This month’s T-SQL Tuesday blog party is hosted by Deborah Melkin – Data Platform MVP, WIT co-lead and WITspiration founder.
Deb’s invitation is to blog about mentoring and sponsorship.
What does mentoring and sponsorship mean to you? What value do you see in mentoring and sponsoring?
I’ve had many mentors through my tech journey. To me, mentors are people who care about helping you get to where you want to be and offering constructive guidance in that regard. Some people have one person like that whom they look up to. I’ve usually had several at a time. Typically, I talk to someone for tech direction, someone for personal direction, and a woman I look up to for WIT-related matters. I’ve had mentors at work too – my boss is one, currently. He is someone whose thoughts and advice are of value to me and I seek that out as often as possible.
The value I see in being a mentor – is that learning from similar other experiences can be the same as learning from my own experiences, without the pain or hassle.
I did not know what sponsoring meant until a woman in tech I looked up to explained it to me. I have not had many sponsors. I have tried to be one where I can. It has been easier for me to be one in community – advocate for more women, or more minorities, for example. At jobs, it is a lot harder because it means being a person of influence yourself and that’s not an easy spot to get into.
I have been a mentor to many in community – mostly women, some men too. I like to work with what they want to do and can do. If they need specific coaching like on speaking skills and such, I refer them to more popular speakers but I do help with other aspects of their lives and careers.It has been a rewarding experience.
I attended the PASS Data Community Summit held in Seattle in person this year after a long gap of 4 years and after RedGate software took over running the summit.
The place I work at had stopped paying for in-person training – making it an expensive decision to attend if I wanted to. I had not submitted to speak or planned on attending until about August when my boss found a backlog of unused vacation I had and needed to use before the year ended. I had plenty of vacation, was also able to secure airline tickets based on my points, got affordable Airbnb accommodation close to the convention center, and booked a trip to India after the summit. In short, it was meant to happen, and it did.
Some specific observations are as below.
1. The new convention center was an amazing location. The distance to classrooms was optimal and not a hike like at the older place. It was a modern building with several areas to sit around, and network, and huge glass panes let in sunlight. It made for a great experience.
2 RedGate did an amazing job with organizing. Everything was very smooth, starting with registration. There were many opportunities to network, even if one was not a party or late-night person. Coffee and tea were set up all day until 5 p.m. Friday. 3 The ‘Experts’ clinic, which replaced MSFT’s SQL clinic, was staffed by MVPs/consultants and seemed a huge success. People lined up all day and seemed to get the answers they needed. 4 There were many case study presentations—moves to AWS/Azure seemed to make for several. 5. I was invited to one of several closed-door discussions on tech careers, managing data in the cloud, and other topics. Several people expressed frustrations about hasty moves to the cloud and how much they cost their company. Some felt these costs were passed down as pay cuts and low salaries. I was also selected to be interviewed by Louis Davidson, one of my #sqlheroes and among the senior community members I look up to. It was a great conversation. 6 The ‘community zone’ was set up away from dining rooms and classrooms, making it a place specifically for people to hang out and engage in conversation. It worked amazingly well. There were informal sessions here, too—I got to do one on mentoring and community with my good friend Chris Yates and greatly enjoyed it. There were sessions on hobbies and various fun activities here, too.
7 Very few MSFT employees were present on site. Several took time to drive in to meet friends on their own. I was very touched personally that they took time for me. I hope the formal presence of MSFT will improve at future summits; if not, the conference will take on a very different shape. For the first time in history, the new SQL server version was not announced at the Summit. 8 RedGate put up a Postgres conference in the same venue for half the cost. Both conferences shared the vendor area. It was a good move and made it possible for me to meet some amazing people – particularly Adam Machanic, one of my sqlheroes, and Karen Schuler, my good friend and long time community volunteer from Louisville.
9 I had a list of newer folks in the community whom I wanted to meet. I ended up meeting many more. It was a positive experience, and I felt good about the future of the community—although it would be very different from the one I was used to.
Observations not directly related to summit
1. Many people I talked to felt confused and worried about the job market. SQL Server, as a hardcore technical skill, seemed less in demand, although it is very much around. The ‘other’ skills needed were spread over a wide spectrum, ranging from NoSQL Platforms to AI technologies. The pay was much lower than five years ago, and in-person work is primarily expected.
