RE: What is the best way to on-board (train) a new junior employee?

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September 6, 2018 at 8:52 am

#2004722

Jeff Mlakar - Thursday, September 6, 2018 8:27 AM
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Depending on just *how* junior the person is will tell what needs to be done. If they lack such basic skills to grow into being proficient then they should not have been hired and will likely be shown the door soon. That's what school is for. In my experience the problem I see is less about a senior engineer not holding their hand and walking them through everything but rather more a reluctance to learn, try, and persist. Depending on the industry or company culture you find yourself in - if you expect hand holding then you are in for a rude awakening.
Ultimately I think it comes down to the junior person if they will be successful or not.

Hi Jeff,

In our case, we had a 20-year.old who'd been working with us for a few years as a junior sysadmin. He knew a little SQL, mostly MySQL, I think. He asked if he could join our team, we agreed and took him on with the blessing of upper management.

He had some SQL, but not a lot. He knew the network better than all of us put together and he has the right attitude. He wants to learn. He is competent, patient, can accept criticism and can accept advice. As far as I am concerned, he is the perfect Junior DBA. He just needs experience. He has been told to ask if he doesn't understand or know anything, which he does. Better slow and correct than fast and wrong.

Sean.