July 27, 2009 at 1:29 pm
sjsubscribe (7/27/2009)
What is this nonsense doing on a technical website?
Separating those who do RDBMS on the logical relational algebra and those who do the physical vendor specific features.
:Whistling:
Kind regards,
Gift Peddie
July 27, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Whycome I always have to be the contrarian? (Warning: falling sarcasm ahead...)
:hehe:
If I were hiring a DBA, I would want a highly skilled social misfit with no life, no friends, no family, nothing better to do than work 80+ hours a week and an neurotic fear of authority. Preferably who's willing to be paid for 40 hours a week and put in the extra 40 in exchange for stock options and out of gratitude just for being employed.
I'm pretty sure that 9 out of 10 "professional" managers will agree.
Any takers?
😛
Or maybe I'm just having flashbacks from earlier in my own career. It's hard to tell with all the voices yelling in my head this week.
😉
July 27, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Personally, I think the observations in the article and in many of the responses come under the "primitive astrology" heading.
Many years ago, I saw a comic in a newspaper, which had as its heading, "Before Astrology Became a Science". Had a picture of a guy reading the horoscopes page in his newspaper, and they said:
"Aries: You will assume vague generalities about life and work apply specifically to you.
"Taurus: You will assume vague generalities about life and work apply specifically to you.
"Gemini: You will assume vague generalities about life and work apply specifically to you.
"Cancer: : You will assume vague generalities about life and work apply specifically to you.
"Leo: : You will assume vague generalities about life and work apply specifically to you.
..."
I don't remember if it was a Far Side, but if not, it was one of the immitators.
Yes, many DBAs are mentally/personally (perhaps even politically) conservative. Many are not. Same applies to dentists, professional athletes, accountants, assembly-line workers, and so on.
Another illustrating point is the oft-cited "mashed potatoes correlation". Over 80% of convicted murderers were fed mashed potatoes as children is cited as a fact, leading to the conclusion that mashed potatoes cause murder.
(Off-topic: There are electronic bulletin boards on the roads in Tampa that say, "50% of car burglaries happen when the doors are unlocked". It's supposed to be a message that you should lock the doors. It actually means that locking the doors doesn't matter, because "50% of car burglaries happen when the doors are locked" is an equally valid analysis of that statistic.)
Just because two things are observed together doesn't mean they are related.
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
July 27, 2009 at 1:50 pm
As I have shifted career focus over the past 15 years from straight-up application development, to systems analysis, to data management and administration, it's always been about finding something to do for a living that aligns with my own personality and desires. I love organization, statistics, and tuning systems to make them run more efficiently. For my dad it was building and tweaking his race car, for me it's building and maintaing systems. I pay my taxes, vote, show up for jury duty etc. But none of that has anything to do with my appearance, social beliefs, or spirituality. To any who know me, I am the antithesis of conservativism. I meet the dress code for my place of employment, until the very moment that I leave the building. When I get to the car, I replace the jewelry in my face that I took out in the morning to meet that dress code. Most of my co-workers are far more conservative than I am, and that's fine. That has nothing to do with the fact that when there's an issue with a database, they know that I will be on it 100% to resolve it. That's my job, and I take pride in it.
July 27, 2009 at 2:46 pm
David Reed (7/27/2009)
If I were hiring a DBA, I would want a highly skilled social misfit with no life, no friends, no family, nothing better to do than work 80+ hours a week and an neurotic fear of authority. Preferably who's willing to be paid for 40 hours a week and put in the extra 40 in exchange for stock options and out of gratitude just for being employed.I'm pretty sure that 9 out of 10 "professional" managers will agree.
Any takers?
The 10th one's probably the type who talks family values openly, beats his wife secretly, and goes to church on Sundays regularly.
July 27, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Brad,
I have noticed similar characteristics of the DBA's I work with, and as a note to some other commentors, the editorial says "fit into one or more of the following", not all, not 100%. Interesting observation. Thank you.
July 27, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Whoa fella! This is a SQL Server forum not Oracle or MySQL. I don't think many SQL Server DBA's play with Unix too much.
"hate anyone who's not adept with Unix
programs only in C and perl
get a PhD in linear algebra studying part time, DBA full time
take annual trip to Burning Man"
sjsubscribe (7/27/2009)
jcrawf02 (7/27/2009)
sjsubscribe (7/27/2009)
What is this nonsense doing on a technical website?Broadening some of our horizons
In that case, the best DBAs *I* ever encountered had one or more of these qualities/backgrounds:
shot a Viet Cong in the face during the Tet offensive
ram a ship for fun when serving in the Coast Guard
always carry a gun in the same pouch as rescue CDs
never eat yogurt without spilling on the keyboard
berate son's baseball coach in public because family comes first
never forget to drink on Mondays
hate anyone who's not adept with Unix
programs only in C and perl
get a PhD in linear algebra studying part time, DBA full time
take annual trip to Burning Man
There, that should broaden you further.
July 27, 2009 at 7:31 pm
mosl31 (7/27/2009)
Whoa fella! This is a SQL Server forum not Oracle or MySQL. I don't think many SQL Server DBA's play with Unix too much.
I think the topic was about good DBA's not just those who use this forum.
July 27, 2009 at 9:05 pm
bs
July 27, 2009 at 9:08 pm
It is not true to say that maturity comprises faith/religion, community mindedness, or family orientation. It is very small minded to think that this is so. I am disappointed to read this - I expect intelligent commentary and opinion in this forum.
July 28, 2009 at 12:32 am
I guess the various personalities of the DBA comes from the job itself.
Unlike others, we cant just do nothing about anything that fails. We have to find a solution and fix it.
Thats why DBA's are perhaps more mature, responsible, caring, hardworking etc.
Its the job personality. Each and every job helps to build a person's personality in someway.
A salesman for instance, needs his commission, he/she will try and sell the product, sometimes even misleading or deceiving the customer; just to make his/her sale and get his/her commission.
A DBA has great power. And with great power comes great responsibility. 🙂
DBA is the super hero of all personalities. No doubt DBA's are liked and loved by all; except ofcourse by all those Lex Luthor type people who cant bear DBA's taking the spotlight away from them; and all who those who crave this power only for the wrong reasons..
🙂
Murtaza Millwala
July 28, 2009 at 5:04 pm
camassey (7/28/2009)
Whoops - didn't mean to kill the reply - sorry about that.@mtucker, I don't think any of these qualities necessarily comprise maturity in and of themselves, but they may well be symptomatic byproducts of a mature mind-set (i.e just a small sample of a much wider range of behaviors [stereo]typically associated with maturity.)
Unfortunately that is not the case - you dont have to look far to find immature people who have faith, or are family minded, or who do good work in their community.
Maturity is a product of experience, although it does not necessarily follow from it. It is the ability to take a nuanced view, to see that there is more than one side to a story. It also requires a certain open mindedness because without it experience and knowledge go to waste. Mature individuals also have good impulse control, the ability to face reality, and to learn from their mistakes.
I would agree that many DBAs have these qualities alongside their technical expertise.
I am particularly disappointed that religion was brought into the forum. I would have thought that belief without evidence (the definition of faith) in supernatural beings would count against someone who aspires to work in a field that depends so heavily on rational thinking.
July 28, 2009 at 7:03 pm
mtucker (7/28/2009)
camassey (7/28/2009)
Whoops - didn't mean to kill the reply - sorry about that.@mtucker, I don't think any of these qualities necessarily comprise maturity in and of themselves, but they may well be symptomatic byproducts of a mature mind-set (i.e just a small sample of a much wider range of behaviors [stereo]typically associated with maturity.)
Unfortunately that is not the case - you dont have to look far to find immature people who have faith, or are family minded, or who do good work in their community.
Maturity is a product of experience, although it does not necessarily follow from it. It is the ability to take a nuanced view, to see that there is more than one side to a story. It also requires a certain open mindedness because without it experience and knowledge go to waste. Mature individuals also have good impulse control, the ability to face reality, and to learn from their mistakes.
I would agree that many DBAs have these qualities alongside their technical expertise.
I am particularly disappointed that religion was brought into the forum. I would have thought that belief without evidence (the definition of faith) in supernatural beings would count against someone who aspires to work in a field that depends so heavily on rational thinking.
Unfortunately, rational thinking isn't the end all in solving problems. Many times I have found solutions. not through rational thought, but through inspiration and imagination both of which are the anti-thesis to rational thought.
Choose what you believe, but faith (not necessarily religion) does play a role in one's maturity.
July 28, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Lynn Pettis (7/28/2009)
Unfortunately, rational thinking isn't the end all in solving problems. Many times I have found solutions. not through rational thought, but through inspiration and imagination both of which are the anti-thesis to rational thought.Choose what you believe, but faith (not necessarily religion) does play a role in one's maturity.
I agree that rational thinking is not the only component in problem solving. I did not say that it was.
People mean different things by the word 'faith'. For example, it can be a synonym for trust: 'I have faith in my co workers'. The faith in question in this discussion is religious faith. It is a shame that religion has been brought into this forum, I dont believe it has a place here, but the editorial stated that religious faith was a sign of maturity implying that lack of relgious faith is a sign of immaturity.
This is clearly wrong headed. There is no shortage of examples of mature atheists, and the immature faithful, and vice versa. It is not a reliable indicator of any quality that is desirable in a DBA, and probably not for any other job (except the priesthood) either.
July 28, 2009 at 9:34 pm
mtucker (7/28/2009)
Lynn Pettis (7/28/2009)
Unfortunately, rational thinking isn't the end all in solving problems. Many times I have found solutions. not through rational thought, but through inspiration and imagination both of which are the anti-thesis to rational thought.Choose what you believe, but faith (not necessarily religion) does play a role in one's maturity.
I agree that rational thinking is not the only component in problem solving. I did not say that it was.
People mean different things by the word 'faith'. For example, it can be a synonym for trust: 'I have faith in my co workers'. The faith in question in this discussion is religious faith. It is a shame that religion has been brought into this forum, I dont believe it has a place here, but the editorial stated that religious faith was a sign of maturity implying that lack of relgious faith is a sign of immaturity.
This is clearly wrong headed. There is no shortage of examples of mature atheists, and the immature faithful, and vice versa. It is not a reliable indicator of any quality that is desirable in a DBA, and probably not for any other job (except the priesthood) either.
And I think you are wrong. There are many people I know who, for them, faith and religion have a place in the work place and therefore also here in this forum. Also realize that this is an editorial and if the writer wished to interject faith and religion, they are free to do so. There is a right to freedom of speech. If this speech offends you, don 't read it. Remember, Freedom of something does NOT equate to Freedom FROM something. As long as what is said is not libel or slander there really isn't much you can do besides complain and let others know how you feel; knowing someone is going to respond in support or against your position. Your other choice is simply to vote with your feet, and leave (not that I'm suggesting that, just stating an option).
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