February 6, 2011 at 1:02 am
Comments posted to this topic are about the item I lied, now what?
February 6, 2011 at 11:03 pm
Let the ranting begin... 😀
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
February 7, 2011 at 1:28 am
I can't imagine someone who lied to get the job in the first place being willing to 'fess up when the excrement hits the rotating ventilation device...
February 7, 2011 at 1:38 am
I agree with you Steve, being honest on what you don't know is better than getting exposed terribly.
M&M
February 7, 2011 at 1:41 am
paul.knibbs (2/7/2011)
I can't imagine someone who lied to get the job in the first place being willing to 'fess up when the excrement hits the rotating ventilation device...
Me neither.
I worked once with someone who must have lied her way through her interview (when I joined the company she was already there). She would switch teams every year or two, whenever it starting becoming apparent to her managers that she really couldn't (or wouldn't) do her job even after they provided the training that she insisted was absolutely vital.
It was not fun to have her as a team member.
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
February 7, 2011 at 1:45 am
GilaMonster (2/7/2011)She would switch teams every year or two, whenever it starting becoming apparent to her managers that she really couldn't (or wouldn't) do her job even after they provided the training that she insisted was absolutely vital.
How on earth did she get away with that? If everyone she was working with KNEW she was useless, how had higher management not cottoned on to that fact?
February 7, 2011 at 2:05 am
It's sad, and it's more common than we would like it. I love the SSC, the articles, the fórums, but I also like to write down my own queries, and from time to time get a new approach or idea from here. Unfortunately we have a bunch of people who simply thinks that's uses the SSC as a crutch is better than think by yourself
February 7, 2011 at 2:05 am
paul.knibbs (2/7/2011)
How on earth did she get away with that? If everyone she was working with KNEW she was useless, how had higher management not cottoned on to that fact?
Different teams with different reporting lines (BA, development, DBA), friends in HR and a little bit of blackmail from time to time. Combine that lot with South Africa's labour laws and you have fun. She managed to get 3 people fired (including the head of IT) in 2 years by manufacturing charges of racism against them.
At one point we were both in the DBA team. Performance reviews were upcoming and it included what was called the 360 review (rated by your manager, rated by your team members, rated by your 'clients'). She came up to my desk and told me if I gave her a rating below 4 (out of 5) she would make sure that I got fired.
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
February 7, 2011 at 3:13 am
I suppose most people exaggerate their knowledge to get into a job, and eventually they do hit a brick wall where their knowledge fails them, but they did say in the interview that it was within their skill set. I've encountered both over the years.
Most people will exaggerate some points (or their employment agencies do it for them - in some situations I've even seen it actively encouraged). for these people I often find that they either glean what information they can online from expert forums such as this one, and when they really do get stuck it is advisable to own up. At least they tend to come out with plausible explanations (technology has moved on, they have never encountered the problem quite this way before, go to colleagues and say they are having a memory lapse (I will confess to this one) or ask for a refresher course if one is available. Often they do bring a valuable skill set into the company, easing the pressure of the team, adding to the knowledgebase where they do know something that others don't, and white lies like these can be overlooked to an extent (as long as it doesn't become a daily thing).
However there are some people that blatantly lie their way into a position with hardly a clue what to do. They can sound very convincing in an interview, they can prep for tests (we try to devise things completely out of the ordinary that we half expect them to fail on - we look for a plausible explanation as to why), and then worm their way through by somehow managing to get others to do their work for them. Why they do it I have never quite figured out; they make the rest of their team's lives a misery and what is worse, they tend to sucker up to someone in authority, endear themselves to them, and then trying to get rid of them is more painful than having your toenails pulled out slowly over hot braziers!
I've always lived by the motto of be honest. I've told white lies to get into jobs in my time, picked up the pace once I've gotten in and know how they work and what they do by teaching myself and filling in the gaps (no two companies ever work the same way). But whenever I've hit something I don't know (whether anyone else thinks I should or not), or things have gone pear shaped, I've always owned up to my part, stood and taken the flak. I guess I'm fortunate to work for a company that recognises that we are human, we do make mistakes and we can't know everything (regardless of how frustrating that may be).
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It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the Beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed,
the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
February 7, 2011 at 3:50 am
Rayven (2/7/2011)They can sound very convincing in an interview, they can prep for tests (we try to devise things completely out of the ordinary that we half expect them to fail on - we look for a plausible explanation as to why), and then worm their way through by somehow managing to get others to do their work for them. Why they do it I have never quite figured out;
Yes, it's incredible--in some cases you have to think that if these people put as much effort into learning the job as they do in to avoiding work they'd be MD in a couple of years! 😀
February 7, 2011 at 5:11 am
Such a sad topic. The best moves in my career have come from saying that I knew x could be done but, no, I didn't know how...Give me some time to figure it out? The answer has almost always been positive. I get paid to solve problems, not to know all the answers.
February 7, 2011 at 5:21 am
I get paid to solve problems, not to know all the answers.
Wise words indeed. I'll put that on my next pay review. 😎
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It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the Beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed,
the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
February 7, 2011 at 5:33 am
Frankly, I am a bit surprised by this editorial. I'll just be blunt and say that it could -no, should- have been shortened to just the first and most of the last paragraph:
"You have a job and realize that you're in over your head. Perhaps you misled a manager that couldn't really evaluate your technical skills, or maybe you memorized enough answers from Books Online to get through in interview. It could be that you took a test during the interview and used your cell phone to post the questions on SQLServerCentral and someone gave you the answers.
At some point you will be fired. And you would deserve it."
Note that this does not apply to those who slightly exaggerate their skills (though I do frown on that habit), but it does to those who, in any way, mislead the company hiring them. And the entire first paragraph is about misleadingpeople in various ways.
February 7, 2011 at 6:06 am
Wow. There are people who do lie on thier resumes, and I've interviewed quite a few of them. NEver ceases to amaze me... one person I interviewed was supposedly a DBA and didn't know how to do a backup.....
February 7, 2011 at 6:28 am
SuperDBA-207096 (2/7/2011)
Wow. There are people who do lie on thier resumes, and I've interviewed quite a few of them. NEver ceases to amaze me... one person I interviewed was supposedly a DBA and didn't know how to do a backup.....
I've had a few of them. I've had the performance tuning specialist who didn't know what an index was and had never heard of an execution plan.
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
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