Are the posted questions getting worse?

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Are the posted questions getting worse?

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Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004504 More actions · Answer 1

CirquedeSQLeil (8/2/2010)
GilaMonster (8/2/2010)
Stefan Krzywicki (8/2/2010)
Roy Ernest (8/2/2010)
Five heads are better than two... Or so they think.. 🙂 That is why they prefer to take 5 not so good personnel (that comes cheap) over two competitive personnel (that is more expensive).
The only thing they forget is the cost they will spend trying to fix the mess that was created by the 5.. 🙂 Story of life in every company I guess......
And then they eventually hire a consultant or two to fix everything and end up spending far more than they "saved" with the not-so-good team.
Then another consultant or two to fix the mess that the first bunch of consultants made in trying to fix things.
Then those consultants will leave. And the company will repeat the cycle. They would prefer to play Russian roulette because they think they can beat the game.

I like to think that there are some consultants who ensure that when they leave things are fixed and staff trained so that there's no further need. Of course, the companies who prefer cheap over good aren't likely to hire those kind of people (or listen to them if they do)

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

Sioban Krzywicki One Orange Chip Points: 27770 More actions · Answer 2

GilaMonster (8/2/2010)
CirquedeSQLeil (8/2/2010)
GilaMonster (8/2/2010)
Stefan Krzywicki (8/2/2010)
Roy Ernest (8/2/2010)
Five heads are better than two... Or so they think.. 🙂 That is why they prefer to take 5 not so good personnel (that comes cheap) over two competitive personnel (that is more expensive).
The only thing they forget is the cost they will spend trying to fix the mess that was created by the 5.. 🙂 Story of life in every company I guess......
And then they eventually hire a consultant or two to fix everything and end up spending far more than they "saved" with the not-so-good team.
Then another consultant or two to fix the mess that the first bunch of consultants made in trying to fix things.
Then those consultants will leave. And the company will repeat the cycle. They would prefer to play Russian roulette because they think they can beat the game.
I like to think that there are some consultants who ensure they leave things are fixed and staff trained so that there's no further need. Of course, the companies who prefer cheap over good aren't likely to hire those kind of people (or listen to them if they do)

There are, or at least those that try to. And you're right, the cheap companies rarely hire them.

Not all of my assignments have been "disaster recovery" assignments, but of those that are they're pretty evenly split between the problem being caused be perm employees and other contractors or a mix of both.

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When you encounter a problem, if the solution isn't readily evident go back to the start and check your assumptions.
--------------------------------------
It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.
What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?
You ask a glass of water. -- Douglas Adams

Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004504 More actions · Answer 3

Stefan Krzywicki (8/2/2010)
GilaMonster (8/2/2010)
Stefan Krzywicki (8/2/2010)
Roy Ernest (8/2/2010)
Five heads are better than two... Or so they think.. 🙂 That is why they prefer to take 5 not so good personnel (that comes cheap) over two competitive personnel (that is more expensive).
The only thing they forget is the cost they will spend trying to fix the mess that was created by the 5.. 🙂 Story of life in every company I guess......
And then they eventually hire a consultant or two to fix everything and end up spending far more than they "saved" with the not-so-good team.
Then another consultant or two to fix the mess that the first bunch of consultants made in trying to fix things.
Now, now. Some of us are pretty good.

Sure, but the companies who hire cheap over good for full time staff will probably do the same for consultants.

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

Sioban Krzywicki One Orange Chip Points: 27770 More actions · Answer 4

GilaMonster (8/2/2010)
Stefan Krzywicki (8/2/2010)
GilaMonster (8/2/2010)
Stefan Krzywicki (8/2/2010)
Roy Ernest (8/2/2010)
Five heads are better than two... Or so they think.. 🙂 That is why they prefer to take 5 not so good personnel (that comes cheap) over two competitive personnel (that is more expensive).
The only thing they forget is the cost they will spend trying to fix the mess that was created by the 5.. 🙂 Story of life in every company I guess......
And then they eventually hire a consultant or two to fix everything and end up spending far more than they "saved" with the not-so-good team.
Then another consultant or two to fix the mess that the first bunch of consultants made in trying to fix things.
Now, now. Some of us are pretty good.
Sure, but the companies who hire cheap over good for full time staff will probably do the same for consultants.