2 Several people felt that SQL Server as product was not getting as much love from MSFT compared to Fabric and AI. What that means for us career wise remains to be seen and to me , strongly related to how many years of work one has ahead before retirement. It is, for sure, time to adapt and learn a lot more stuff.
3 The loss of Twitter/X as the main networking platform was felt and missed deeply. The only social event I attended personally was the RedGate volunteer party. I had lunches/dinners with several friends in private and headed home early on most nights. Granted, this was a choice for me – but one did not even know of other social events, formal or informal, because there wasn’t a platform to communicate as a community any more.
4 Grant Fritchey talks of his word of choice to describe the year as ‘fragmented’. That would be my choice, too – especially with the community. Many people we used to hang out with have retired, moved on to doing other work, and many have intentionally limited their contacts. I realize that the ‘glue’ that kept us friends was community politics, common technology (SQL Server), and the many in-person events where we used to see each other – before 2020. The politics is different now. The technology has expanded to many other platforms, and in-person events are drastically low. That, combined with losing X, leads to a highly fragmented community.
I missed the older, bigger crowd – but the friends who sought me out and who I have now are those who want to stay in touch because they value me as a person over politics/technology/and other common talk topics. In other words, the ‘real’ people I want in my life. That is nothing but a good thing.
I hope to attend PASS Summit 2025 to deepen a few existing friendships and make newer connections, as well as learn and share our concerns about where we are heading. I want to thank RedGate Software sincerely for making me feel welcome and helping me participate in many ways.
I was privileged to host yet another T-SQL Tuesday, for the month of August, 2024. My topic was on Managing database code. I was worried about getting responses, given that most of the community is no longer on X/Twitter and my invite didn’t seem to get much attention. I was wrong. People seem to keep track of this by other means and the response was excellent. Summary as below.
Kevin Chant (b/l) talks of his experience and preferences around repos and CI/CD pipelines using Azure Devops/Github for SQL Server, SQL Pools and Microsoft Fabric Data Warehouses. He talks about using Projects for doing state based migration and migration based deployments, where repo structure can be quite different from a standard one. His post has a lot of links to technologies he has used and includes an invite to engage with him, for those who want to learn more.
Long time Data Platform MVP, MCM and friend from down under – Rob Farley (b|l) differentiates between ‘where the database code lives’ and ‘where do you keep your database code’ . From a consultant’s perspective, I can totally understand the difference between those two questions. It was revealing to me, that as a full-time employee for six years, that difference did not even occur to me because we inherently own what we manage. He talks of doing whatever fits in with the client’s existing processes – while recommending a script-based repository if they don’t have one. He also seems to use the method as I do personally – Powershell based SMO, to script out objects.
Well known conference speaker/DEI Champion and Data Platform MVP Deepthi Goguri (b|l) talks of a simple version control process using RedGate source control and GIT, that she uses where she works.
Tom (b) talks of 3 approaches to version scripts – a state-based approach, a migration-based approach and a hybrid approach. They talk of the common aversion to consider database code as repo worthy as well.
Data Platform MVP, Conference speaker and WIT champion Deborah Melkin (b|t) writes about many types of scripts and their importance to workflow for database developers. She emphasizes the importance of having code in source control, regardless of how one chooses to do it. She also has a session on ‘Database deployments demystified’ for this. I found the recording here and recommend it.
Andy Levy (b|l) blogs about usual Visual Studio database projects along with powershell to generate scripts and keep up the SQL Server based repo he manages. He also speaks of managing a MySQL repo with just scripts needed for changes, and having large swaths of code that is not in the repo.
Data Platform MVP Eitan Blumin(b|l) blogs about the advantages of GIT over TFS/VSS, and his favorite tool for CI/CD, Azure Devops. He also explains the advantages of SSDT over other tools in detail.
Data Platform MVP, speaker and author Richard Swinbank(b|l) talks of basic principles behind code management (resilience, repeatability), and the process he uses to manage code.
