Are the posted questions getting worse?
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Well I have been out of a job for a few weeks now, and I must say reading this thread does not show recruiters in a good light. I have talked to several recruiters but have only had one interview with a real company.
With my resume being parsed by the job sites, I see jobs as a server at local restaurants (my resume say SQL Server), full blown .NET developer (my resume say I have worked with VB.NET), and other jobs I would not know where to start to do. Also I try to indicate everywhere that I want to stay in central Ohio. But still get questions about AZ, PA, MI...
By-the-way I have seen several jobs listing ITIL. I had not heard of this until now. Is this something I should invest time to learn?
Trying not to be too depressed over the hole thing. 🙂
- djj - Wednesday, March 8, 2017 1:02 PM
Been working for my current employer for five years, I still get emails for positions as an Oracle DBA (I did some Oracle development for a year), PeopleSoft Administrator (I provided SQL Server support to a PeopleSoft development/support team for five years but did nothing directly with PeopleSoft), and even positions that are really Web development positions not SQL Server positions. It is ridiculous, and this is because no one actually reads my resume just that they got a hit in their database.
Have you tried getting in touch with the local SQL Server Users Group? They may be able to assist in your job search.
- Lynn Pettis - Wednesday, March 8, 2017 2:53 PM
And most of the recruiters don't bother reading the resume because they don't understand the differences between these things. Most recruiters don't know that Oracle and sql server are different. I mean in their world we are all developers, they don't understand that RPG and SQL are so different. They just see a TLA that they recognize and don't understand. To their defense if they did understand all this technical stuff it would mean that our highly trained and focused abilities can be understood by anybody. I am kind of glad that there is still a lot of mystery around this stuff.
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Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/ - djj - Wednesday, March 8, 2017 1:02 PM
ITIL - a buzz word to google.
Just be aware that how and what is implemented at a company may be loosely related to the actual process.
Probably good to at least get an overview of what it usually refers to.
Where I worked last, they had started somethings related to it - metrics that gave the business some insight into how well IT was living up to SLA's, and some better visibility to the major projects IT was working on.
Overall, probably a good thing. But when I left, there were still some gaps to be filled. There was a ticket system that had no way to weigh a task (i.e. - inserting a new dimension and measure into the Data Warehouse could be one ticket, and a disabled AD account another), so if you were looking at number of closed tasks, you might not have a valid picture of real impact to the business. Hopefully they have been able to improve things.Take some time to learn some new and exciting things, or fill in some gaps in what you know.
It also makes a good topic when you interview - shows good initiative to a prospective employer.I wonder if it is possible to find a recruiter that actually has done the same work?
I'd imagine they would be an employers dream in getting qualified candidates in for a job. - djj - Wednesday, March 8, 2017 1:02 PM
I've not been following but let me ask... what type of position are you looking for, what is your zip code, and what is your max radius of travel?
--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) -
I could use some constructive feedback here. Thanks.
- Jeff Moden - Wednesday, March 8, 2017 4:42 PM
I live near Columbus which is the area I am looking for. Once had a job that was 45 miles away, and do not want to do that again if possible to avoid.
I have been applying for SQL DBA, however employers seem to want SSIS and SSRS experience, which I can work with but have only minimum exposure to. - djj - Wednesday, March 8, 2017 6:12 PM
One of the things that you have to remember is that employer's job descriptions are for a "purple squirrel" that can do everything. The other important thing is that the answer is always "No" unless you ask. Apply for jobs that are looking for someone good in SQL Server (especially the programming and maintenance aspects). Let them know what you're really good at and continue to tell folks that you've not worked with SSIS or SSRS but that your knowledge of T-SQL, tables, indexes, and the like are frequent additions to both and that you'll take the time to learn it without them necessarily having to spend $$$ training you on it.
My other recommendation is to find and go talk with some of the folks at recruiting shops. A lot of times, they're the only ones that are even aware that a particular job is open because they don't want to get flooded by people who don't actually have much skill in any area. Take the time to have a bi-directional interview and explain what you know. Explain any major accomplishments for performance, resource usage, cost reduction, whatever. Brag without bragging or being arrogant.
The gray in your beard tells me (also long of tooth and gray of beard) that you already know all of this but thought I'd confirm what you already know. And, remember... recruiters have a tough job. Help them help you. They secretly keep the wheels from falling off this industry and if you tell them that in a genuine fashion, you'll have them jumping through hoops trying to help you. .
--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) -
Do you know when you've explained to a user at least twice that unless they fix their data and pay for the changes necessary to map two entities directly, the problem will happen again and again, and they do nothing about it for months and then ring up screaming because the problem's happened again; that.
On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" ... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.
—Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a PhilosopherHow to post a question to get the most help http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537
- Neil Burton - Thursday, March 9, 2017 1:21 AM
All.
The.
Time.
Hugo Kornelis, SQL Server/Data Platform MVP (2006-2016)
Visit my SQL Server blog: https://sqlserverfast.com/blog/
SQL Server Execution Plan Reference: https://sqlserverfast.com/epr/ - Jeff Moden - Wednesday, March 8, 2017 7:19 PM
One thing I learned when I first started job hunting for DBA positions... I only had my home office experience with SSRS. Basically, I got the DVD as an extra when I ordered my copy of SQL 2000 Dev edition. I played with it at home and then put that on my resume as "I've touched it, I know what it looks like, but I haven't done this in a business setting" kind of experience.
When asked about it in interviews, I was honest. I told them I'd played with it in a home setting. Thing is, the job I was interviewing for actually was looking for someone who knew what SSRS was. Either no one else was honest with them about their experience or they couldn't find anyone else who'd played with it. Either way, I got hired for a 3 month contract, which turned into a 6 month contract, which turned into my current job. I joke that it was my gaming experience that got me this job, but I really think it was the fact that I was honest about "I know what it is and I can learn more about it if given a chance" that got me this position.
- Hugo Kornelis - Thursday, March 9, 2017 1:44 AM
At least I have several people in my department who will back up the poor DBA / Dev getting the howler that day. We document the crap outta these instances so our users can't say "but you never told me that." And then the managers hit back their managers.
I can't imagine being a consultant and having to deal with that. Well, I can, actually. I'm glad I'm not in that position.
- djj - Wednesday, March 8, 2017 1:02 PM
The basics of SSRS and SSIS are easy enough to pick up and every report or package I've built has required a bit of research to do something I hadn't done before. Like Brandie says, getting familiar with them in your own time and being willing to learn will go a long way.
On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" ... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.
—Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a PhilosopherHow to post a question to get the most help http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537
- Sean Lange - Wednesday, March 8, 2017 12:25 PMSo we got a little bit of hail Monday evening. Ok so we actually got a crap load of hail. It piled up to almost 4" at the edge of the garage with over 1" everywhere in the yard. Some of the stones were a bit larger than others. There were probably at least 100 or more of the ones the size in my hand on the left scattered all over the yard.
That's pretty
Sean Lange - Wednesday, March 8, 2017 1:02 PMThat's some pretty serious hail. We didn't end up with any hail here yesterday, but the winds were roaring. Clear skies, but they were pretty consistent over 50 MPH. The top gust is being reported at 68 MPH. Metro Detroit maxed out at 700,000 without power. Even the outage map for DTE (the power company) was out.
- Ed Wagner - Thursday, March 9, 2017 5:22 AM
Hrmmm. Are you sure the Amazon Cloud Services tech doesn't suddenly work for DTE now?
I mean, your comment sounds awfully familiar to a news story I read in the past week or so... @=)
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