April 14, 2010 at 8:02 am
Grant Fritchey (4/14/2010)
Jeff Moden (4/14/2010)
abrar.ahmad-1058946 (4/13/2010)
[font="Verdana"]Can anyone of ranks higher than "Old Hand"(SSC ranking) let forward some exceptional tips for "SSC Rookie" or less to attain/pave their career with a Plus? :smooooth:------------------- :exclamationmark:[/font]
or they should only "Continuing Education" blindfolded 🙁
Yes... become self motivated and buy SQL Server Developer's Edition for home (get a computer if you don't have one. They're relatively cheap now adays). Then dig into the questions and articles posted on forums like this one. To be really good at anything, you have to practice everyday.
In other words, make the investment that a lot of people won't... time.
Ditto! Lots and lots of time. That's the only way to lift yourself up.
Add my vote to this one.
Also, if you're a developer, remember that Visual Studio Express is free, as is SQL Server Express. VS 2010 Express product are now available for download.
Edit: Added reference to VS Express
For best practices on asking questions, please read the following article: Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help[/url]
April 14, 2010 at 8:13 am
Continuing your education in IT is kind of like going to the Chiropractor. Once you start going, you find yourself always going back to keep yourself tuned up and in line. You're never done with it. In IT, they don't call it the bleeding edge of technology for nothing. 😀
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
April 14, 2010 at 9:16 am
I agree, education is great. Now I think we've beaten that particular topic to death, Steve. Can we talk about something else?
What about the need to take control of IT back from Subject Matter Experts? There was certainly a need to get away from the IT-as-high-priesthood way of running things, but I think the pendulum has swung too far in favour of end users.
I'm seeing too many SME-driven projects that produce lovely UIs without regard for reliability, performance, scalability or the need to interchange data with other systems (in short the best practices that IT professionals used to insist on when they were running the show).
Is anyone else seeing this trend? Or am I just turning into a bitter old crank? 😉
Robb
April 14, 2010 at 9:45 am
I rely on this site and buy books on SQLS.
Thank you SQLServerCentral!
The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. - Stephen Hawking
April 14, 2010 at 10:23 am
Robert.Smith-1001156 (4/14/2010)
I agree, education is great. Now I think we've beaten that particular topic to death, Steve. Can we talk about something else?What about the need to take control of IT back from Subject Matter Experts? There was certainly a need to get away from the IT-as-high-priesthood way of running things, but I think the pendulum has swung too far in favour of end users.
I'm seeing too many SME-driven projects that produce lovely UIs without regard for reliability, performance, scalability or the need to interchange data with other systems (in short the best practices that IT professionals used to insist on when they were running the show).
Is anyone else seeing this trend? Or am I just turning into a bitter old crank? 😉
Robb
Yes.
It needs to come back a bit, but not too far. We need the pendulum to swing and stop in the middle.
April 14, 2010 at 10:26 am
I think some standards should exist. I don't necessarily want government involved, but, at some level to help identify what a person can do at a basic level.
I've known people who call themselves developers or programmers because they can code a bit of VBA in Excel. I've also known people with a string of letters after their name and couldn't code a simple entry/maintenance program with editing. I've also known people who are self-taught that are excellent. Maybe some non-govt body can develop something.
April 14, 2010 at 10:59 am
I wish I had mentioned this in the recent thread on certification, but in my previous life in the insurance profession, I attained a professional certification (C.I.C.) that, once achieved, required an 20 hours of continuing education to maintain the certification. Such classes were offered by the organization offering the certification throughout the country and throughout the year.
One might be cynical about the value of classes held by the organization offering them, but this particular organization took the quality of the classes very seriously, and kept the prices affordable. Both the original classes/tests and the continuing education classes were relevant to the real world, and it was surprisingly easy to persuade employers to pay for the continuing education to allow us to maintain our certification. In fact, rather than just having to pay for such continuing ed classes in stride, my employers actually supported taking such classes because they were impressed with the certifications themselves.
Personally, I loved this particular organization and their certification, and I think it would be a great model for DB professionals.
April 14, 2010 at 11:01 am
I attained a professional certification (C.I.C.) that, once achieved, required an 20 hours of continuing education to maintain the certification.
Clarification: I left out the fact that 20 hours of continuing ed were required annually to maintain the CIC certification.
April 14, 2010 at 3:07 pm
skjoldtc (4/14/2010)
I think some standards should exist. I don't necessarily want government involved, but, at some level to help identify what a person can do at a basic level.I've known people who call themselves developers or programmers because they can code a bit of VBA in Excel. I've also known people with a string of letters after their name and couldn't code a simple entry/maintenance program with editing. I've also known people who are self-taught that are excellent. Maybe some non-govt body can develop something.