Jeff Mlaker(b) talks of the pitfalls of not using source control for database code, with some interesting personal stories including one on merging different versions of code when no source control existed.
Lastly, long time Data Platform MVP, DevOps Advocate and currently owner of the T-SQL Tuesday blog series, Steve Jones(b|l), talks of the importance of getting code into repo and the tools he uses to accomplish the same.
This is my T-SQL Tuesday #5. It is a great way to understand multiple perspectives and experiences around a topic, get more blog traffic and gain more contacts to add to your community. Contact Steve if you wish to host one.
Thank you to everyone who responded here. Your responses enriched my knowledge of this subject and helped me find more community. #sqlfamily #sqlwinners.
This is my own contribution to the T-SQL Tuesday I am hosting – on managing database code.
I am from the older generation – where the farthest we went with managing code was use VSS/TFS to get the latest version and deploy it. In some cases, I’ve managed it. If we wanted to search for existence of an object or its usage, we simply searched the database – using some custom tools/dmvs or 3rd party tools like RedGate’s SQL Search. History of who changed what – well that came from their tickets or if it was code – from code comment history. With the advent of GIT, all that changed. I did not adapt to GIT very quickly. I went, kicking and screaming. I hated the clunky interface. I hated not knowing what the command actually did, but still had to use it. I did not see the point of learning what I thought to be over engineered version control. But over time, I’ve learned its value. I can find almost any code that has been committed. I can see who changed what, and when, very easily. I can search for code usage and objects, really quickly. Granted, the interface is still clunky and merge conflicts aren’t fun when they happen, but the advantages override all that, significantly. There is one place where we can easily see all the code related to a database. We can evaluate how complex it is and even use it for legal reasons as code base of the company.
As of now, I use GIT for source control extensively. At work all our database objects are scripted out and have their repo. When we make a change, the new objects are auto scripted with the changes.
I am a fan of SMO, for this purpose and have scripts I’ve developed myself. Granted, SMO only works for SQL Server. I am learning more on similar tools for Postgres. I am often frustrated that Redshift has none. I strongly advocate using GIT and putting all your database objects into a repo using whatever means you can get. (Or develop your own means). It is worth a lot more than you think.
I am excited to host the T-SQL Tuesday blog party for August 2024. I’ve done this many times, but I always remember when I was new to the community and how much it helped me gain recognition. Thanks to Adam Machanic for starting this initiative and to Steve Jones for keeping it going.
This month’s topic is ‘Managing Database Code’. I initially called it ‘How do you manage your database repo?’, but Steve pointed out that many people in the database community might not know what a ‘repo’ is. So, we simplified it to ‘Managing Database Code’. Managing code has been a big part of my work as a database engineer for the past six years.
A repo, for those who are not aware, is just short for ‘repository‘, a place to store stuff. In this context, a place where ‘keep’ code. It is version control for code. I remember the days before repos were common. We used tools like VSS/TFS and searched through tickets and comments to track changes. We used DMV-based queries to find objects. Now, with repos, everything is much easier. I can’t imagine working without one.
I’m curious about how others manage their database code. Here are some questions to consider:
Where do you keep your database code? Is it in a GIT-based repo, or just in the database the old-fashioned way?
If it is in a repo, how is it created? Do you script out individual scripts and add them, or do you use tools to script out the entire database, like SSMS scripter, SMO-based scripts, or third-party tools? This could apply to any relational database, not just SQL Server.
How do you keep your repo up to date when code changes? Depending on what your shop does, you may or may not have a well evolved CI/CD pipeline. If you do, explain how it works. If you don’t, that’s fine – we just want to know where the code resides, if it is outside the database.
If you don’t have a repo, why not? How do you manage things like searching code or finding who made changes and when?
I look forward to reading your responses. The rules
Publish your post on Tuesday 13th of August , time zone does not matter.
Include the T-SQL Tuesday logo at the top of your post and link it back to this invitation post.
A comment letting me know you have a contribution is ideal but if that’s not doable, just send me an email!)
If you’re on X/Twitter, share your post using #tsql2sday.
This month’s T-SQL Tuesday is hosted by a dear friend, long time SQL Server MVP and book author – Louis Davidson. Louis’s call is for us to blog about one piece of advice that you wish ‘past you’ had.
