employees trained. We treat them like adults and expect them to make good decisions for their career. If there are issues, we handle them on a case by case basis.

I’m wondering if any of you have a training budget that is better structured. Perhaps some of you always get your requests approved, and perhaps some of you never ask. Let us know today what you think of this idea, and would this encourage more learning at your organization?

Steve Jones

Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

It’s been a little over a week since the 2019 PASS Summit and Ignite conferences ended. These are two of the largest events for data platform pros, and quite a few people either attended or watched some streaming from the events. I didn’t attend sessions at either one, and I have been trying to stream a few of the sessions as I find time.

John Morehouse, of DCAC, wrote a nice piece at the end of the 2019 PASS Summit as he was thinking about how to grow his career after the event. He included a few things that he wants to do, such as looking over notes, touching new contacts, and sharing his knowledge. His post is worth a read, and you might follow along and try some of John’s ideas.

I am a huge fan of notes, and really, paper notes. I’ve had a laptop for decades, I’ve had a screen I could write on for eight or so years, and I’ve found that nothing replicates the feeling of writing notes on paper. Perhaps it’s the slower pace, or the ease with which I can scratch out something (as opposed to the backspace, backspace, backspace method). I find that writing things down helps me remember. I don’t go back and review them too often, but I do at times. If you didn’t take notes at this event, plan for the future. If you did, glance through them before you start sharing information with others.

At a few places I worked, the boss actually scheduled a half day or so (or hour meetings across a few days) in order for conference attendees to share some things with others. Attendees might present something to others, or just talk about sessions they attended. I do like the USB sticks (or downloads) that PASS lets you buy. If you attended, they’re steeply discounted. If you didn’t, they’re still reasonable. This is the chance to capture the presentations and watch those that conflicted with your schedule. I know a few people will do lunch and learns, watching a session a day for weeks. Some user groups do this as well. It’s a great way to think about how you can improve something at work and show an ROI.

I think networking is the best reason to go to a conference and not just because you might want a new job. Certainly that can be one outcome, but the best part of networking for me has been the ability to reach out later to someone and ask a question. This isn’t just to the MVPs, speakers, and other big names. I’ve made contacts that used similar software or had environments configured like mine. Being able to ask them if they have solutions has helped me at different points in my career. Make sure you reach out to people on LinkedIn if you met them. If you met me, please feel free to connect.

A conference is a fun, busy, inspiring, tiring, and exciting event to attend. I’m very lucky I’ve attended many, and even if you’ve only gone to one, you ought to feel the same way.  Whether it’s a week at a large event or a day at a SQL Saturday, take some time and ensure you get something out of the week to carry you along for the next few months.

P.S. If you want to share some knowledge with a wider audience, I’d love an article on something you learned at a conference.

Steve Jones

Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.