InstantForum.NET v2.9.0SQLServerCentralhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/notifications@sqlservercentral.comSat, 18 May 2013 08:43:33 GMT20http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1005193-334-1.aspxHi all,Our company has been looking for a Senior level SQL Server DBA, and the last (2) candidates have been lacking some basic performance tuning skills. During our interview, we have a SQL trace that we captured from our production environment that we play back for the candidates. This playback provides a hands on assesment of the candidates ability to perform basic SQL Server 2008 R2 performance tuning techniques. Both of these candidates have over (7) years experience with SQL Server 2000/2005/2008.What's been surprising, is that these "Senior" level candidates were not even aware of SQL Server's "Activity Monitor" and basic use of "SQL Server Profiler", or the use of DMV's. I'm a mid-level SQL Server DBA with about 4 years experience on SQL Server 2000/2005/2008, and I should not be teaching these techniques to "Senior" level candidates. I know there are third party tools to assist in performance monitoring, but I believe you should be able to utilize SQL Server's toolset's such as DMV's first. There will be times when these third party tools will not be available when the "poop" hit's the fan, so relying on them solely as your performance tuning method is a bad idea in my book.Is this normal in the SQL Server DBA community?Fri, 15 Oct 2010 07:45:44 GMTTim Parkerhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1434233-334-1.aspxI'm looking for advice on how to locate Jr.-level positions in SSRS and Report Development...any ideas as these positions are rarely advertised?ThanksDanTFri, 22 Mar 2013 06:31:57 GMTdtroller1http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1429924-334-1.aspxI've encountered the problem of not being able to find further employment as a SQL Server programmer/admin in my area, strangely (or perhaps not quite!). The major issue is that it seems that, in this area (Chattanooga, Tennessee, US), hardly anybody is searching for programmers in general; the ones that are tend to be looking for people with much more experience than I have (almost two years; general requirements are 5-7 years or more). On the other hand, I've found two jobs to date where my experience is sufficient, but in both cases, I've been turned down, along with all the other applicants, or so it seems; the jobs were re-posted with much higher experience requirements on the second go-round, and they're still being reposted each month.At this point, I'm not quite sure what to do about finding further employment; my current workplace is rather toxic at all levels, and I'd much rather leave here as fast as I possibly can. I don't have quite enough money to simply leave it and search for a job afterwards (since the pay here is slightly better than minimum wage), but I'm honestly not sure how much longer I can tolerate being in this environment. Moving away from this city is one choice, but because of my medical history and current living conditions, I'd have to move out on my own, which could be a bit risky for me.I know what I'm asking is essentially a gigantic shot in the dark, but does anyone have some advice on a situation like this? I feel like I'm fast approaching my wit's end, and my efforts don't seem to be pulling me out of this situation very efficiently :(Tue, 12 Mar 2013 10:06:42 GMThisakimatamahttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1429062-334-1.aspxI am hourly-paid employee of a consulting company, but work all the time at client site. Sometimes I have to work overtime, even at weekends, sometimes my manager or teammates call me at home to do various work, so I connect remotely from home. It's all OK. But recently manager told me that I cannot put overtime hours in a timesheet. Of course I was displeased and decided for myself not to stay late hours and sometimes ignore emails and phone calls. I even turn off my cell phone for weekend. After that manager had another conversation with me, that I am senoir DBA and must be available after normal business hours too. I politely reminded him that he prohibited me to put hours in a timesheet. He replied that many of our team members work late hours and weekends too. That's true. But they are employees. They receive bonuses, paid vacation, etc. They build their career at this place. But I (as well as other consultants) don't have all of that. Simply said, I don't want to work for free. In all other aspects, it's good place and I like the work I do. The project is interesting, I learn new technologies and features, team environment is mostly good. The manager, aside from pay issue, is more or less reasonable guy. My rate is within market boundaries for my skills and experience; it's not too high and not too low. But as I said, I just don't want to work for free. Free hours actually make my rate low. I talked to my manager from my employer company. I want to note that this is simply W2 payer, nothing more. He said that whatever hours they receive from client, that hours they pay me, according to my rate. He sounded reluctant to talk to client about overtime hours.Had anybody had such situation? How do you handle it ?Sun, 10 Mar 2013 22:14:58 GMTSQL Guy 1http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1296972-334-1.aspxHi all. I was recently offered for SQL developer position and BI specialist position, and I would like to get some advice.My background:I have general understanding of BI (CUBE/DW design concept etc.). I have some experience in SSIS, SSRS, SharePoint. Very limited Database development experience. BI Specialist Position:- One man department. - No in-house SQL/C#/.net developer. Must do everything by myself.- Relaxed/stress free work environment.- No immediate need for BI solution, would like to slowly build something for the future.- SharePoint exposure. (Wants me to admin and implement SharePoint)- I can evaluate and have access to any BI tools.- 65K salarySQL Developer:- Deals with large database- Lot of TSQL/Query optimization/index/Stored procedure/SSIS etc. Only focus on DB development- Amazing senior developers to learn from (Gave me amazing DB index lecture during interview!)- Some exposure to BI, but majority of BI architect will be done by business analysts. - High paced work environment. - 80k salaryAt my work, my MIS director thinks developers are like 'commodity'. There are many SQL developers on the market. But BI specialist is not. He also thinks SharePoint and BI is becoming very popular, so even with less salary, he thinks BI specialist position will help my career. If my career goal is to become a BI architecture, which job is better for my career path? Thank you for reading this.Wed, 09 May 2012 02:54:04 GMTBlackGarlichttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic737194-334-1.aspxHi,Can anyone provide me some common questions which are asked in a Ineterview for a DBA postThu, 18 Jun 2009 00:42:20 GMTakash.suryanhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1416577-334-1.aspxHello,I’m here to seek some advices as I am looking to join as a full time dba.I’m working with a software company past 4 years, I am sort of all-rounder kind of administrator involved in troubleshooting windows/hardware/networking configuration and SQL Server administration.Only since over a year I started to focus on SQL Administration front, like setting up mirroring, backup, restore, sql monitoring, and configuring sql on client’s environment. Our IT infrastructure is not up to the mark to try out complicated SQL Implementations since the company is just focused in selling their product to clients and not much in investing on itself when it comes to Maintenance and server’s availability. Recently I have been involved in setting up fail over options to our clients and I tried to endorse my bosses about the criticality of SQL Server administration since the product uses SQL Server as it is the back bone for the tool to run, recently I performed an successful migration from sql 2005 to 2008 but all that i have pursued has been completely ignored by my bosses and does not exist in their conscious so I’m looking to join another company as a Production DBA, at least in the country where I live we don’t have anything like Junior DBA and hence almost all employers are expecting at least 3yrs relevant experience, I went through a SQL Server administration course from a private institution and most of what the faculty was teaching was already known to me or it was easier for me to grasp. I’m not doubting my own skills when it comes to learning on SQL for which I have not had hands experience yet but conceptually I know almost all related to SQL Administration, i have been doing case study on SSH on SQL Availability, SQL Administration. I do not work on views/triggers or stored procedures but I do write tsql queries like select,inserts,ddl and some dmv’s, with this I do not know in which category I’m placed in. I need advice whether it is mandatory to know to write procedures, triggers even for a Production DBA and how I can support myself when I go to an interviews because I’m not an actual DBA in my current company.Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:09:13 GMTSuperdochttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1415275-334-1.aspxSo I've gotten to the point where I absolutely hate my job. My company has been bought out (via a hostile takeover I might add) by a big company and they laid off like 50 people, including many of my friends.I have a new boss who comes from a retail background and talks to people like they are minimum wage employees.On top of this, my new task right now within the company is to build the "new" system ASAP so they can get rid of around 10 "old" programmers that keep the AS400 running (yes, they still have the AS400!):hehe: I get a lecture every day reminding me how important it is to finish the SQL Server data warehouse so they can lay off all those people. And I have friends in that group as well. Sorry for too much info, moving on to my question...I know the experienced people on this forum hate interview questions, so I am not going to even go there, but I am curious... how do you guys prepare for interviews? Do you sit in front of a mirror and talk about your most interesting projects? Do you read up on certain "complex" topics such as clustering, index tuning, fragmentation, partitioning, replication, mirroring, etc.?Do you not prepare at all?Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!Mon, 04 Feb 2013 06:52:35 GMTMike Seattlehttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1408699-334-1.aspxI've a colleague who is driving me insane. This person interferes in every conversation, and boasts himself.When I speak to my boss or any other users about technical issues or new ideas, he interrupts and takes over explaining how things work (tech details), how he had done it in the past, and a lot of unrelated stuff.He projects that he knows it all and he has answers for everything.On the otherhand, I don't talk much. I get it done and show the results. I don't tell anyone how long or how hard I had to work to get it done. And when he interrupts, I'm forced to take the back seat.Who should I face this professionally? I've a feeling my management is buying what he is doing.Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:50:51 GMTUnionAllhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1413448-334-1.aspxI'm a programmer. I've been a programmer for about 14 years, starting with C and C++ (games development), then moving into business apps with (of course) VB6 and .NET. For 11 of those 14 years I've been working with SQL, and for the last... let's say... 8 or 9 I've been specializing in SQL. I also think of it as more than a job, one of the reasons I've learned a lot is because I'm one of those people who actually *likes* programming and SQL puzzles and will go and do this kind of thing on the weekend or on holidays just for fun. I'm not a 9-5, clock punching, "just a job" programmer.At the various placed I've worked I'm generally seen as "the guy who can do your SQL", and there's no doubt that this is my currently most-used knowledge pool. But I also find that I do a lot of other things. Where I work right now my responsibilities are something like...- DBA: focusing on administration and maintenance of all SQL instances, performance, permissions, disaster recovery, capacity planning and all the usual stuff (this was my original job title here)- Lead SQL developer: When upper management needs "the hard stuff" done in SQL I get the call, or I am enlisted to help the developer officially assigned to the request. I also, basically, "teach" all of the SSA's here TSQL, database design, optimize their queries and show them how to do the same. - Application development and design: My current job title is "senior systems analyst". I still jump into C# on occasion, and I still find myself teaching other senior systems analysts how to use C# effectively, especially when it comes to working with data. - Software architect: I work with the architecture team pretty much daily. The lead architect, the infrastructure manager and myself are the people who generally set the direction of new projects in terms of technology, integration patterns, hardware requirements, and so on.- Project management: I try to stay away from this, but because there are only a few of us here who know all the projects underway and what they all need, or are currently using in terms of hardware and software resources, I find myself drawn into these kinds of meetings pretty regularly.So this leaves me with a question: What am I? If I say I'm a "DBA"... well, that seems not to be a good title career-wise here in Australia. It seems to be considered a more junior position than a SSA. If I say "SSA" then that would put me on the same level as the other people here... to whom I am obviously senior in knowledge and experience. It also seems to leave out my most "important" knowledge specialization. If I say I'm an architect it again seems to leave out the fact that I am hands on with SQL every day, C# once a week or so, and am mentoring the other developers daily.I'm sure there are other people on this site in similar positions in terms of their diverse knowledge and experience due to their interest in technology and programming. So what do you call yourselves? The title of "SSA" seems to leave me off the radar of, say, Microsoft reps when they come in: we just had a technology preview offer which went to the two people I mentioned earlier as well as the apps manager and IT group manager, but I was not on that list. I was forwarded the invitation internally, but things like this make me worry that I'll never be "visible" and that this is severely limiting my career path. I do tend to "undersell" myself when it comes to salary negotations and so on, something I've only recognized recentl... I always thought that when I worked in a bigger company my level of knowledge would be overshadowed by colleagues, but after 14 years I've finally figured out that maybe I do actually know quite a lot after all. But getting the right title might just be the first step.Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:48:12 GMTDanahhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1394416-334-1.aspxIm currently in a job i really enjoy. As a consultant for a small specialized database consultancy firm I get to see inside a lot of companies, I work for an exceptionally gifted and patient Database Architect/Developer and learn more on a weekly basis than i did in a month in my previous role. I really like how much experience and learning i am getting.But, for my region the salary is just average for a DBA/DB Dev. There are quite a few companies over here that are offering 20% or more in an annual salary. I would be committed to just one company though (not something i relish as i get bored easily), do a fair bit more on call work, and id be back being a very small cog in a giant machine, something i really don't relish.But 20% more is a lot of money. With a wife & with purchasing some house, & saving for the kids college fund that 20% would go a long way.I could ( and will) talk to my company but i have visibility to finances and am pretty sure they cant give me much of a wage increase.I know its my own decision, but id like some viewpoints from folk who may have dealt with this before. What choice did you make and what factors helped you decide?Sun, 09 Dec 2012 14:38:41 GMTjames marriothttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1400187-334-1.aspxHi, my self sudarshan,I am currently working in automation company from last 6 moths on sql server 2008, we generate sql reports using simple queries ?I THINK I am NOT getting that much knowledge here!will this experience help me in the future or not ?will I face a problem if I apply for a software company in future?what Are the useful suggestions?please tell me ?PLEASE................Wed, 26 Dec 2012 02:15:00 GMTgurjer48http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1393239-334-1.aspxFirst off, I'm not trying to garner any sympathy here, just sounding out a couple ideas. So, here's the scoop. I've begun to feel that one of my managers (yes, I have more then one) has been actively "freezing" me out. He's a Linux guy (and it seems of the belief that if it ain't open-source and free, it's wrong), I'm an MS guy (who feels that the best tool for the job is what can be supported by the staff.) The company is MS product-based, with a couple Linux machines in the office (mail server, router, and wiki server.) The company has begun to sell a MS SQL 2008-based EHR (Electronic Health Records) system to our clients. In part in preparation for this, I pursued (and received) a Bachelors in IT (the course program was focused on database admin, plus I've recently attended some conferences on MS SQL adminning) Now, where I'm beginning to feel frozen out is, this manager: •Seems to ignore my e-mails (I think this because I will send a reply to one of his asking me a question, then he will come and ask me the exact same question a few days later) •Recently worked with one of the support people (who is NOT and SQL person) to develop a backup solution for our clients using the SQL product. At no time was my input solicited •Even when asking for my input on something, it feels he will decide to use his solution, regardless of any points against it I may make (using SA to run backup jobs...) •I get no information on what is going on with this project, from anyone, yet I'm one of the two people in the company who have any experience with SQL (the other is the Accounting manager) Further issues that are troubling me include a general feeling that among the managers, there's a sense of "don't tread on my turf!" For example, the manager described above is the "Director of IT" while my second manager is the manager of the Support Department. The Support manager (lets call him B) was tasked by the VP to come up with a disaster recovery plan (which would include the backup and restore of our in-office servers, testing of the UPSes, etc) The DIT, recently talked to me about coming in on a Saturday (he and I) to "test" the battery backup units. Now I don't have a problem with coming in on a Saturday, but I also don't feel this is the sort of thing that would require both of us, that it's the sort of thing he could tell me what he would want checked, and leave me to it. Instead, I feel I'm going to come in, and get to "stand around" then be the one to try to explain why any UPSes may fail (which seeing as most of them are 5+ years old and the battery packs are 3+ in most of them, I expect at least one will) as thought it is somehow my "fault." Bear in mind, I have NO power to purchase ANYTHING without going through the DIT. So, as I see it right now, I've got two options, both of which make me nervous... 1.I could craft an e-mail, explaining why I am currently less-than-happy with what I see as going on, and send it to both of my managers and the VP (see below about this) 2.I can say the heck with it, cut my losses, and start sending out resumes and try to find a new job elsewhere. About including the VP in the e-mail, the company is a fairly small company, with only 5 managers and 3 owners (one of whom is the VP and she is married to one of the owners) My biggest concern with the e-mail, is that there will be repercussions. Moving to another department isn't really an option, as the DIT (it seems to me) wants to keep his finger in every pie in the office. As for management turnover, the last manager to leave was almost 5 years ago now, and the DIT has been with the company for more than 20 years... My issue with job hunting, is two-fold. First, it's been a LONG time since I had to find a job (almost 15 years.) Second, money does become a distinct problem, as I would need to be making enough to either allow the wife to also quit, or to cover buying a second car. Short-term, I'm sure I could get a "beater" that would get one of us back-and-forth to work on a daily basis, but I'd rather be able to get something we could keep for several years. So, if any of you have any thoughts or suggestions, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks, JasonWed, 05 Dec 2012 15:16:09 GMTjasona.workhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1376573-334-1.aspxHi,Does anybody have any reference points for how the role of a production DBA may differ from that of a project or development DBA?My previous experience has been in companies where either there was only a couple of DBA's doing everything, or in larger companies where the DBA supported a particular product/application across all environments. Does anybody have any real world experience where the DBA role is split for production and non-production? My current employer are thinking about going down that route so I'm trying to understand how it might work.Thanks!Wed, 24 Oct 2012 10:08:03 GMTDBA Matthttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1381180-334-1.aspxHi everyone,I have a dilemma and need your advice. We have a customer that runs a report that retrieves very detailed data and takes about 5 minutes to complete for a period of 1 day. The query is optimized and the right indexes are set up, it takes that much because it's a lot of data. This president of the client company tried to specify a date range of 1 year and of course the query was just running and running. He complained