What was my very first post?

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What was my very first post?

Lowell

SSC Guru

Points: 323518
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September 18, 2010 at 7:22 am

#146969

Steve can you give me a link to my very first post?
this thread where someone asked "should i mention my forum posts on my resume" got me thinking;
Gail had an excellent point about how someone could sabotage their chances by posting mostly entry level questions vs posting solutions and answers and then having the interviewer actually follow up on that....
I've got enough posts that i cannot look back farther than 500 posts in the past....but it got me thinking...was my first post a question or an answer to someone else?
Lowell
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Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004504 More actions · Answer 1

Lowell (9/18/2010)
Gail had an excellent point about how someone could sabotage their chances by posting mostly entry level questions vs posting solutions and answers and then having the interviewer actually follow up on that....

Wasn't exactly what I meant.

Say for eg your resume reads (among other things)

4 years Enterprise DBA experience

MCITP SQL 2005 (Administration)

...

Frequent poster on <insert forums of choice>

Then an interested party follows that forum link and finds lots of things like this:

"What's the difference between a full backup and a differential backup?"

"My database crashed at 2am, how do I recover it?"

"What is database mirroring?"

the interested party may well start questioning that '4 years experience', not to mention how you got that certification.

Not everyone's going to be posting in-depth solutions and there's nothing wrong with asking questions, but if you want to flag that forum experience on a resume, make sure it's complimentary and isn't going to make the interviewer question the accuracy of the rest of the resume.

On a similar point, if the interested party checks and sees that the person is answering questions, but all they're doing is parroting earlier posts, it may not make that much of a good impression either

If, however, the resume lists no DBA experience at all and the person is applying for an junior DBA position, lots of entry-level questions on a forum may show interest and enthusiasm and be a positive.

(and no, I'm not pointing fingers at anyone in particular. Purely made up examples.)

I've got enough posts that i cannot look back farther than 500 posts in the past....but it got me thinking...was my first post a question or an answer to someone else?

Try google, search for your username, site:sqlservercentral.com and you can limit to a time frame if you want. Certainly will go back further than the 'My Posts' does (well, does for me).

Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

We walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 736255 More actions · Answer 2

I think most of us would be hard pressed to impress Gail in an interview :w00t:

You can link to your forum questions, if you are spinning it and using it to show that you can

1. ask for help

2. be polite and interact with people

3. show that you are working to improve your skills.

However I'd think that if you are trying to show some expertise, you want a good number of posts that show you are solving things for people as well.

The first posts I find by Lowell, by Post #

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic11040-4-1.aspx

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic11946-8-1.aspx

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic13484-8-1.aspx

Mine: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic547-32-1.aspx

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004356 More actions · Answer 3

Wow... more than 10 years ago. Well done Mr. Jones! 🙂

I don't recall my first post but I've been with you folks for (IIRC) more than 7 years. It's been a joy to watch this site and the people on it grow. It's too bad that some of the real ol' timers left... Sushilla, Frank Kalis, couple of other really good folks. I know Frank transplanted as some of the others have.

--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)

Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004504 More actions · Answer 4

Steve Jones - Editor (9/18/2010)
I think most of us would be hard pressed to impress Gail in an interview :w00t:

Nah. Know what you claim to know and show some enthusiasm for learning more and I'm already impressed. But then bar is very, very low here.

Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

We walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004356 More actions · Answer 5

GilaMonster (9/19/2010)
Steve Jones - Editor (9/18/2010)
I think most of us would be hard pressed to impress Gail in an interview :w00t:
Nah. Know what you claim to know and show some enthusiasm for learning more and I'm already impressed. But then bar is very, very low here.

Oh my. Do I ever agree with that! I just went through interviewing folks for two positions... Systems DBA and SQL Developer. I won't bore you all with the grimy details but I will say that I had to set the bar on the ground a couple of times so some of them wouldn't hurt themselves. I guess people really need to learn that if you haven't actually done something, you really shouldn't put in on your resume. :sick:

--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)

SQLRNNR SSC Guru Points: 281334 More actions · Answer 6

Jeff Moden (9/19/2010)
GilaMonster (9/19/2010)
Steve Jones - Editor (9/18/2010)
I think most of us would be hard pressed to impress Gail in an interview :w00t:
Nah. Know what you claim to know and show some enthusiasm for learning more and I'm already impressed. But then bar is very, very low here.
Oh my. Do I ever agree with that! I just went through interviewing folks for two positions... Systems DBA and SQL Developer. I won't bore you all with the grimy details but I will say that I had to set the bar on the ground a couple of times so some of them wouldn't hurt themselves. I guess people really need to learn that if you haven't actually done something, you really shouldn't put in on your resume. :sick:

The problem with that is they can step on the bar, it will roll, and they will flop on their back. I have seen several do that too!!

Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
_______________________________________________
I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
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