I saw this article about standing out in your career and really liked it. It's the message that I've tried to bring to people with my Modern Resume presentation on branding. You need to recognize that there is a lot of competition out there for jobs and anything you can do to make yourself more noticeable, or more desirable, is a good thing.
However you don't have to be a superstar to improve your chances of getting a better job, or keeping the one you have. You just need to show that you can do the job required, and that you bring value to the company. Not necessarily the same value as the next individual, but you bring good value for the salary that you are paid.
In this article it's mentioned that only about 3% of adults have goals, and only 1% take the time to write them down and work on them. That matches my experience overall in technology where so few people are willing to take the time to actively improve their career and themselves. Most people only look to meet the goals set by their boss so they can get a small raise or bonus.
You might not want to give presentations, or might not want to be a leader in the SQL Server world. That's fine, and it's what I would expect from most people. Most people don't want to be highly visible or noticed, or even stand out from the crowd.
You can, however, become more than just another average DBA by spending a little time focusing on your career. Think about where you would like to be in a year, even if that's just a better coder or administrator, and build a few goals to help get you there. If you're not sure where to start, post a few notes in our forums and I'm sure there will be plenty of people that would like to help mentor you.
You'd be surprised how much your career might benefit from a few small changes that set you apart from the average SQL Server professional that doesn't do anything.
Steve Jones
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