To me, the one piece of advice is ‘Let go of relationships that do not serve you’. I was given a lot of advice on not burning bridges. I think that is important but has to be balanced with letting go of relationships that are not healthy for us. What do we mean by ‘serve you’? To me that just means mutual respect. Professional relationships are strongly based on mutual respect. We don’t constantly know if people respect us – we do know when they don’t. When they don’t stand up for you when you need help, or acknowledge you as worthy when they have an opportunity.
I used to be worried about breaking ties with such people. Especially people in the community. That worry led me to keeping those people on as friends, often times being too forgiving and accepting of harm they caused.
I learn best from nature. Some people learn from religion, others have mentors/heroes and various sources. My source is Mother Nature – I believe values we have to live by are present abundantly in nature. I visited the pacific northwest recently, and did some hiking on amazing trails there. Among those hikes was one called ‘Giant Spruce Trail’, on Mount Perpetua.
We walked about 4 miles into a forest of spruce trees, and ended with a tree that is over 400 years old, the oldest tree on the coast. We learned about qualities of spruce as we did the hike – Sitka wood is both strong and light at the same time. Its wood can be used for aircraft, musical instruments and lots of specialty purposes. But this mighty tree is also very vulnerable to wind. It can fall easily, since its roots are rather weak. The ones that stand tall and live long are those that sink their roots and connect strongly with the soil. We need relationships rooted in mutual respect and support, like the tree does, to weather challenges and remain resilient. Thank you Louis, for hosting.
I recently graduated with a Master’s in Strategic Communication from the University of Delaware. Attending the graduation ceremony with my sister made it a truly memorable experience.
Here’s a bit about why I chose this degree and what’s next for me.
During the Covid crisis, I sought a new focus amid the trauma and confusion of losing four dear family members, including my Dad. Initially, I looked into Data Science programs, but many were beyond my budget or required prerequisites I couldn’t meet. I held a three-year bachelor’s degree and a three year masters (MBA) from India, from over 30 years ago. Degree evaluation is possible but course by course transcript evaluation is rather difficult. Also most programs needed a 4 year bachelors, not 3.
Online master’s programs were also very limited at the time, so I opted for this degree as a stepping stone towards future studies in Data science and analytics. I appreciated the curriculum and the school, especially the courses on sales, PR, and sales data analytics, which I formerly knew very little of and found fascinating. I also made good friends among my classmates and faculty. Graduating with an A has positioned me well for pursuing further studies more aligned with my professional interests.
Now, I am applying to three Data Analytics programs. While some might find it unusual to jump into another demanding master’s program so soon, I see it differently. I love learning in an academic setting and believe it will enhance my career prospects significantly, if I make the right choices on the degree and learn with it.
A big thanks to friends in the community who supported and inspired me on this journey – Blythe Morrow, Randolph West, Kevin Kline, Joe Fleming, Cindy Gross and Daniel Maenle. I am grateful for your support and your friendship.
My blog has been quiet lately. I recently wrapped up a master’s program (more details on that soon, once the formal graduation is behind me) and have been immersed in work related to it. Now that the dust has settled, it’s time to breathe new life into this space, with a focus on tech content. The recent T-SQL Tuesday invite landed in my inbox right on cue. This month’s edition is being hosted by a friend, a brilliant tech enthusiast, and the primary lead of the Triangle SQL Server user group – a community I’m proud to co-lead alongside him and others. Kevin Feasel has thrown down the gauntlet, asking us to share our favorite interview questions. The scope is broad: questions we’ve encountered as interviewees, those we pose as interviewers, even ones we’ve asked ourselves and answered. I’ve thrown in an additional category, inspired by Kevin’s astute description of interviews as a ‘a strange and awkward dance, where interviewers and interviewees are trying their best not to embarrass themselves too badly while simultaneously attempting to suss out whether there’s a mutual fit.’. That category is on fellow interviewers and questions they ask. I also love it that Kevin has left it open ended and just defined it as ‘favorite interview questions’ and not ‘favorite interview questions to ask/not ask’. So it could be ‘Favorite interview questions to not ask’. Mine are a combo of all those. Much like a dance, interviews can be solo performances – with one party not dancing at all and the other doing all the work, duets, or group routines. I prefer the group setting – it’s a chance to break a sweat, have some fun, and perhaps most importantly, hide any missteps. As an interviewee, I don’t really have a lot choice on my moves – I have been active dancer in the duet as well as the one ‘not dancing at all’, simply because the interviewer can’t stop talking and forgets all about the interview. Yes, this has happened.
