My gauge of an amazing book is simple: if I've got a question, and I reach for the book BEFORE I search the web, then it's an amazing book. Several times in the last two weeks, I reached for this book first.
Wondering whether or not you should get certified on something? Experience is cake, certifications are the icing. It's hard to sell icing without cake. Yes, there are some people who like to eat icing by itself, but frankly, those people are freaks. They're not healthy. Something is wrong with them. If you take an easy-to-get…
Production database administrators have to know at least a little about a lot of things:
How to install or upgrade SQL Servers
How to build clusters
How to plan for disaster recovery and high availability
How to do performance tuning
How to secure and protect databases
K. Brian Kelley wrote a counterpoint to my recommendation that DBAs should specialize and focus their training. I respect Mr. Kelley a lot: he's been in the United States Armed Forces. I don't want to run into him in a dark alley. He's a nice guy, and he's got a lot of integrity, but that means he's just going to give me a ten second running head start before he kicks my geeky rear. I've seen Burn Notice. I know how this stuff works.
Looking for someone with more than a couple years of experience? Here's how to find out if they're bluffing. Includes questions like, "I'm a developer - explain why I need a unique key on my table." Of course, I don't include the answers - that would make it too easy for people to read this blog and fake it!
Enough with the technical details - let's talk manners.
Give People Credit and Links
If you hear about something from somebody else, credit 'em. The internet is huge, SQL Server is huge, and we all get help to find the stuff we need to do our jobs every day. We find stuff through other people, and it helps to credit those people.
In my series this week on how to get started blogging, I've touched on the business of blogging for yourself, why you should use Wordpress and how to configure it, and the best WordPress plugins. Today I'm going to focus on look and feel. WordPress uses a "theme" system to bundle images, CSS files and…
So you've been reading blogs for a while, and you want to know how to start a blog. It's really easy, it pays off long term in your career, and it's a great way to meet awesome people. I'm going to tell you all the things I wish somebody would have told me way back when I got started blogging in 2002.
If my blog entry yesterday about my job as a SQL Server Expert at Quest Software sounds cool, then listen up: I'll let you in on how to get a job like this.
Be Really Passionate About Your Field
I have the coolest job in the world - for me. My job would be absolute torture for some people, but I love it, and I think that's the key.
Stephen Wynkoop blogged about social networking as a part of the hiring process. I'll sum it up in a line: like it or not, you are being Googled when you submit your resume. Get over it.
Would you buy a car without searching for an online review? Sure, some people do - otherwise the dismal Chrysler Sebring would never sell a copy. If you haven't read Jeremy Clarkson's review of the Chrysler Sebring, go do it, because it'll brighten your day with gems like this:
Here's my favorite SQL Server books for 2016-2014:
T-SQL Fundamentals - (updated for SQL 2016) - don't be fooled by this "fundamentals" title, because everybody who writes T-SQL queries needs this book. It's the manual we should have been given when we started, and everyone's going to learn something about concurrency, performance, and updates here.
OdinJobs.com interviewed eight different DBAs from completely different backgrounds and careers. The one thing we've got in common is that we blog, but outside of that, we've got wildly different points of view about the career and what we like about SQL Server.
I shall now copy/paste Jason Massie's hard work at listing each person's blog URL and feed, because I have no shame:
I got a question from Ron G asking how to go about changing positions from help desk to DBA. Here's my thoughts: Build on what you already know. If you're used to working on IBM AIX systems, for example, you'll want to utilize some of that skillset by working with databases that run on AIX. …
When interviewing for a database administrator position, ask the manager for a list of database servers, the applications that rely on them, and who to contact when the server goes down.
(The manager may express concern about the secure nature of the list, and that's fair - I would say the same thing. If they don't want to hand over the list, then just ask them to put their hands on it and answer the rest of the questions for you.)
A good database administrator projects confidence - without being a jerk.
This positive yet firm attitude helps the DBA accomplish their job in tough situations:
When hiring a production DBA, I start by asking them, "In terms of file size, what's the largest database you've worked with?" In a perfect world, we'd only hire very experienced candidates, people who've worked with larger databases than we're dealing with. In reality, though, we can't always afford those candidates - if they're even…
Last week I wrote a series of postings for employers, and this week I'll touch base on things candidates should know. Candidates: you are a product, and your web site is your brochure. Managers: read the brochure just as you would a new product. These days, we buy everything online. We read the product's web…
When hiring a new IT worker, take a few minutes to give them a tour of the group's work environment. You don't have to go so far as to point out, "Here's the cube where you'd be sitting," but try to give them a general idea of what the typical work area looks like. At…
