Voice of the DBA

Tag: career2

  • The Connections Launch Event

    The SQLServerCentral track at SQL Server Connections

    The Spring SQL Server Connections conference will be one of the launch events for SQL Server 2012, the next version of the platform that we write about every day. This spring SQLServerCentral is sponsoring a track again, with Brad McGehee, Grant Fritchey, and myself speaking in one room. We’re all focusing on SQL Server 2012, trying to get ready to upgrade and use the new features.

    However we’re only a small part of the SQL Server track. SQLskills.com headlines the track, as they have for many years, with Kimberly L. Tripp, Paul Randal, and Jonathan Kehayias presenting some amazing information based on their years of experience (go to one of the SQLskills.com classes if you can). Paul and Kimberly have also invited a number of other great speakers, including Aaron Bertrand, Allen White, Brent Ozar, Glenn Berry, Mike Walsh, and more. These are the people that write many of books, blogs, and articles that you read to learn more about the SQL Server platform.

    The DevConnections conferences are a great place to not only learn about SQL Server, but also learn about all parts of the Microsoft technology stack. There are nine conferences in all taking place at the same time, covering Windows, Visual Studio, Sharepoint, Exchange, and more. There’s even a Cloud Connections, dealing with those issues that you’ll find when working with the Microsoft Azure products.

    It’s still winter in many parts of the US, so schedule your own “spring break” from work and come to Las Vegas this spring. The weather will be great, and you’ll have the chance to learn about all different type of Microsoft technologies and platforms in a fun environment. You can even take in an amazing show one of your nights in town and let your brain relax from all the tech talk during the day.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • Propose this to your boss

    If Nordstrom's can have an innovation lab, can't you?

    I’ve written a few times about the ways in which you could find interesting projects at work and potentially learn a few new skills while improving the ways your company uses technology. More and more companies are willing to allow side projects like the Google 20% time or the Atlassian FedEx days. My own company, Red Gate Software, implements this a few times a year as “Down Tools Week.”

    Many of you have replied that your companies are resistant to this, or your boss doesn’t think it’s a good idea. I have certainly had a few managers that felt that way, but I’ve also had success over time in changing their minds a bit. I’ve been able to get them to give me the chance to pilot ideas in a small way. Sometimes it’s taken years, but I’ve learned to play “long ball” and think about succeeding over time, not getting my way this week.

    One of the ways you can convince someone to give you a chance is to continue to show other examples of success from other companies. Nordstrom’s, not necessarily the place you’d expect to see IT innovation, has a video of how their lab enables them to build better applications. It might be worth saving this link, and even sending it to your boss with a proposal.

    If your boss is supportive, ask for a week to work on a project with another person or two and spec something out in your proposal. If your boss is skeptical, ask for a few half days across a month to work on something and build some basic prototype project. Even if it’s mocked up on paper, you can show the value of how an idea might work. If you get some support from your end users and customers, you might find yourself with a fun project to work on in 2012.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • The Employment Contract

    I ran across this piece on how we should pay people from Business Week. It’s a look at the issues of specifying the exact work that someone will do once you hire them. I suspect this is a problem in many industries, but it can be especially tricky in technology, where the job requirements can change as the technology rapidly changes.

    Most of the time I’ve taken a job in the US, it’s been an “at will” employment, with a verbal contract between me and the hiring manager or HR representative. Nothing was signed, and I essentially did whatever my manager wanted, regardless of my job title. That was fine with me. Currently I have a written contract, but the requirements for my position are a little vague and my duties aren’t explicitly spelled out.

    However I wonder how most of you feel. Does it make sense to more explicitly list the requirements for your job? As a DBA, developer or other professional, would you want any limits on what you were required to do?  This Friday, answer this poll question:

    Would you like to have your duties spelled out explicitly in a contract?

    I know we don’t typically sign contracts, but would you like that? What if the duties were modified every quarter, with an agreement by both you and the management of the company? What if you could just list the things you were not required to do?

    Let me know this week what you think.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • No Overtime

    overtime clock
    Are you working too much?

    It’s been a long time since I received overtime at any job. Most of my IT work has been with a salary, and the expectation that I would work as needed to accomplish my assignments. Early in my career I worked as a contract for an hourly rate, and while it didn’t necessarily lower the hours I worked, I did receive a little more pay on long weeks. From there I worked for a company that provided “comp time” when the hours exceeded 20 hours in a month. That seemed to help reduce hours more than anything.

    There’s a bill that’s in the US Congress that adds some new job classifications to the exemptions for overtime pay. In addition to the system administrative jobs, it now includes database and network professionals. I’m not sure how many people this affects as the overtime requirements disappear once you make more than $27.63 an hour. That equates to about an annual salary of 57,491, without the benefits. If you make less than this, you should be getting overtime.

    Does overtime pay matter to most IT workers? I don’t know. There are lots of workers who make more than US$60,000 a year, and are exempt, but I suspect there are many others who make less than this amount and work long hours without any extra compensation. This bill is aimed squarely at reducing pay for those people in the industry that make the least amount of money.

    I struggle with whether the benefits and abuses of a salary. On one hand salaries provide a level of security to workers, along with a guarantee of payment for work that cannot easily be measured in terms of output per unit of time. On the other hand, employers sometimes see a salary as a way to push workers to their limits, burn them out, and impose strict requirements on the work needed for deadlines, themselves often arbitrary.

    I like the idea of allowing businesses to pay salaries, and stabilize their cost structures, but I do think we ought to implement a few bumpers that prevent abuses. Limiting hours across a month or quarter and ensuring that employees can take their vacations would be limits that I’d like to see implemented. This bill doesn’t affect those and I’m not sure we’ll see any limits implemented, but I do think it’s up to each person to stand up to their employer and ensure they are not overworking themselves.

    Steve Jones