Favorite Questions encountered as an Interviewee
How many deadlocks do you think are appropriate in any environment?
This is a favorite interview question to ‘not ask’. By all means, ask about deadlocks. It is important for a data person to understand that. Just not about numbers. I consider deadlocks as somewhat of a normal thing that happens, like traffic jams, every now and then. SQL Server is well equipped to deal with the occasional deadlock from its end. If the system being affected is causing a user issues with outage, and is not self healing, then, we have a problem. We also have a problem if there are a seriously high number of deadlocks, since deadlocks take resources, when they happen. So, ‘should be minimal’ could be an answer. Anything causing outages should also be fixed. I was asked this question at two interviews. One found the answer totally acceptable and was complimented on it. The second, not so much. I was asked again to provide a number. There is no real number here, it is yet another ‘it depends’. I was told that they were looking for ‘someone pragmatic’ to deal with a vendor environment that had a ‘lot of deadlocks’. This had a bad smell to it and I was actually glad that they didn’t like my answer.
What is the difference between truncate and delete?
This is a favorite interview question to ‘ask’. Absolutely. This was among the first questions that helped me learn about answering with nuances. I’ve been faced with this question a number of times over my two decade career as a DBA. As a junior/mid level DBA, my answer was usually – 1 Delete has a where clause while truncate cleans the whole table. 2 Delete is logged while truncate isn’t. 3 Delete needs delete table permissions while truncate needs alter table.
Most interviewers considered this answer adequate. When I graduated into a senior DBA, I learned more about the differences and therefore answer better. Point 1 and 3 are still valid. Point 2 is wrong – Truncate is logged, just logged minimally (only the pages de allocated are logged) Point 3 Truncate resets the seed value on Identity columns Point 4 Truncate has no trigger while triggers may be attached to delete.
I might throw in a scary one I learned at the PASS Summit – if you need statistics rebuilt on all indexes/columns on a table use below: BEGIN TRANSACTION TRUNCATE TABLE <tablename> ROLLBACK TRANSACTION It is a neat trick, but I would not be surprised if they didn’t want to hire me.
Can you facilitate discounts for consulting from among your community contacts?
This is a favorite interview question to ‘not ask’. This question arose due to the inclusion of the PASSion award for outstanding community service on my resume. Preceding this question were inquiries about my connections within the community, to which I typically respond, “most people.” With 25 years of conference attendance under my belt, I naturally have a broad network. However, I refrain from dropping names or detailing my associations, as I believe it’s not pertinent. The term “connections” can be interpreted in various ways. The positive interpretation suggests strong networking and influence within the community for genuine reasons. Conversely, some view it as leveraging relationships for personal gain, such as seeking discounts on consulting services or conference fees. My response is consistently direct – no, I don’t engage in such practices. I can help them find a range of options for the help they need, which vary in pricing, but not any personalized discounts.
This community has a longstanding tradition of offering assistance without financial exchange. While I’ve received invaluable technical support from many individuals, it doesn’t extend to seeking discounts for their professional services.
Favorite Questions encountered as an Interviewer
I have a lot of options with jobs I can take. Why do you think I should work for you, at this job?
This is a favorite interview question to ‘ask’. This isn’t a question every candidate can pose, as its relevance often hinges on the job market and individual skill sets. Currently, in the prevailing market conditions, it’s uncommon to encounter this question unless dealing with a highly experienced candidate. However, during times when the tech job market is thriving, candidates often find themselves spoiled for choice. Personally, I find this question valuable as it prompts the interviewer to articulate the competitive advantages of their organization and what they can offer a suitable candidate.