the query doesn't work. I tried to explain that this report lists every transaction and it's not designed to be run for more than 1 day but he insists to run it for one year. How would you explain it to this big boss politely in an email message?Mon, 05 Nov 2012 10:02:24 GMTOksana Marchhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1369560-334-1.aspxOr will the answer be, as one of the speakers at SQL in the City put it, "it depends?"Right now, I would class myself as more of a "jack of all trades, but master of none," when it comes to SQL. I'm not a great database designer (point-in-fact at my employer the devs do all of that,) I'm not a code-jockey, I'm not good with Reporting Services (we don't use it,) basically I know I don't know a lot about any one feature of SQL but I can hum along with the tune (and Google the stuff I'm not sure of.)I'm currently considering looking for a new job (there are things going on at my employer that have me concerned about the future of the company, and I'm too low on the food chain to even know if said concerns are justified or to make my concerns voiced,) and am just wondering what others here think.I would likely class myself more as a junior DBA level in some areas, maybe a bit higher in others, and lower in some.I think this may also have been asked at one point in one of the blog postings, maybe even Steves.JasonSun, 07 Oct 2012 12:41:27 GMTjasona.workhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1366080-334-1.aspxI apologize, I believe I posted this in the wrong forum. I will re-post in the Job Postings forum.Mods, please delete if possible.Ron MosesFri, 28 Sep 2012 13:13:10 GMTronmoseshttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1355029-334-1.aspxI will keep this suitably abstract but something recently has got me wondering what makes a good DBA (aside from any technical ability)?My sig. reads "measure twice, cut once" and I do think this is a necessary character trait for a DBA; we often have god-like privileges in our environments so its critical we respect that. However, when does 'methodical and meticulous' cross the line into interfering with productivity? A DBA should also be able to cope with fairly high levels of stress; yes? Can you be a good DBA if you can't?Interested in others thoughts and opinions.Wed, 05 Sep 2012 23:53:20 GMTMissTippsInOzhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1275118-334-1.aspxHello, I wanted to post this out to the community to guage my level of "dumbness". Let me start by saying I currently have a DBA position as a contractor to the Army and I make very good money. I have been doing SQL Server Development/Aministration for over 10 years and I have a masters and a bachelors.So, I got a call from a recruiter who is hiring for a company in Nashville and they pay relocation (I'm comfortable where I'm at but would love to move out of DC Area). So, I said sure what the heck. Its an internal company position, no contracting, very creative place and they are always upgrading to the latest and greatest. They are a real "development" shop. I'm also apparently at the tippy top of their pay scale (actually 5k over their max) and they make anyone with over 100k salary take some sort of super hard critical thinking test... umm ok.So, I had a technical phone interview. I consider myself very knowledgable about SQL and like I said I've been doing it for over 10 years. I did study the frequently asked technical interview questions and such so I tried to brush up on my textbook definitions of things... overall I think I did well but a few of the questions I was kinda like "duhhhhh" on.First question he asked me was about schema binding. He asked me what it was and if I use it. I started talking about not referencing schema names in queries and trying to keep everything in the dbo schema and he was like "while that is great info on how to use schemas, that's not what I was referring to". And I was like oh sorry then no I don't use that. I have since looked it up and I'm like wow how did I not know what that is.The other thing he asked me was how do you code to avoid page splits. I've never actually sat down and said ok I'm gonna code this to avoid a page split... so I admitted that I had never done that and then we kinda talked through it and I was able to explain what a page split is. I am not really deeply versed in the underlying architecture of SQL but I believe I have a good grasp of the concepts and stuff.I think a lot of this stuff I probably just do commonly and not really know the textbook answer to what it is that I'm doing. He also asked me a lot about indexes, deadlocks, locking hints, how I would handle a server that had a 100% maxed cpu, partitioning, how I handle large tables, b-tree and a few other situational things. The rest of the questions I believe I answered really well but I'm left feeling awkward.I've never actually worked in a real development shop surrounded by other developers that are strictly following best practices and using advanced SQL stuff. I know of these things and of course have studied them or participated in conversations about it. But I've never actually used it. Hell, the system I'm working on now doesn't even have referential integrity on their tables! I'm also usually the only DBA on the team or with one other person that just kinda fell into SQL.Should I be concerned that I don't fully comprehend how a b-tree structure works in the database or that I had to look up the ACID principles? To me the ACID principles are more like a "duh" type of thing where of course things should adhere to those principles but I don't actually sit down and code