The first few times, sure! : -)

--------------------------------------
When you encounter a problem, if the solution isn't readily evident go back to the start and check your assumptions.
--------------------------------------
It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.
What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?
You ask a glass of water. -- Douglas Adams

Jack Corbett SSC Guru Points: 184394 More actions · Answer 5

Stefan Krzywicki (8/2/2010)
Roy Ernest (8/2/2010)
Five heads are better than two... Or so they think.. 🙂 That is why they prefer to take 5 not so good personnel (that comes cheap) over two competitive personnel (that is more expensive).
The only thing they forget is the cost they will spend trying to fix the mess that was created by the 5.. 🙂 Story of life in every company I guess......
And then they eventually hire a consultant or two to fix everything and end up spending far more than they "saved" with the not-so-good team.

Sounds like I should go into consulting. 😛

Maybe next year.

Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
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Sioban Krzywicki One Orange Chip Points: 27770 More actions · Answer 6

Jack Corbett (8/2/2010)
Stefan Krzywicki (8/2/2010)
Roy Ernest (8/2/2010)
Five heads are better than two... Or so they think.. 🙂 That is why they prefer to take 5 not so good personnel (that comes cheap) over two competitive personnel (that is more expensive).
The only thing they forget is the cost they will spend trying to fix the mess that was created by the 5.. 🙂 Story of life in every company I guess......
And then they eventually hire a consultant or two to fix everything and end up spending far more than they "saved" with the not-so-good team.
Sounds like I should go into consulting. 😛
Maybe next year.

Consulting has been a lot of fun for me. Different people, different companies, different problems and solutions and technologies.

--------------------------------------
When you encounter a problem, if the solution isn't readily evident go back to the start and check your assumptions.
--------------------------------------
It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.
What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?
You ask a glass of water. -- Douglas Adams

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004363 More actions · Answer 7

Lynn Pettis (8/2/2010)
Gianluca Sartori (8/2/2010)
Jeff Moden (8/2/2010)
Gianluca Sartori (8/2/2010)
BTW, my hourly rate is around 11 euros (14 dollars).
Wow! If that's actually true, that's WAY too low for someone of your level of talent, Gianluca. You need to have a look around and, no, you shouldn't have to move to get a better hourly rate.
Thank you for your kind words, Jeff. Unfortunately, my rate seems to be perfectly aligned with the market here. Looking at the job market in my area I should be happy to have a job.
I sometimes see 150K $/year DBA positions in the US and I wonder why I'm still here.
What exactly are you americans doing at work that makes you worth all that money?
I wish I could find one of those $150K/yr jobs, that would make my wife happy.

Same here... I just don't want to become an Oracle DBA. 😛

--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 Burrows SSC Guru Points: 65142 More actions · Answer 8

Jeff Moden (8/3/2010)
Same here... I just don't want to become an Oracle DBA. 😛

Shame Jeff,

I'd love to see the Pork Chop launcher backfire 😉

Far away is close at hand in the images of elsewhere.
Anon.

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004363 More actions · Answer 9

Alvin Ramard (8/2/2010)
Jeff Moden (8/2/2010)
Gianluca Sartori (8/2/2010)
What exactly are you americans doing at work that makes you worth all that money?
Heh... we don't get to keep all that. Most of us work the first 4 months of the year just to pay taxes and benefits.
Let's compare, though. A "quaint" starter home with a couple of bedrooms and one bathroom and a small kitchen goes for somewhere between 150k and 250k USD (California is insanely higher so we won't include them). What do they go for where you're at? That could explain a lot.
Jeff, try moving to Canada. You'll be be lucky if you get you taxes paid before July. However, you'll have much, much, much, less worry about medical costs.

Heh... what medical costs?