What makes it appealing is when I can respond with enthusiasm, highlighting cutting-edge technology stack, commitment to utilizing the latest versions and minimizing tech debt, ongoing collaboration with vendors for product enhancement, and an outstanding benefits package, including nearly free health insurance, generous training allowances, stock options, and a flexible work schedule. I’ve been fortunate to receive such an offer in the past, which has contributed to my continued dedication despite changes in benefit offerings over time.
Even if I couldn’t provide such an impressive response, I would always aim to be transparent about what the company can offer. Additionally, I’d emphasize the positive aspects of the team dynamics, which can often compensate for any shortcomings in other areas for certain individuals.
Do you consider yourself a valued employee of this company?
This is a favorite interview question to ‘ask’. When I encountered this question, it caught me off guard. It wasn’t a query I had encountered from previous interviewees. Over time, I’ve come to realize the importance of not only posing this question but also responding to it thoughtfully if it’s asked of me. This question carries particular weight when directed at a supervisor. The perception of a team often hinges on how much the supervisor feels valued and respected. If they feel marginalized, it’s unlikely they can effectively support their team or advocate for their needs.
As a team lead, when asked this question, I conveyed that my boss holds me in high regard and is supportive whenever I need assistance. In two instances where I posed this question, the frustration evident in the response hinted at underlying political dynamics within the organization.
FavoriteQuestions I ask myself
I am a habitual ‘asker’ and putting it out there is my way of working through many an issue. I am asking questions and interviewing myself, all the time. Clearly I haven’t hired myself, yet.
The last question I asked was ‘Can I update more than one table at a time with SQL Server?’. This query sprang from a project outside of my regular workload, involving MySQL, where such an operation is feasible. I was parellely dealing with a poorly constructed Update statement at work. Although a part of me knew about the outcome, I still entertained the question and confirmed the answer: It is not possible in SQL Server.
With my perpetual questioning habit, it’s safe to say I’ll never run out of answers for this type of question.
Favorite Interview Questions other panelists ask of Interviewee Most interviews I have done are panels, with other people that include other team members, managers or HR people. I posted this category because as a fellow panelist – I get a chance to voice my disagreement on the relevance of the question. Below are two questions that other panelists asked that I have found interesting – and voiced my disagreement on.
You’ve changed jobs frequently in the past. Could you shed some light on the reasons behind this pattern? And how can we be assured of your commitment to staying with us? This is a favorite interview question to ‘not ask’. This dual question often aims to gauge a candidate’s loyalty. I hail from a work culture where loyalty was a mutual exchange. In such contexts, questioning a candidate’s loyalty can be valid. If the organization doesn’t reciprocate this loyalty and can terminate an employee abruptly, questioning their commitment seems unjust.
There are many circumstances where changing jobs frequently may not have been by choice. For instance, encountering ethical dilemmas in the workplace or experiencing unexpected reorganizations can force a person to move on. I’ve faced both scenarios. These experiences are valid, and a candidate shouldn’t feel obligated to divulge extensive details about them.
Does a history of short-term roles reflect negatively on an individual? It might, but I’ve rarely seen cases where people do it intentionally. Moving jobs isn’t fun, its hard and most people like to stick around after they get familiar with an environment. There may be exceptions for sure – but the question has to be posed with respect to understand reasons.
A more considerate approach to this question could be like, “Could you briefly explain the reasons behind your job changes? This isn’t to imply any wrongdoing; we simply aim to understand.” This approach respects the candidate’s privacy while still garnering pertinent information.
Similarly, inquiries about resume gaps should be approached with sensitivity. People may take breaks to reflect on their career path or attend to personal matters, and these reasons shouldn’t be viewed negatively.
I have been asked this question at a few interviews – since I went through a period when i had to leave 2-3 jobs at short notice. I posted it under the panelist category because if I get an opportunity to – I can and do voice my objection to it, unless it is posed with adequate sensitivity and respect.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time? This is a favorite interview question to ‘never ask’. This again, another question that I deem to be irrelevant and has no real answers. Nobody knows what they are going to be doing, far out into the future. The # of years vary in this question, but it is a common one that people seem to insist on asking. I like giving it some sort of an irreverent answer, like “Finally achieving my dream of becoming a professional nap taker” or “Trying to convince my boss that my gardening skills are directly correlated to my coding prowess. Fingers crossed for a promotion to Chief Weed Puller.”