and say ok, I'm going to make sure my transaction follows every ACID property.In the grand scheme of things if they think I'm not worth the money I'm asking for I guess I don't really care... I'm not really looking for a job anyways but you know it just sits in the back of your mind. I really hate interviews that just sit there and ask you test questions. One it makes me super nervous and it just feels so fake I would much rather just have a conversation where we talk about scenarios or situations and explain, in a totally technical manner, how you would solve something or things that you have worked on. Thu, 29 Mar 2012 08:36:47 GMTamy26http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1333342-334-1.aspxHi, i had been asked some questions by interviewer, which i wanted to know the answers.I already googled up the answers and couldnt find some.1.What precautions will you take before updating a million rows in a table in a production database.?2.what differences are in the results if we do sp_who2/who or run a DMV?3. How to know who inserted/deleted/modified any things in a table OTHER than by using trigger?4. If our users are running sprocs daily through any applicaton; what will you create to see the performances of those sprocs on a daily basis?5. If we run a query select * from where order by...example of a query. What is the order of execution we will see in a Query execution plan ?Regards,SkybviSat, 21 Jul 2012 06:17:50 GMTSKYBVIhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1332528-334-1.aspxDeleted post.Thu, 19 Jul 2012 13:46:48 GMTIowaTechBearhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1330405-334-1.aspxhello all, I'm posting this as somewhat of an outsider looking for some career advice from someone who knows more about this than i do.I'm currently managing a business (totally not tech related), and in the low six figures (which i'm obviously happy about), but i HATE the job. The last job i had was one i really enjoyed thoroughly, although the pay was a bit less, and now i'm wishing i hadn't ever left (more money is not always the best option!). At my last job I worked heavily with excel, and i would say i have advanced excel skills. I worked a lot with huge data files in the healthcare industry, and also worked for a time as a claims analyst, where I reviewed claims data for overpayments, and loved the analytical nature of the job. SQL has always interested me, as have all things tech really. I've taught myself HTML/CSS, and have taught mysyelf a SMALL amount of SQL as well. So here's my question. I'm trying to get a feel for what a career working with SQL would be like, and if i would enjoy it or not. The last thing i want to do is pursue training, switch jobs, and realize i hate that as much as i do my current job.I know this is a tough question to answer, but I guess i'm trying to get an idea of whether or not a career with SQL would work well with my analytical mindset, and if so, are there career areas where I would be more well-suited than others? also, is there ANY chance of me making the same kind of money i'm currently making in the tech field....thanks in advance for your help!Mon, 16 Jul 2012 14:36:20 GMTmasoninyourfacehttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1291678-334-1.aspxFor the last 4 companies I worked for, none of them had a 'real' DBA since they all thought SQL Server was just an easy database to maintain. So I am the database developer becoming an 'accidental' DBA, doing backup and restore, maintaining user security, creating database, tables and so on.Now when I look for job, the company that is looking for a database developer saying that I am too much of a DBA, the company that is looking for a DBA saying that I am too much of a developer.My career seems to be doomed!!!Does anyone have this problem or just me?Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:57:50 GMTLonerhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1329199-334-1.aspx..Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:31:27 GMTTeraByteMehttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1328936-334-1.aspx:-) We are looking for a part time person that enjoys working at home, that is detail orientated and computer friendly. We strive to be a paperless business, the potential candidate must be comfortable working within a computer environment.With Best RegardsSunny http://www.cashclarity.com http://www.rigolist.com :-DThu, 12 Jul 2012 08:29:58 GMTrigetnet11http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1322316-334-1.aspxHi all,Recently i have handed my notice in and the company i work for has been notified that i do developments outside of work.They have stated that all developments i do in and out of work are their intellectual property. I understand that anything in work would be theirs. However outside of work it is mine unless stated in my contract of employment (is how i understand it)Now the development in question is an SSIS package which imports GPS data files (csv, xls, xlsx) and i am doing this in SQL Server 2012, in my own time with nothing gained from my current employment.The company i work for is not on the 2012 platform nor is it in the business of dealing with GPS information. The reason i have been doing this is to get an understanding of the improvements in SQL 2012 over 2008 and to solve a problem with varying file formats and varying columns in files being processed by a single SSIS package. The GPS data is simply used because i can obtain this from my phone/GPS tracker log files easily and is vary large volumes of data to help measure performance. The end result of this would have been for me to