I'm reminded of something that Margaret Thatcher supposedly said and I'll paraphrase it because I didn't memorize it... the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of even other people's money. 😛

--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)

ChrisM@Work SSC Guru Points: 186127 More actions · Answer 10

Jeff Moden (8/3/2010)
I'm reminded of something that Margaret Thatcher supposedly said and I'll paraphrase it because I didn't memorize it... the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of even other people's money. 😛

Close enough, works better with the 'even'.

We've recently finished a few years experiment with socialism here in the UK. Everybody's even now, but some are more even than others 😀

^{“Write the query the simplest way. If through testing it becomes clear that the performance is inadequate, consider alternative query forms.” - Gail Shaw}

For fast, accurate and documented assistance in answering your questions, please read this article.
Understanding and using APPLY, (I) and (II) Paul White
Hidden RBAR: Triangular Joins / The "Numbers" or "Tally" Table: What it is and how it replaces a loop Jeff Moden

TomThomson SSC Guru Points: 104773 More actions · Answer 11

Chris Morris-439714 (8/3/2010)
We've recently finished a few years experiment with socialism here in the UK. Everybody's even now, but some are more even than others 😀

AH, the good old days down on the Farm - fortunately they are past and gone, although Farmer Blair seems still asppears be more even than others.

Tom

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 736270 More actions · Answer 12

Playing Devil's Advocate, the problems with capitalism come with monopolies that can be just as much of a problem as a socialist government.

I think we have a pretty good balance in the US, though tipping a little from side to side at times.

Brandie Tarvin SSC Guru Points: 173068 More actions · Answer 13

GilaMonster (8/2/2010)
WayneS (8/2/2010)
I would realistically charge (for something like this) a little less than what Gail is mentioning here... after all, she is a lot better than I! 😎
I was starting to worry. I know my rate is low compared to ppl in the USA, but still...

Before the recession hit, one consulting company was paying DBAs $22.00 per hour in my neck of the woods. Then another came along and was paying $35.00. That was about 6-7 years ago. And those were MS SQL Server only type DBAs.

On the other hand, Oracle DBA positions tended to ask for not only Oracle DBA skills, but programming and server admin skills as well, and they were paying maybe $16.00-19.00 per hour. Seemed the higher the required skill set, the less the companies were willing to pay. Not sure why that was.

But $14.00 per hour? That's help desk / travel around fixing hardware pay where I live. And it was not that much more than I was making when I worked in Customer Service.

Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

ChrisM@Work SSC Guru Points: 186127 More actions · Answer 14

Tom.Thomson (8/3/2010)
Chris Morris-439714 (8/3/2010)
We've recently finished a few years experiment with socialism here in the UK. Everybody's even now, but some are more even than others 😀
AH, the good old days down on the Farm - fortunately they are past and gone, although Farmer Blair seems still asppears be more even than others.

Farmer Blair has done exceptionally well since crossing the floor outside of the house. Farmer Brown, though far more even than most, still appears quite odd.

^{“Write the query the simplest way. If through testing it becomes clear that the performance is inadequate, consider alternative query forms.” - Gail Shaw}

For fast, accurate and documented assistance in answering your questions, please read this article.
Understanding and using APPLY, (I) and (II) Paul White
Hidden RBAR: Triangular Joins / The "Numbers" or "Tally" Table: What it is and how it replaces a loop Jeff Moden

Brandie Tarvin SSC Guru Points: 173068 More actions · Answer 15

Steve Jones - Editor (8/3/2010)
I think we have a pretty good balance in the US, though tipping a little from side to side at times.

I believe the official phrase is "Self-Correcting Market." Or something like that. @=)

It seems to happen that way with pay rates, anyway. After the tech bust, salaries went down. They've bumped up a little since then, but now with the financial market bust, they've gone down (or flat) again.

When we get a lot of employers who need people and hardly any people who need jobs, rates will climb again.

Jack, I don't recommend consulting right now. The job market's too wobbly. You could get burned and find yourself without options (and jobs) if a employer decides they don't have the budget for that 6 month contract you were promised and cuts you after 6 weeks. (Happened to me way back when).

Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.