Training the next generation

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Training the next generation

Pat Wright

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Points: 105
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October 19, 2026 at 12:00 am

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Comments posted to this topic are about the item Training the next generation

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David.Poole SSC Guru Points: 76466 More actions · Answer 1

I spoke to a senior IT manager who told me that it was easier to hire a senior engineer than it was to fight the bureaucracy to promote an internal person. They felt this was true across the industry and had led to artificial wage inflation in the sector. The only way for an engineer to get promoted was to leave.

One year, the powers that be decided to run an experiment. They hired a tranche of graduates. This was possibly the best decision they had ever made. Graduates came with immense enthusiasm and energy and no pre-installed notions of how the job should be done. Learning new stuff was their normal; it had been their life.

They were great. All went on to bigger and better things. It would have been great to retain a few, but I can't blame them for leaving. Bureaucracy fights promotion and thus retention, and then moans that their investment in hiring juniors didn't pan out. "Moan, moan, moan...when we shoot ourselves in both feet, we can't walk"!

Hiring juniors is great, but there has to be a path for them to grow beyond that.

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Aaron N. Cutshall SSCrazy Eights Points: 9154 More actions · Answer 2

I also agree that hiring Juniors is a way to go because, as David said, they don't come with pre-conceived notions or established habits that are difficult to correct. I try to look for those individuals and help mentor them whenever possible. But, as already said, they need a growth path and too many companies don't do that. I have left organizations because there was no room for growth.

With one organization in particular, my supervisor's boss was going to retire and put him in her spot, which meant that I would inherit his. Sure enough, when that chain of events started to unfold, I was understandably upset when someone else was put in my supervisor's role instead of me. I felt it was a violation of promise and trust which was the final nail after an earlier episode of misplaced recognition. After all, nothing kills loyalty to a company more quickly than being overlooked.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sqlrv
Website: https://www.sqlrv.com

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004821 More actions · Answer 3

The trouble is, many companies will budget for and pay more to a stranger to join for a position than to pay for a Junior to become a Senior with esoteric knowledge.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

David.Poole SSC Guru Points: 76466 More actions · Answer 4

I have some big concerns with AI usage and skills adoption. There have always been advances that have made technical skills all but obsolete. One of this site's founders posted about how getting a SQL Server cluster up and running used to be serious geek skills territory. In the next version it became a so-what.

What I have seen AI do in the past few months is terrifying. Even what I have done with it terrifies me.

The bit that really scares me is that if it enables an individual to do so much, what happens to team interactions and soft skills? Tech skills come and go; its soft skills that are vital.

I'm Aspergers and I can tell you that, post Covid, I've lost a lot of the social skills I didn't realise I was using daily in the office. Facilitating people like me to work in greater isolation (because AI reduces the need) can't end well.

Ultimately we build software for humans. If suppress (or lose) our capacity for human interaction the software we build will reflect that.

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Rod at work SSC-Dedicated Points: 34140 More actions · Answer 5

David, when you said, "Bureaucracy fights promotion and thus retention, and then moans that their investment in hiring juniors didn't pan out." that really stood out to me. I work in state government, in the US, and I definitely see this play out, a LOT!! We've only hired young, foreign contractors over the last 18 months. We've not hired any citizens from within the state in that period of time. Last week I learned that all those contractors will be let go at the end of the current fiscal year. That's about a dozen people. We've trained a dozen people who will all suddenly leave, meanwhile no one has been hired or promoted. And now I know that it is likely the bureaucracy which is driving this situation.

Pat, I wish the management where I work had long term goals, but they don't. I don't know for sure, but I wonder if there has ever been a group of managers where I work, which takes a long view.

Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.

Pat Wright SSC Enthusiast Points: 105 More actions · Answer 6

Interesting perspective, Rod. I have been lucky to work for managers who had that long-term view. Hopefully, as we move forward in the future, we can find more managers who have that perspective. I know that it's critical for me to think about the future for my teams and what it means for them.

Pat Wright SSC Enthusiast Points: 105 More actions · Answer 7

Great Feedback and discussion from everyone on this thread. I feel like I need to do some follow-up editorials and some videos on this topic! Thank you