Tag: career2

I was sitting in a Women in Technology luncheon recently when one of the other attendees talked a bit about her career. She said it had been filled with long hours, late night calls, stress, and plenty of other negative events. Although it had been a good career for this lady, challenging, stimulating, and she was well compensated, her daughter wasn’t interested in pursing a career in this field. I’m not sure if that’s because of the demands she had faced in this business, but I was interested in a (rhetorical) question from one of the panelists.

“How do we get people to enter IT in the future?”

As much as I do want to encourage more diversity in technology workers, I also just want more people working in technology. We have a shortage of talented workers for many jobs. I think there are lots of opportunities, better than average pay, and a career that you can enjoy for your entire life. It’s a career that could easily be continued into your 70s and 80s if you chose to do so. I hope you don’t have to work that long if you don’t want to, but it’s nice to have the choice.

With that in mind, how do we continue to excite and interest people in technology? I’m not looking to convince anyone to enter this industry if they don’t want to, but I’d like to see more people experimenting with SQL Server, .NET, and other technologies as a career. I really just want more people to consider working in technology. If they choose not to, that’s fine, but at least give it a try.

I’m always surprised at how many people I’ve met that studied other subjects in school, and even worked in other industries before discovering that they’d rather work full time with computers. I’d like to see those people get into the computer business earlier in their lives if that’s a field they enjoy.

Of course, there’s a down side to having more workers in technology. Competition will increase, and those of you already working with computers will need to continue increasing your own skills if you want the best jobs.

Steve Jones

The Voice of the DBA Podcast

Listen to the MP3 Audio (3.0MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn. 

The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

This piece was originally published on Oct 5, 2009. It is being re-run as Steve is away on sabbatical.

There was a time that I wanted to be a the CIO of a company. It was a goal, and I tried to really learn more about a variety of things. I wanted to be a better DBA, but I also learned more about other technologies, like networking and security. I also really worked on learning more about business in general, and the specific industries I’ve worked in. Asking lots of questions, trying to be sure that I would be prepared if the chance came for me to move into that role.

I’ve mostly abandoned the goal of becoming a CIO, but I still read about the position, trying to better understand the management point of view for many issues. Recently I ran across an article on how CIOs can better support their CEOs and thought it had some good advice, and not just advice for current CIOs.

I think lots of the items mentioned are techniques that the average DBA could use to better support his or her boss as well. Things like putting yourself in the manager’s shoes, making an effort to get regular face time, think about things from a business standpoint and more are ways that you can stand out from the rest of the workers.

Becoming successful in your career means working on your part to ensure that others around you are successful as well. If you don’t want to move up the corporate ladder, if your manager is happy with you and sees you as an asset, that’s good for you career. You are less likely to get laid off, and more likely to get little benefits, like training opportunities, better assignments, maybe even first choice of vacation times.

If you want to move up into management, other managers will also take note of someone that gets things done. They will be aware of you supporting your boss, and helping him or her out. That will win you support in other areas as you look to move your career along.

There are definitely some managers that take credit for your work. In that case it might be time to seek another job. For most of us, however, supporting the boss is a good way to grow our careers.

Steve Jones

This piece was originally published in Database Weekly on Oct 12, 2009. It is being re-run as Steve is away on sabbatical.

I’ve heard that it takes 2-3 weeks to develop a habit. Do something every day for that length of time and it will start to be a routine for you. I’m not sure it happens that quickly, but I know that after a couple of months, running became a habit for me, and became more enjoyable. It’s something that I now look forward to daily.

When something becomes a habit, or becomes part of our routine, we develop some skill with that. In our jobs, building those skills usually makes us more efficient. When you know the schema of your database or you can remember the syntax for a SQL command, you don’t have to look things up in Books Online, and you can code quicker. I know I’ve strived to develop habits over the years, ingraining certain tendencies that would allow me to get more work done in shorter periods of time, at a higher level of quality.

However technology changes. And sometimes sticking with those habits, those tried and true methods of solving problems, isn’t the best way to build your software. As new features come about, or products behave differently in new versions, sticking with the same methods for solving problems might not be the best way to continue to do well at your job.

I noticed a new blog series this week from Aaron Bertrand and Adam Machanic that looked at kicking some bad habits in the SQL Server world. There are some good posts in there, and I remember having some of these habits, and having to unlearn them and work on new habits. Moving from the old style joins to ANSI ones was a hard habit for me to break, but now I can’t go back. I even have trouble reading forum posts where someone has stuck to this style of join. Not all of these habits are bad in terms of performance, but I think it’s a good series on habits you can break that will make you a better coder on a team. Some of the items mentioned make it harder to share code with other people if you are still using them.

While it’s good to break habits, I don’t think that it’s worth jumping in and experimenting with every new change that comes along. It’s good to have some habits and familiar techniques lying around that make you efficient. Use them as long as they work. But pay attention, educate yourself, and read about changes. Talk to friends and learn what new things they’re trying. If something becomes a standard and makes sense, add it to your toolbox, and pull it out as often as you can.

That way you’ll build a new habit.