Sep 3, 2012
Have you ever looked back on a conversation where someone asked you “what do you do?” and felt disappointed with your reply? Same here. So how do you explain to someone, who is not familiar with your field, what it is exactly that you do? Just last week my girlfriend and I were out to dinner to(…)
Jun 10, 2012
Absolutely fantastic of course! You regular readers know that the Becoming a DBA area of the blog is one of the most visited and talked about, with the professional development posts often proving popular. All the comments, questions and emails you guys send tells me that there’s a lot of interest in the community about(…)
Apr 17, 2012
Last week the SQL community and in particular the blogosphere, was buzzing with interest noise following the Microsoft Learning site publishing details of significant changes to SQL Server Certifications. Here We Go Again You know the drill. It’s the usual dance we go through every 5 years or so, where the Microsoft marketing machine spins(…)
Mar 5, 2012
Most people in your organisation, never mind everyone else, have no real clue as to what it is you do. It’s not because you don’t actually do anything, at least I hope not, it’s because the domain of responsibility for a DBA is both vast and varied. Ask any two DBAs what it is they(…)
Feb 21, 2012
Writing a CV that rocks is not an art. It just requires some planning and an understanding of what you want your CV to achieve for you. Of course therein also lies the problem because of lot folks are not exactly sure what they want their CV to do for them. This is why you(…)
Feb 6, 2012
It’s late, really late and you’ve got a mountain of work to get through to meet the deadline. To add to it, you also have numerous other urgent items and they’re all high priority of course. You feel panicked because you cannot possibly get it all done, you know that you are going to fail.(…)
Feb 1, 2012
Knowing precisely how to start on your next adventure is tricky. With so many options and decisions in front of you, identifying what is the best way to move forward for you is vital. This post is part two of the series Your Road to Becoming a DBA, where I talk about how you can(…)
Jan 31, 2012
Knowing precisely how to start on your next adventure is tricky. With so many options and decisions in front of you, identifying what is the best way to move forward for you is vital. Last week I received an email from a reader who was looking for some advice on how to start their own(…)
Nov 28, 2011
Are you 100% satisfied with your current job? Of course not! When given serious consideration most people will agree that there are some things that they would like to be different or change in their current role. The Christmas holiday season is a popular time for self reflection. The gift of time away from the(…)
Apr 26, 2011
Ever have one of those days where no matter how hard you try you just can’t seem to make any progress with your work? Sure you have. We all have days and moments like that. Sometimes it can feel impossible to get any real work done, with every task in your schedule requiring feedback from(…)
Apr 19, 2011
There are many different paths you can travel on the journey to success. There is no precise route that everyone can or should follow. The environments we manage are different, our customers are different, we are each different. There are many different ways of performing our art. It’s one of the most enjoyable and rewarding(…)
Apr 1, 2011
Have you set the bar high enough to ensure your success? You’re reading Taking It To The Next Level, day 5 of 5 Days to Outstanding DBA Customer Service. What prompted this journey into exploring what is Outstanding Customer Service for the Data Professional? Good Question. You can find exactly why in day 1 here. This week(…)
Mar 29, 2011
This is the most important and essential first step for a DBA on the journey to providing outstanding customer service. Make sure you too are headed in the right direction. You’re reading Think Like a Customer, day 2 of 5 Days to Outstanding DBA Customer Service. What prompted this journey into exploring what is Outstanding(…)
Mar 8, 2011
What if I told you that you could become a more effective Database Administrator by doing nothing? That’s right, in this post I’m going to tell you why doing nothing could be best thing that you have done for your career and performance for some time. In my post The DBA Ultimate Fitness Workout Plan(…)
Jan 13, 2009
When attempting to define what makes a good Database Administrator, understandably the focus is often placed on the technical skills that are deemed to be required. There are plenty of great resources available on the net that can be used to research this aspect. For instance, Brent Ozar has some excellent material on his site.(…)
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