My good friend Gina Menorek shared this article from NY Post on the overwhelming exhaustion among tech workers. The article talks of ‘quiet quitting’ – not quitting our jobs but quitting the idea of ‘going above and beyond’, setting goals, aspirations, and various, that were a regular habit with many of us. The article speaks of the increased exhaustion that is triggered by virtual work – meetings, ‘reminders’, and constantly staring at boxes instead of real people. To me, the weird, eerie silence that I am confronted with as I login in the morning – as opposed to walking into a place with people, coffee in hand, and exchanging greetings – that’s a feeling I can never get used to, even after 3 years of this.
A lot of people I talk to in the community suffer from this, and nobody has any clue of how to get out of it. Some have followed their work dictates and gone back into a ‘real office’, to see if that helps. Others have preferred ‘hybrid work’, going into an office one or two days a week. I don’t think though, that virtual work is the root cause of this exhaustion. It certainly has contributed to it, but I believe it is a lot more than that – it is years of working a certain way and having expectations that don’t seem to actualize in ways we thought they would. Most of us were climbing ladders that were leaning against the wrong wall to begin with, and now we are wondering why we aren’t there. By ‘there’ I don’t mean material achievements – am pretty pleased about how I did money-wise. Our company got bought out and stock payouts were totally worth the time spent there. Most of us are well paid and can’t complain much in that regard. But a lot of us don’t know what is next for us. We are also at some level tired of how the tech industry operates in general (That’s a whole post in of itself). But basically, the system we have to fight daily, leaving us exhausted. My late dad also used to say that every occupation comes with physical hazards, or in other words, has a health impact that happens over time. I never understood what it would be for me until 2020 hit.
My personal story for the last two years is as below.
Setting goals is all about two important things: staying healthy and knowing where you want to go and how to get there. But in 2020, with the arrival of Covid, both of these things got messed up for me.
In 2018, I moved to Raleigh and started a new job as a database engineer. This was different from the production DBA work I had been doing for the past 25 years.I was tired of the on-call duties and lack of recognition in my previous roles. The new job was modern and complex, with no on-call duties, but adjusting to working in a highly individualized style was hard, as most of my prior roles were highly collaborative in nature. Just when I was getting used to it, Covid came along.
During 2020, I lost four family members, including my Dad. Dealing with isolation and the fear of more losses took a toll on my mental and physical health. Menopausal symptoms made things worse, causing back pain, acid reflux, and TMJ-related pain. The TMJ was a condition caused by years of typing on a keyboard and sitting a certain way. A variant of this condition is also called ‘tech neck’. It causes a lot of pain, difficulties with swallowing, blurred eyes, and various conditions.
I started to lose the thread of thoughts as I was working on a problem, or sitting in meetings with my boss. Friends recommended I talk to HR and go on medical leave until my body and mind got functional. The HR folks where I worked were very kind and friendly – the CEO And CTO actually even reached out personally to offer any assistance as needed when my Dad passed. My boss was also an exceptionally kind human. However, my own sense of pride combined with prior negative experiences using HR help prevented me from asking for any assistance formally. I somehow muddled through work, making many mistakes as I went along and expecting to be fired for something or the other almost daily. I still don’t know how I made it through all this but perhaps I did contribute a little something, and my boss was kind enough to excuse the mistakes. After spending a ton of money on doctors and medication, I got myself to a tolerable state by 2022.
To keep my mind focused, I decided to enroll in a master’s program in Strategic Communication. Even though I don’t plan to work in PR or HR, the program covers things like ethics, data analytics, and communication styles for good leadership, that interest me. That combined with my involvement with WIT causes got me thinking about becoming an ethicist, especially in the growing field of AI Audit. Taking more courses on data governance is helping me shape a possible second career.
Getting back to the general scenario we are in as a community – the post-Covid Era is proving to be enormously challenging to a great many people. Salaries are lower, expectations to return to in-person office work are high, and exhaustion caused by continued online/siloed work is widely prevalent. There are several talented people out of work. Many have left jobs on their own without anything lined up because of sheer exhaustion.
