September 9, 2012 at 5:11 am
Comments posted to this topic are about the item A Cloudy Future
September 9, 2012 at 11:55 pm
I have found that once you get to a certain level, and you don't limit yourself to be strictly the DBA world, the unemployment worries drop off significantly.
I have a three year old resume online and still get calls from recruiters. 😎
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Jim P.
A little bit of this and a little byte of that can cause bloatware.
September 10, 2012 at 12:55 am
Jim P. (9/9/2012)
I have found that once you get to a certain level, and you don't limit yourself to be strictly the DBA world, the unemployment worries drop off significantly.I have a three year old resume online and still get calls from recruiters. :cool
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Jim P.
A little bit of this and a little byte of that can cause bloatware.
so may we are approaching towards a bloatware recipe :w00t:, by hiring "Master of None" 🙂
September 10, 2012 at 7:35 am
"the person that has a variety of skills in multiple areas with a history of solving problems is desirable"
You would think so. Until they think you are a jack of all trades and a master of none for whatever reason. Then wait until one (or more) of the people from "the team" gets to interview you and finds out that you can do their job as well as the one you are applying for. You may as well just get up and walk away.
Cheers
September 10, 2012 at 9:51 am
The one who learns rises. The one who stagnates dies. Your choice!
Have a good one!
Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!
September 10, 2012 at 11:19 am
jfogel (9/10/2012)
"the person that has a variety of skills in multiple areas with a history of solving problems is desirable"You would think so. Until they think you are a jack of all trades and a master of none for whatever reason. Then wait until one (or more) of the people from "the team" gets to interview you and finds out that you can do their job as well as the one you are applying for. You may as well just get up and walk away.
I've been told that I wasn't going to be considered for a position because I seem to be "more of a generalist" than a Database Developer. Sucks for me that I can do more than one thing well.
-- Stephen Cook
September 10, 2012 at 11:57 am
All this talk about being multi-talented on a large number of platforms is interesting because it's actually contrary to what my personal experiennce has been. It wasn't until after I decided to concentrate almost exclusively on the world of databases and T-SQL in particular more than ten years ago that it became easier to find a job.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
September 10, 2012 at 12:51 pm
My point is that one would think that as an applicant that the prospective employer would look favorable on those with a large skill set and those able to go above and beyond the job description. That is pure crap and your approach is spot on. Be the expert applying for the specific position and mention nothing else. If one were a doctor would you mention that you know how to clean a toilet during an interview? Do you want to be a doctor and a janitor? If a potential employer actually does make a big deal out of an applicant being able to do all sorts of things then I say run away. That should tell you something.
Cheers
September 10, 2012 at 1:27 pm
It depends; smaller shops often need more generalists. Larger shops often only want a triangular pegs for triangular holes.
There's also a large amount of personal preference involved; some people feel better having multi-skilled employees thinking that they can solve integration problems and/or handle a wide range of business needs more quickly (etc), some people feel better having a single-skilled employee thinking that they can solve deep problems and/or handle a smaller range of business needs more quickly (etc).
I prefer someone with one to a few "deep" skills and a wide range of other skills. Others differ; I've seen good and bad from people who fall into both camps.
September 10, 2012 at 2:03 pm
Jeff Moden (9/10/2012)
All this talk about being multi-talented on a large number of platforms is interesting because it's actually contrary to what my personal experience has been. It wasn't until after I decided to concentrate almost exclusively on the world of databases and T-SQL in particular more than ten years ago that it became easier to find a job.
Being a generalist in many areas doesn't preclude you being an expert in one, like T-SQL.
September 10, 2012 at 7:31 pm
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (9/10/2012)
Jeff Moden (9/10/2012)
All this talk about being multi-talented on a large number of platforms is interesting because it's actually contrary to what my personal experience has been. It wasn't until after I decided to concentrate almost exclusively on the world of databases and T-SQL in particular more than ten years ago that it became easier to find a job.Being a generalist in many areas doesn't preclude you being an expert in one, like T-SQL.
Agreed. And there are many good folks on this fine forum that have become experts in more than one area. I've found that that's the exception rather than the rule, though.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
September 10, 2012 at 8:29 pm
Being a generalist in many areas doesn't preclude you being an expert in one, like T-SQL.
I advertise myself as a production DBA. I can sit around and write T-SQL SP's day in and out that work. I don't enjoy it. I can look at a SQL Server, figure out what the internal bottlenecks are. I can also figure out where the network routing issues are or build a server from bare metal.
I can also do it with Oracle, but that is a few years old.
When you say SQL to me, I ask questions of what chunks you need help with. I don't commit on you need a prod DBA but want a developer.
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Jim P.
A little bit of this and a little byte of that can cause bloatware.
September 12, 2012 at 10:57 am
Steve,
I definitely agree on the point of working smarter, not harder. I see way too much of the other way around nowadays. Don't try to reinvent the wheel just to say one could. It generally impresses no one anyway, and it usually wastes a lot of time. Use the huge toolbox that is already at everyone's disposal, Google it first. I would also add to not let employers "pigeonhole" your career into what they need. I tell employers straight out when interviewing, "I am a production DBA, not a reports developer." Once you start taking on this role, you tend to inherit it quickly (largely because no one else wants it) and you then find yourself at your new position doing little else. The big problem with developing reports, is you are never done with them. Remember, it is your career, don't let other people dictate where it goes, and if that means leaving or not taking the job in the first place, then so be it. Your career is kind of like sitting on top of a stagecoach with someone else. You can let someone else determine the path, or you can grab a hold of the reins and determine that yourself. The key, is don't spend years making that decision. 😀
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
September 13, 2012 at 9:06 am
I have held four different full-time jobs over the last 8 years. Each job required a different skill set. The result is the precisely this sort of "undesirable" skill set: jack of all trades, master of none.
Even before I read this, I have wondered how much talent is going unused because it doesn't fit into the boxes of prospective employers. Apparently I'm not the only one who has this problem. And the march of technology only is making it worse. You can't get experience with a tool until you need it to accomplish your current tasks, and then years later you find that so many people won't hire you because you never got experience with the tool.
Shamefully, with all of the wonderful technology we have now, the process of matching those who have talent/skills with those who need the talent/skills is largely stuck in the 20th century.
Jay Bienvenu | http://bienv.com | http://twitter.com/jbnv
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