Voice of the DBA

Tag: career2

  • Goal Progress–November 2020

    This is my report, which continues on from the Oct report. It’s getting near the end of the year, and I wanted to track things a little tighter, and maybe inspire myself to push.

    Rating so far: C-

    Reading Goals

    Here were my goals for the year.

    • 3 technical books
    • 2 non-technical books – done

    Books I’ve tackled:

    I’ve made progress here. I have completed my two non-technical books, and actually exceeded this. My focus moved a bit into the more business side of things, and so I’m on pace to complete 4 of these books.

    The tech books haven’t been as successful, as with my project work, I’ve ended up not being as focused as I’d like on my career, and more focused on tactical things that I need to work on for my job. I think I’ve learned some things, but not what I wanted.

    My push for December is to finish Team of Teams, get through Power BI Desktop, and then try to tackle one new tech book from either the list of them I have, or one I bought last winter and didn’t read.

    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.

    Ugh. I’m feeling bad here. I had planned on doing more PowerBI work after the PASS Summit, thinking I’d get some things out of the pre-con. I did, but not practical things, so I need to put time into building up a PowerBI report that I can use.

    I’ve waffled between one for the team I coach, which has little data, but would be helpful to the athletes, and a personal one. I’ve downloaded some data about my life, but I haven’t organized it into a database. I keep getting started with exercise data, Spotify data, travel data, etc., but not finishing.

    I’ve also avoided working on a website, and actually having to maintain it in some way. Not a good excuse. I think the mobile app is dead for this year. I don’t really have enough time to dig in here, at least, that’s my thought.

    The website, however, should be easier. I wanted to use an example from a book, so I should make some time each week, as a personal project, and actually build this out. That’s likely doable by Dec 21.

  • 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.