bring any suggestions into my current work place and rollout as i have done before, many times. So i am a bit upset that i am being forced to bring this code in as their intellectual property when 1. they do not use that db platform 2. they have no one else in the business who can understand SSIS/C# 3. i did this in my own time using no information or learnings from my current role to produce this. 4. It does not state in my current contract of employment that anything i develop in or outside of work is their intellectual property.Hope I have explained myself well enough and i hope someone can help advise me on this situation. Thu, 28 Jun 2012 02:02:40 GMTTerry300577http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1323739-334-1.aspx:-) We are looking for Data Entry / Admin Assistant. The position is responsible for order requests, verifying them for completeness and correctness before submitted to the appropriate agencies. You must have proficient computer skills and have full knowledge of Microsoft Excel and Word and minimal typing skills.With Best RegardsSunny http://www.rigopostad.com/ http://www.cashclarity.com :-DMon, 02 Jul 2012 05:30:39 GMTrigetnet11http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1306465-334-1.aspxHi, I have been studying SQL Server DBA interview questions from the net and find these questions in wich I am unclear of the solutions :-1) If a database goes down for whatever reason (assume data file is corrupt) and the database cannot be brought back online (i.e. you are in a recovery situation), what must be done first to ensure you can retrieve the latest data modifications assuming the database is set to the FULL recovery model?ans :- meanwhile connect to the log shipping server.2) What can you do to guarantee any backup is valid?ans :- restore verifyonly from backup3) What special type of page within SQL Server that is responsible for tracking (via a simple bitmap) extents that have been modified since the last "BACKUP DATABASE" statement?I had more questions to ask ,wenever i recall, i will again post here only.Thanks.Regards,SushantFri, 25 May 2012 05:34:10 GMTSKYBVIhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1258388-334-1.aspxHi all.After working in Seattle USA for the last 15 years, due to family commitments, I need to move back to the UK and would like to find contracting gigs in London or the South east.I am out of touch with with the UK market, and would like some insights on the availability of work right now giving the troubles in the economy, and what sort of rates would be realistic.Also, can anybody recommend some good agencies to contact. Ideally I would like to have something lined up before moving.So, I have 10 years+ development experience with SQL Server development working for Microsoft, Expedia, At&T and a few others.Thanks in advance for any tips.PatrickMon, 27 Feb 2012 10:18:17 GMTpefhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1299498-334-1.aspxHey everyone,I just got invited to a job interview for a really interesting job but unfortunately they told me that I don't have enough international working experience for this special job but - lucky for me, they offered me a different positon in their company.So if there's anyone who speaks German and English and is interested in a job as IS Business Analyst...here you go:http://www.headmatch.de/de/stellensuche/1/218/it/business-analyst-is (it's a German job ad)Good luck!CarinaMon, 14 May 2012 06:26:30 GMTCarina.Freibergerhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1298681-334-1.aspx3 years ago, my employer of 17 years cut my job. I decided then that I wanted to become a SQL Server BI expert. I'm well on my way, having taken technical training and getting enough hands-on experience with SSIS and SSRS that I think I'll be ready to take the MCTS certification exam by the end of this year. All part of my master plan, see? I figured once I earned MCTS that I'd become more valuable in the marketplace.So far, my employer has been very accomodating towards my personal goal. They like what I've been able to do with the SQL BI tools. We are running SQL2008 on a Windows Server 2008 VMWare virtual machine. We are using SSIS to download data from the financial system, which has a Sybase back-end, and to generate reports using SSRS. I had hoped to start using SSAS soon, as I've taken a class on it, but haven't had the time to work with it yet.Now, my employer is going to acquire a new financial system (Deltek), along with a reporting system based on Oracle and Cognos. Everything we have done with SQL is going to become useless. So I'm wondering...do I stay here and learn the new tools, and abandon my personal goals when I'm so close to acheiving them, or should I put myself back on the job market so I can stay on track with my SQL plans? Your thoughts will be appreciated!Fri, 11 May 2012 09:20:43 GMTbob.miller 17212http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1147261-334-1.aspxI graduated in 2001 from a major university with a BSBA in Computer Information Systems. I didn't go into the computer field when I graduated. However, I have now found a new desire to get into the computer field. I want to get into SQL Server development. What would the most cost effective/quickest way to get into the field. Will my information systems degree help? What classes should I take? What are employers looking for in entry level SQL Server Developer candidates?Please advise! Thanks!Sun, 24 Jul 2011 17:56:19 GMTbrianpayton21http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1275486-334-1.aspxHi was recently offered a job for a SQL Server DBA position with a base salary of $80K in the Philly area. Do you think this is a good salary? I would really appreciate and expert comments on this.Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:04:28 GMTTempdb12http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1195524-334-1.aspxI want to ask an open question. Feel free to respond with as much info as you want to share.Typically I update my resume on Dice.com every few months so that it stays current. I don't do this because I am on the market, I do it so that recruiters contact me so I can stay up to date on the current market salaries for our profession.As a result of my resume being current I get quite a few emails and phone calls, both local and out of state, even though I specifically set my profile for local, fulltime and above $100,000 jobs. I am trying to weed out the lowball offers.I live in the Seattle/Bellevue/Redmond area. Most of the SQL Server DBA or developer jobs around here, based on my experience, have traditionally been between $90,000 to $110,000. This is for DBAs with some experience obviously. In the past 30 days I have had 3 different companies start quoting $125,000. This is the first time I have heard this figure as a base salary number. It has happened twice in the past week from different companies. I thought it was a fluke the first time it happened in September. That was a company trying to relocate a DBA to Kansas, so I figured they needed to offer larger amounts to get someone to move, so I wrote that off as a desperate situation. But then it has happened again two times in the past week with two different local companies.Just a question out there in general. Have you noticed a serious uptick in quoted FTE salary numbers from recruiters lately?Most seemed at $110,000 before, now $125,000 seems to be the new high water mark. I am sure some high COL areas are higher. Seattle/Bellevue is above average COL, but not like NYC or Palo Alto.Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:36:27 GMTJamesMorrisonhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1260703-334-1.aspxHi sir,In the below coding no compilation error but using this quary i am not getting the answer please give me the answer for this below quaryselect ProductID,Name,NameResults.Rank as NameRank,DescriptionResults.Rank as DescriptionRankfrom Productleft outer joincontainstable(Product,Name, 'Formsof(INFLECTIONAL,red)and FORMSOF(INFLECTIONAL,blue)', language 'english') as NameResultson Product.ProductID=NameResults.[key]left outer joincontainstable(Product,Description, 'Formsof(INFLECTIONAL,red)and FORMSOF(INFLECTIONAL,blue)', language 'english') as DescriptionResultson Product.ProductID=DescriptionResults.[key]where(NameResults.Rank is not null)and(DescriptionResults.Rank is not null)order by(isnull(NameResults.Rank,0)* 3 + isnull(DescriptionResults.Rank,0))descFri, 02 Mar 2012 03:51:57 GMTashwiniranju14http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic532304-334-1.aspxHi All,My company is looking to hire new SQL develoeprs.What are some good analytical questions that we can ask a candidate to get an idea of how they think or work through processes?Thanks in afvance ChrisFri, 11 Jul 2008 05:31:55 GMTChristopher Stobbshttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1252551-334-1.aspxHi Experts,Can you please guide me, right im in L2 Core DBA, what is the next step i have to take?I mean what kind of stuff i have to develop in DBA carrer?I am planning to learn DATA STAGE is it fine or not ?I dont have Cluster administration Exp, How can develop Cluster side activities ?How is Environment in Datacenters, In case i have to work with datacenters, How can develop my self ?Thanks in advance for you guys.TxWed, 15 Feb 2012 09:38:17 GMTshiv-356842http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1239070-334-1.aspxAnyone have any idea how you would price up the following roles? Job sites seem to vary so much...1) DBA Team Leader2) Software Development Manager WITH DBA responsibilityThe latter seems the toughest to get a feel for as its an unusual positionPassing advice on to a friend of mine planning some new positions within his IT departmentThu, 19 Jan 2012 14:10:25 GMTShark Energyhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1219798-334-1.aspxNormally employers don't ask for just one set of skill such as in one suite of product as SQL server. This is more the case in the current environment of the over-supply of job seekers.If you have some level of proficiency in administration, and t-sql programming, what would be a good supplemental skill that you can consider learning to make yourself more marketable?I think .net programming would be a good supplement, but not everyone is cut out to be a a programmer.Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:49:27 GMTlkokeundahttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1207414-334-1.aspxI know there are a lot of answers depending on the size and type of organization, so let me qualify the question as a DBA working for a non-profit institution with around 500 employees. Meaning, the DBA does db admin, server admin, some development, and some reporting - both of the later for various departments.Right now I am in the Server & Network group, meaning I am a Domain Admin and I do a lot of non-database work like setting up servers, administering AD, scripting, ordering hardware, etc. This has many advantages, but I get derailed from my real job fairly often.So I am wondering if I should be in more of an Applications group, or some other area. I would like to know where others are in their organizational hierarchy. Thanks.SteveThu, 17 Nov 2011 05:29:11 GMTSQL-DBA