June 28, 2014 at 11:20 am
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Product Centric Career
June 28, 2014 at 4:03 pm
Heh... I found that the most intelligent people I know have all learned a great deal by trying, failing, and trying something else, sometimes in very long strings of trying and failing loops.
To coin a phrase, we learn by our mistakes, which also means, some of our best decisions where made by mistake. 😀
Of course, it would be nice to forward those lessons learned to the younger generations but it's also human nature to want to try different things regardless of age (or at least it should be). You can't (and shouldn't) protect them from all failure. Under most circumstances and if treated properly, failure builds character and adds to wisdom.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
June 30, 2014 at 3:24 am
I have made many career decisions based upon what I knew about the then current state of IT and most of them have worked out well even if, and probably in spite of, many of my predictions were wrong. Until I end my career I will be able to choose a path that will end up a cul-de-sac, however, I believe that it is the foundation skills, our techniques and processes as well as and our soft skills that ensure that we remain valuable contributors even long after systems and products we have mastered have been consigned to the past.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
June 30, 2014 at 4:08 am
This article really hit a chord with me. I've also stumbled into databases, first through plsql briefly, before stumbling into access and finally landing on sql server, I too must have been a database guy at heart, even while majoring in Biology. Since then, I've highly specialized towards sql server (and ssis, ssas, ssrs), and love it. I feel incredibly lucky the core "product" I've unwittingly become so intimately involved with over the years still maintains in-demand utility. I say unwittingly because the job market demand and the money was there, pulling me, all the while oblivious to the fact that my career and expertise were being drawn out for me. As you stated, having watched many other "products" fall off the market, I do feel quite lucky. I am certain I will be able to retire in an in-demand "product" specialization. It may well be defeated in the future, especially with quantum computing which could easily make fundamental changes to relational foundations, though I suspect I will be long gone. :hehe:
June 30, 2014 at 6:20 am
Unless you do have a career involving a long lived product like SQL Server or Cobol, you need to be flexible.
SQL Server isn't my full time gig, dealing with data is. So I get involved with a broad range of operating systems, relational and not DBMS, and programming languages. I've had offers to go the SQL Server DBA route, but I'm too old to be woken up in the middle of the night just because the code page needs to be corn flower blue or Bob in accounting has deadlocked production or Suzy doesn't know what a Cartesian product is...
June 30, 2014 at 8:35 am
I agree with the sentiment of this article completely.
The accidental DBA often becomes so because that is what their employer needs. That (for me) led me to SQL Server and now BI and I feel very lucky that there is demand for those skills & I've fallen into a job I love.
I've also seen many people go down a different route: specializing on a system that only school districts or credit unions use (also because that's what their employer needs). But 4 or 5 years later they realise that their skills are only attractive to other credit unions or other school districts that use the same system and it's very hard to switch jobs. They become stuck to their employer because of a complete lack of demand for the skills they've got.
Being conscious about the opportunities you get from your employer and making sure you don't specialise yourself into a rut are key pieces of advice I would impart to others starting out in the industry.
Leonard
Madison, WI
June 30, 2014 at 8:44 am
Jeff Moden (6/28/2014)
Heh... failure builds character and adds to wisdom.
That sounds very much like Calvin's dad...
http://riteshjsr.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/recurring-motifs-in-calvin-and-hobbes-building-character/
🙂
Hakim Ali
www.sqlzen.com
June 30, 2014 at 8:46 am
phonetictalk (6/30/2014)
I agree with the sentiment of this article completely.The accidental DBA often becomes so because that is what their employer needs. That (for me) led me to SQL Server and now BI and I feel very lucky that there is demand for those skills & I've fallen into a job I love.
I've also seen many people go down a different route: specializing on a system that only school districts or credit unions use (also because that's what their employer needs). But 4 or 5 years later they realise that their skills are only attractive to other credit unions or other school districts that use the same system and it's very hard to switch jobs. They become stuck to their employer because of a complete lack of demand for the skills they've got.
Being conscious about the opportunities you get from your employer and making sure you don't specialise yourself into a rut are key pieces of advice I would impart to others starting out in the industry.
I can understand that point of view but for permanent positions sometimes people are as much looking for the right person as skill set and will consider people with good, related skills. Not always though, I acknowledge.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
June 30, 2014 at 11:44 pm
hakim.ali (6/30/2014)
Jeff Moden (6/28/2014)
Heh... failure builds character and adds to wisdom.That sounds very much like Calvin's dad...
http://riteshjsr.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/recurring-motifs-in-calvin-and-hobbes-building-character/
🙂
BWAAA-HAAA!!!! "Wax on... wax off". 😛
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply