Professional Development

You’re a data professional working with (or at least applying to work with) a company using the StackOverflow database (I’m using the March 2016 version today). Your users are complaining that this stored procedure is slow: usp_GetPostsByOwnerUserId They didn’t give you parameter 26837 – I’m just giving you that so you can see an execution plan.…

SQL Interview Question: “Talk me through this screenshot.”

Last Updated May 20, 2016

After writing about “For Technical Interviews, Don’t Ask Questions, Show Screenshots”, lots of folks asked what kinds of screenshots I’d show. Here’s this week’s example. I show each screenshot on a projector (or shared desktop) to the candidate and say: What’s this screen from? What does the screen mean? If it was a server you inherited from…

What I Look For When I’m Hiring Database Professionals

Last Updated April 7, 2016

Matan, Guy, and I recording the podcast On today’s episode of the SQL Server Radio podcast, I talk with Guy Glantser and Matan Yungman about what we look for when we’re hiring. In the broadest sense, don’t think junior or senior: I’m hiring someone for what they already know, or I’m hiring someone for their…

SQL Interview Question: “Talk me through this query.”

Last Updated April 24, 2016

Last month’s post “For Technical Interviews, Don’t Ask Questions, Show Screenshots” was a surprise hit, and lots of folks asked for more details about the types of screenshots I’d show. Over the next few weeks, I’ll share a few more. Normally I’d show this query as a screenshot, but for easier copy/pasting into comments, I’m…

For Technical Interviews, Don’t Ask Questions. Show Screenshots.

Last Updated February 14, 2017

When you’re hiring a DBA, sysadmin, or developer, you’re not paying them to answer Trivial Pursuit questions all day long. You’re hiring them to look at a screen, connect a few dots, and interpret what’s happening. So for a position, I build a PowerPoint deck with a bunch of screenshots from the actual environment they’ll be…

How to Get Your Very First Full Time DBA Job

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Professional Development, SQL Server

It’s about time. Step 1: get a job as a developer or a sysadmin. Step 2: stand near the database. Step 3: wait. Almost every DBA I know got their start this way. Sooner or later, something went wrong with the database, and management grabbed the nearest person and yelled, “You! You look smart and…

We Are Ready For Risk-Taking Presenters

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Doug Lane

#SQLPass, SQL Server, Writing and Presenting

June 2, 2011. I woke up around 5:00 AM, got dressed, left my cruise ship cabin and went downstairs to find a place to write about the dream I’d just had: A database murdered. Suspects isolated together on a ship. Technical sleuthing. I knew immediately this was a presentation I needed to give. It would be a…

I’m on the Away From the Keyboard Podcast

Last Updated February 13, 2017

Blogging, SQL Server

Away From the Keyboard Podcast Cecil Phillip (@cecilphillip) and Richie Rump (@jorriss) interviewed me for their podcast, Away From the Keyboard. In the half-hour discussion, we talked about: Why I’m a huge believer in giving away stuff for free How I got started with Topspeed Clarion, then moved to SQL Server When I started blogging,…

Consulting Lines: “Let’s put that in the parking lot.”

Last Updated February 12, 2017

There’s a fine art to running a productive meeting, keeping the discussion focused and scoping things tight to meet your scheduled finish time. Today’s consulting lines post is about keeping people happy while still finishing meetings on time. Let’s join a troubleshooting session where I’ve been brought in to help a client whose AlwaysOn Availability Groups are failing…

Consulting Lines: “Keep going. What else?”

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Some of my consulting lines are all about context. Let’s just jump right into a project kickoff meeting with an architect and a few developers: The Conversation Me: “So, what pains is this SQL Server having?” Phil I. Buster: “When I first started out here, we had SQL Server 2005. The app only had a…

How Do You Manage DBAs? Part 2: Training Budgets

Last Updated April 9, 2017

Professional Development, SQL Server

In part 1 of this series, I explained how to measure your DBAs. Today, let’s talk about how to make those measurements better. Your DBA wants to get better at what they do, but … they don’t know exactly what it is they do, or how to get the business to pay for it. Here’s how.…

Consulting Lines: “I have a hard stop at…”

Last Updated February 12, 2017

This has grown to become one of my favorite consulting lines. I don’t use it often, but used judiciously, it’s a lifesaver. I use it a few different ways: Using This Line at the Start of the Meeting If you know in advance that the organizer (or some of the attendees) tend to ramble on…

Consulting Lines: “Write this down, because I’m not going to write it.”

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Before I became a consultant, I was on the other side of the conference room table – we would bring in consultants, and I’d be amazed at all the cool lines they whipped out. Now that I’m the one giving advice, I like sharing some of my favorite consulting lines that you can use in…

Consulting Lines: “I’d be a bad consultant if I didn’t put that in writing.”

Last Updated February 12, 2017

I have to deliver a lot of bad news. It’s pretty much my full time job. Nobody calls us when things are going well. (Well, they tweet us, because that’s free.) Sometimes, that bad news is very dangerous – especially for the company as a whole, or its customers. In today’s consulting line, I’m working…

PASS Summit #FreeCon2015: What We’re Talking About

Last Updated February 13, 2017