Brent says: remember a couple months back when we announced that we were hiring a SQL Server Triage Specialist? We’re really proud to welcome Angie Walker to our funky little medical team. When you bring us in for a SQL Critical Care®, Angie might be the first person you work with to make sure the server’s in a safe place. Let’s hear how she got here….
learn
Angie says: WHERE TO START…?
As with many IT professionals I’ve met, I didn’t intend to find a career in IT, but took when an opportunity came along a few years back, I jumped at the chance. After a couple of years, I moved to a Junior DBA position and I’ve been learning SQL Server ever since. When I first started, I couldn’t tell you what a database was. I remember the first time I forgot the WHERE clause on an UPDATE statement, blindly deploying code into production, and asking why we take backups.
The first session of the first SQL Saturday I attended was so packed, I sat on the floor, and watched Kendra present “How to Find Bad Queries, Fast”. I didn’t know what she was talking about half of the time (What’s Perfmon? Activity Monitor is the graphs, right? She has pink hair!), but I hoped that if I took enough notes, I might be able to absorb some of what I heard. And I keep going to SQL Saturday and SQL user groups for that exact reason. I might not understand today, but one day it might click when I see the issue or feature firsthand.
The world of SQL Server is vast, murky, and sometimes scares me, but knowing where to look for help has been vital. I’ve been following Brent Ozar Unlimited for almost three years; signing up for the Accidental DBA 6 Month Training Plan, taking advantage of Kendra’s “DBA Job Interview Question and Answer Kit” for my first DBA interview, trying (and failing) to score killer Black Friday deals last year, and of course, following the blog every day.
So when I saw the open Triage Specialist position, I knew I HAD to apply. The morning I woke up, checked my email, and saw Kendra Little was emailing me, I was bouncing around as if I drank three cups of coffee. I mean, I read the blog and use the tools, and even though I know they might be real people, the possibility to work alongside some of the most well-known folks in the business seemed too good to be true! When I met with Kendra she was so nice and I thought it went really well, but when she said it would take about two weeks to hear back I had to stop myself from thinking that she was trying to let me down easy. I didn’t know just how badly I wanted the job until I got the invite for a second interview – It didn’t matter that I didn’t know everything about SQL Server, I have to learn it, and who better to learn from than Brent Ozar Unlimited?! So I prepared myself for the interview with Kendra, Jeremiah and Brent… And I must have done something right, because here I am!
I’m super excited for this new adventure as the newest member of the Brent Ozar Unlimited team!
23 Comments. Leave new
Congratulations!
Congrats!
Congratulations and have fun!
Congrats!
Congrats!
Congratulations!
Congrats. I just got my 1st production DBA job right before they announced this position and I almost regretted having the job. 🙂 But hopefully this job let’s me get good enough to work with all of you guys some day.
Enjoy the ride Angie 🙂
Thomas
Congrats Angie, and thanks for the plug for why we do SQL Saturday and user groups!!
I loved reading this because I can totally relate to your background! I started out in IT on the infrastructure side of things, but when I started learning about what the business analysts did, my ears perked up and I went to work learning everything I could about this SQL thing and databases and tables. I love organization, so to hear that there is a job/field centered around data organization and management, I was ecstatic!
I am aware I don’t have the advantage of MIS schooling my fellow colleagues have, but I do have my passion for learning and wanting to be the best at my advantage.
I wish you luck in your new jerb and it sounds simply like an amazing opportunity!
-Anna
CONGRATS!!! 😀
Congrats Angie. I’ve known the good folks at BOU for many years, and they are all great people. You’re going to love working with them.
Congratulations Angie! I love this story and can relate to it. When I started out as a DBA, I was my company’s first and only DBA. I needed some help ramping up and was so thankful when I found the brentozar.com website. Brent, Kendra & Jeremiah became like virtual senior DBAs to me. I’d religiously watch all of their webcasts and read their blog posts, do the demos they posted and attend their sessions at SQL events. I wasn’t familiar with what they were talking about at first but I was happy to get exposure to things I wasn’t yet using in my environment. I have lots of notes from the webcasts and in-person presentations that I still reference in my job today. You’re joining a great team and seeing another story like mine reinforces the impact of SQL community contributions! Sending a big thank you to all of you folks on the Brent Ozar team for your community contributions and for helping all of us up our technical game and be more successful.
Congratulations, Angie! You’ve joined an awesome Team!
Congratulations!
Conratulations!
Did you get an immediate bonus because your sketch could make you pass for Sandra Bullock? 🙂
Congrats Angie!
Congratulation Angie!
Congrats, I’m sure there were a whole bunch of applicants wanting to work with Brent and the team so you’ve achieved something I could only dream of – unless BOU start up a UK office! I think Brent is probably the best known “guru” there is thanks to sp_Blitz etc. Look forward to you posting some of your own thoughts and findings as time goes on
Congrats and wish lot of the success!
Congratulations!!
Congratulations Angie!!!
Congratulations!
Congrats, looking forward to following your posts as I am also junior DBA thirsty for knowledge! Good to have someone a little closer to level to learn from.