New SelectViews Show Live Now
Interview with AvePoint, session – learning about pivot tables and much more. Show includes a sample session from the Virtual Conference – check it out!
[Watch the Show here]
Time Running Out to Register for the
Free Accidental SharePoint Admin Expo
Our next free expo is next Friday – today’s the day to register – We’ll be covering some great information for you Accidental SharePoint Admins out there – great sessions hand-picked. You do need to pre-register though – so be sure you get your name on the roster and then we’ll see you next Friday!
[Register Here]
Learning SQL Server (and, well, other technologies too)
I think, really, you could apply much of what we’ve been discussing to SharePoint, Exchange, SQL Server and just about any current-day technology platform. That said, George had a different take on things:
"While much of what we all do is trial and error, mentorship, rather than being a one to one or perhaps two or three to one relationship in a shop, has become a thousands to one relationship thanks to search engines and the wide range of expert sites where you can go to find the answer to a specific problem. If I were to make a recommendation to anyone about how to find what you need to learn today, to solve a specific problem, it would be how to use Google’s advanced search to find the right sites quickly and bookmark the best ones for future reference. Other than that, I would encourage people to embrace the concept of "learning a living", which is to say, you have to constantly learn new things and take responsibility for your own learning, without having to have someone send you to a course. If you see an area where you need to learn more – get busy!"
I agree with the "get busy" – but am curious… do you think using online resources (any of them!) provides problem solving, or do you find that they’re really helpful AFTER you’ve identified the problem? I feel like online resources are excellent, sure. But I’m not sure it’s possible to get from point "A" – seeing that something undetermined is going wrong – to point "B" – the root cause. Once I have the root cause, yes, I can find the solution. But how do you teach, or show completely variable and unique problem solving online in the form of an article? What do you think?
Keith wrote in to say "I learned some Sql in college but it wasn’t until I started my internship I had real hands on experience. I started my internship as a windows gui developer but the director of IT approached me and asked me if I would like to do business intelligence instead. I accepted the offer. My learning consisted of Books Online and some books on SSAS and SSIS scattered throughout the office. I was able to build a data warehouse and an OLAP cube that met all the needs of the company.
After the internship had ended, I landed a job interview with my current company. The interview was for a DBA position. I went to the interview not thinking I would get the job due to inexperience. I had no misconceptions that DBA work would be like BI work. I knew there was a difference. However, the manager recognized some potential and hired me. I have been added to the managers “team”. By team, I mean me, with my manager. We have a mentor relationship by default. This has proven to be a great asset. I work as much as I can on an issue and when I get stuck I can turn to him to help me over road blocks. I find myself seeking his help less and less frequently. I have also noticed I do not spend hours researching some amateurish mistake. He can correct my mistake quickly and we get on with work.
More than just debugging issues, he has pointed me to valuable resources for information like SSWUG and PASS. Overall, he is helping me be the best DBA I can be. Having him as a mentor has made me more productive and a better DBA than I ever could do on my own."
Great stuff – please keep your comments and feedback coming! Email me at swynk@sswug.org.
Have a great weekend – please check out SelectViews when you get a chance…(the video show we do).