One of the scientists I follow for Covid Related, Dr Nicholas Christakis, predicted some of this pretty accurately. In his article he says ‘When we eventually enter this “intermediate phase”, (of the pandemic, where we are now) we will find that we have been “devastated” and are left to “clean up the clinical, social, and psychological destruction” in the pandemic’s wake. Virus-related disability, gaps in children’s education, grief, job loss, higher taxes, and inflation are just some ofthe Covid-induced issues we will all need to deal with during this period.’
He also offers optimism for things to come in 2024 and beyond. ‘The intermediate phase will last until 2024, Christakis predicts, and then we will enter the post-pandemic period. “I think that will be a little bit of a party,” remarked Christakis. “Like any other collective threat…those of us who survive will rejoice.”
Looking ahead to 2024, my main goal is to get healthier. I want to be able to travel without worrying too much about what I eat. Every day, I hope for the end of Covid and a return to a world without masks. I will be completing the Masters in Spring (my late Dad would be proud). I have A grades in all semesters so far and deem that to be an achievement as well. What will I do next for a job after this one goes away or I leave on my own, am not totally clear yet. But I know I will get there. Until then am giving it the best I can and living up to the trust my boss and colleagues have put in me.
In the words of my teacher, Rick Jarow, “When one door closes, another opens, but there can be a long hallway in between.” I believe that even though 2024 might be a challenging time for several of us, we will come out of it stronger and in better shape.
My dear friend Josephine Bush a.k.a HelloSQLKitty hosts this month’s T-SQL Tuesday. Josephine’s call to us is to share our understanding of the multitude of job titles available out there and what they mean to us.
While many job titles exist, each role’s essence is heavily shaped by the operational dynamics of the business and how responsibilities are allocated among individuals. A rough and high-level comprehension of these titles can be outlined as follows:
Database Administrator (DBA): Responsible for High Availability/Disaster Recovery (HA/DR), Backups/Restores, security measures, including audits, storage management, code promotions, and sometimes even code reviews. Encompasses Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) and automation, and may also be referred to as a ‘Database Reliability Engineer’.
Database Engineer (DBE): Tasked with managing database code, architecture, and data process flow. Engages in Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) processes, pipelines, and assumes responsibility for data integrity and health.
Database Architect: Often involves a blend of DBA and DBE roles, with a substantial infusion of cloud architecture expertise.
Data Warehouse Engineer/BI Architect: Primarily concerned with reporting, data warehousing, and data lake management.
Data Scientist: Typically held by individuals with Ph.D. qualifications or similar expertise, focusing on algorithms and predictive analytics.
Having devoted close to two decades to the role of a DBA, I began experiencing weariness around 2018. The toll of being on-call was manifesting as severe health implications. In most settings, DBAs were perceived as reactive problem solvers—earning high remuneration but receiving little attention or respect unless a crisis demanded their intervention. In essence, proactive contributions were unacknowledged, and one’s worth was not recognized as value-added to the business. This prompted me to explore alternative roles. I authored a book for Apress, wherein I engaged with various community members to delve into their roles and responsibilities. After interviewing 29 professionals, I arrived at three viable options:
Delve deeper into Business Intelligence (BI) and transition to reporting and BI-related responsibilities. While I had previously occupied a BI role, opportunities in this domain were limited.
Cultivate skills in Product Management and transition into a PM or DBA management role. However, the steep learning curve and the prospect of becoming extensively people-focused gave rise to uncertainty. Additionally, I was skeptical of the fervor around Agile methodologies, as I noticed elevated attrition rates among PMs.
Embrace a Data Engineer role that primarily involves coding and architecture. Among these choices, this resonated with me the most from a technical standpoint. While I was familiar with R Programming and comfortable with VB.net, I was uncertain whether these skills would suffice. Fortunately, the current job opening aligned with my skill set, enabling me to become a data engineer. Since transitioning, this role has proven to be one of the most fulfilling data-related experiences.
To conclude, the precise definitions of these titles are of secondary importance. The focus should lie on personal aspirations and whether a job aligns with those objectives. Thank you, Josephine, for hosting.