I've known people with the "standard" of a certification (MS and otherwise) under their belt and they still know virtually nothing. Conversely, I've also had people with no certs just blow the competition away with their knowledge and ability.
I've also known a PHD in Mathematics that couldn't do even the simplest numbering system conversion in his head! I mean, c'mon! If you can't trust a PHD (and I verified he was) from a well know university, what the heck kind of "standard" do you think anyone can deploy that will identify that a person is qualified even at the most basic level?
The best way to determine if someone can do a particular job is during the interview and maybe a practical test. Learn how to do both so you don't get taken by candidates. Leave I.T. the way it is.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
April 14, 2010 at 11:27 pm
I've known people with the "standard" of a certification (MS and otherwise) under their belt and they still know virtually nothing. Conversely, I've also had people with no certs just blow the competition away with their knowledge and ability.
I've also known a PHD in Mathematics that couldn't do even the simplest numbering system conversion in his head! I mean, c'mon! If you can't trust a PHD (and I verified he was) from a well know university, what the heck kind of "standard" do you think anyone can deploy that will identify that a person is qualified even at the most basic level?
The best way to determine if someone can do a particular job is during the interview and maybe a practical test. Learn how to do both so you don't get taken by candidates. Leave I.T. the way it is.
Bbbrrriillliiiiaaannnntttttt...... ! :w00t:
Final Goal: A professional whether even illiterate must comply with the professional seat s/he possesses.
April 15, 2010 at 2:51 am
IT requires a certain intellect and personality types at the same time. Miss out on one of these and no way in hell are you going excel at it. Consequently most knowledge you will pick up on the job, you identify problems, then find a solution for it. This is an ongoing learning process that comes with experience and a stimulating environment. Little new outside information is needed to keep this process going, a good example is the numbers table or new constructs as cross/outer apply or the existence of the output clause. Once you played a bit with any of these, you start integrating them into new solutions for both old and existing problems. The result is a personal evolution that brings your effectiveness to a higher level again and again.
In short, no formal training or certification in the world will make a blind man see! But give a real IT person a stick, a blindfold and some obstacles to overcome, and he will find a way to pass the obstacle one way or another!
It just takes a certen kind of mind, thats all!
April 15, 2010 at 9:50 am
Continued Ed is something you have to have an interest in if you plan on spending a long time in this profession. To stop learning is not an option even to stay in the same place. To stop learning is to become a dinosaur and eventually fossilized. This is not at all where we want to be.
M.
Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!
April 15, 2010 at 10:36 am
I like the idea of continuing education - for the self-motivated that already happens. For those that excel in IT, I think that already happens by nature. Technology is swift and changing - IT has to keep up with it.
I don't want a governing body explicitly over IT. There are enough regulations and governing bodies that control enough of what happens in IT (SOX, HIPAA, PCI). Granted those are for process, policy and implementation - I don't see the value in a body that monitors continuing education credits - unless I opt to do it as a part of a program (i.e. a certification).
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
_______________________________________________
I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
Learn Extended Events
April 15, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Am wondering if people would be willing to share more on their experiences with self learning - ie learning from home, install developer edition and so on. I have find this hugely limiting given the effort. A complex work environment with all its challenges is the best learning ground there ever is and it is actually a blessing in disguise if you end up in one. There are only so many issues you can recreate on Adventureworks and mess around on your own. Ok, may be a few things around how to install the software, debug install, simple queries and so on - but I'd like a juicy messed up situation to learn from. How do you create one? Would love to hear more from others in this regard.
April 15, 2010 at 10:36 pm
dma-669038 (4/15/2010)
Am wondering if people would be willing to share more on their experiences with self learning - ie learning from home, install developer edition and so on. I have find this hugely limiting given the effort. A complex work environment with all its challenges is the best learning ground there ever is and it is actually a blessing in disguise if you end up in one. There are only so many issues you can recreate on Adventureworks and mess around on your own. Ok, may be a few things around how to install the software, debug install, simple queries and so on - but I'd like a juicy messed up situation to learn from. How do you create one? Would love to hear more from others in this regard.
Short and sweet - delete some random stuff or modify a file with a hex editor, bring up the server, see if you can fix it! Or pick some of the tougher questions from the forums and recreate them.
Really you are only limited by your hardware and your imagination ... certainly it's easier to look at areas that you will see in a work environment, but there is so much to SQL now that you will probably never finish. If you are comfortable with all the 2005 features, move to 2008 then 2008R2. Throw in SSIS, SSAS, SSRS and Powershell. Don't forget to jump into c# or vb.net so you can handle CLR and understand the code that is hitting your databases. Even if it's not applicable to your work now, it may be in the future.
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