This week I discuss a question that I’ve gotten in many forms over the years - a lot of the scenarios are so specific that it’s hard to keep them anonymous, but they can be generalized as a bigger problem: how do I deal with being responsible for things that I can’t fully control?
Our question this week comes from a database administrator who’s excited to be on a healthy career path, building their work experience, getting certified, and working with a more experienced mentor.
But they’re worried: will lacking a college degree block their career growth down the line?
Our question this week comes from an IT pro who would like to be self-employed. In this episode, I talk about three big things you need to think about to start working for yourself, and two possible paths to get there.
A few folks have asked: will auto-tuning and adaptive query plans mean the end of performance tuning jobs for SQL Server? In this week’s episode, I talk about why I’m excited about those features rather than afraid of them.
Digging into this problem, I share the #1 mindset problem I had as a DBA, why this mindset is so common among database professionals, and a daily habit that can change your approach to new technology.
As a SQL Server DBA, do you need to be a master of PowerShell scripts?
In this 9 minute episode, I talk about how much you need to know about PowerShell, and examples of ways I personally use (and struggle with) PowerShell.
I’ve been working with SQL Server databases, Windows administration, and software development an awfully long time. Once you have a lot of experience with something, it’s easy to forget what’s not obvious to newbies. But some things you have to learn the hard way.
I got my first “real” job working with databases in New York City in the early 2000’s. The woman who hired me was incredibly smart, and a pleasure to work for. She understood how mainframes processed data, the need and challenge to create web interfaces and relational databases that would work well with mainframes, and she could solve problems like crazy.
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