Professional Development

You were just given permission to hire an underling, and today’s their first day reporting to you. What’s the first thing you warn them about? I asked on Twitter, and the replies were great: Don't be afraid to fail. Fail as much as you want, as long as you learn in the process and don't…

Where is the SQL Server Community Networking Online?

Last Updated July 13, 2020

You’ve stumbled upon this blog, and you’re having a pretty good time. Now you’re wondering, “Where else can I network with database folks, get to know them, and talk shop?” You’re not getting out due to the quarantines, so your local user group isn’t fulfilling your networking cravings. You wanna know what else is going…

How to Make Online Presentations Fun and Interactive with OBS Scenes

Last Updated October 29, 2020

Home Office, Streaming, Writing and Presenting

In my recent post about how I use OBS for training classes & webcasts, I mentioned that to keep things lively, you wanna have a variety of scenes that you can switch between to keep the viewer engaged. Imagine a TV show or sporting event that only used one camera angle and screen layout for…

I’m On the 6 Figure Developer Podcast

Last Updated May 18, 2020

The 6 Figure Developer podcast with John Callaway, Clayton Hunt, and Jon Ash covers not just technical topics, but career topics so you can learn to leverage that technical knowledge and build a better career for yourself. I’m on Episode 144 talking about career development. We talked about why I sucked so bad at development,…

How I Use OBS for Streaming and Training Classes

Last Updated October 29, 2020

I’ve written a lot about the hardware & gear I use for streaming, and now let’s talk about the software side. There are a few thousand words in here. Don’t think that you have to tackle all of this just to get started streaming, dear reader. I’ve been working on my streaming setup for months…

I’m on the TRY/CATCH Podcast

Last Updated May 16, 2020

While on a recent trip out to Farm Credit Services in Omaha, I sat down to talk with FCS’s Natalie Gerdes & Tim Goergen to record an episode of their podcast, TRY/CATCH. You can listen to the podcast here, or hear it on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify. I talk about how people say you…

Starter/Good/Great/Bananas Live Streaming Setups

Last Updated October 29, 2020

For the next year or two, we’re going to be learning and sharing online rather than in-person. I wanna look and sound as good as my budget (and my face) will allow, so in this post, I’m going to lay out a starter ($220), good ($1,500), and great ($3,000) online video/audio setups and show you…

What’s Your Favorite SQL Server Interview Question? Here’s Mine.

Last Updated November 26, 2020

Interviewing

“Out of the stuff on your resume, what are you the proudest of, the most excited about? When I’m interviewing a candidate for one of my clients, I’ll usually start with this question to help understand the resume. See, recruiters seem to actively encourage folks to keyword stuff their resume: to dump in everything and…

My Home Office Studio Hardware: Spring 2020 Edition

Last Updated October 29, 2020

When I last blogged about my home office setup in December, I’d just invested in a new massive beast of a desktop: a Mac Pro with a 16 cores, 96GB RAM, and a AMD Radeon Pro Vega II 32GB. Now it’s time to put that horsepower to work. In the past, I’ve used GoToWebinar for…

Recommended SQL Server Books, 2020 Edition

Last Updated February 17, 2020

Book Reviews

If you’re the kind of person who likes to read books, here are some that I think would expand your horizons. These links are Amazon affiliate links, so I make a few cents when you buy through ’em. It’s your way of tipping me for the book recommendations, so thank you! T-SQL Books: Level 1:…

The 2020 Data Professional Salary Survey Results Are In.

Last Updated January 5, 2020

Salary

We asked what you make, and 1,734 of you in 63 countries answered. Altogether, you made $170,753,936 this year. Damn, y’all are bringing home the bacon! Download the 2020, 2019, 2018, & 2017 results in Excel. A few things to know about it: The data is public domain. The license tab makes it clear that…

My Home Office Studio Hardware: Winter 2019 Edition

Last Updated October 29, 2020

I run a lot of online training classes, and some of you who do webcasts from home might be interested to see how all this works. I did pretty well this year, so I upgraded my home office setup to sneak some expenses in on my taxes. Here’s what I’m running at the moment: Desktop:…

Are You Underpaid? Let’s Find Out: The Data Professional Salary Survey is Open.

Last Updated January 5, 2020

Salary

It’s time for our annual salary survey to find out what data professionals make. You fill out the data, we open source the whole thing, and you can analyze the data to spot trends and do a better job of negotiating your own salary: I make my query bucks the hard way Take the Data…

What Should We Change About This Year’s Data Professional Salary Survey?

Last Updated December 2, 2019

Salary

Every year, we run a Data Professional Salary Survey here. Thousands of y’all have answered – here are the past results in Excel – and it helps everybody get a better idea of how overpaid they are. (Did I word that right?) Here are the questions I’m planning to ask this year: What’s your total…

DBA Training Plan 23: Congratulations! Now, It’s Your Turn.

Last Updated September 21, 2019

DBA Training Plan, Professional Development

I bet you think you suck at databases. You’re sitting there on your computer, reading all kinds of blogs, watching presentations online, and you’re thinking, “Everybody knows more about databases than I do.” We all feel that way. There’s even a name for it: Impostor Syndrome. I have it too. For example, about a decade…

DBA Training Plan 22: Where to Learn More

Last Updated September 15, 2019

DBA Training Plan, Professional Development

Whew. We’ve worked through a couple dozen posts together in this DBA Training Plan, and you’re still just getting warmed up. First, pick your specialty. Here’s some of the more popular specializations in the SQL Server business: Production administration – managing uptime, building new boxes, troubleshooting clusters, setting up storage, designing virtualization infrastructures Performance tuning…

What Are Your Coworkers Learning Right Now?

Last Updated September 2, 2019

Not a poll, no fixed list of answers, just totally open comments. What are the developers, sysadmins, and data professionals on your team learning these days? Any particular topics that they’re really excited about? Let me know in the comments. (I think this is the shortest post I’ve ever written, hahaha!)

Upgraded to a Nicer Green Screen and Microphone

Last Updated October 29, 2020

I’m constantly looking for ways to raise my game, so I made some investments this month to take my video class audio & video to the next level. I’m now doing green screen effects on the recordings. I picked up an Elgato retractable green screen that mounts to the wall so that I can pull…

Brent Ozar presenting at SQL Saturday Israel 2019

Tips for Better Presentations

Last Updated June 3, 2019