Automatic content provisioning to your SharePoint site

Previously:
[Watch Here] (Part 3) Chris Shaw, Stephen Wynkoop explore the top 10 SQL Server scripts
[Watch Here] (Part 2) Chris Shaw, Stephen Wynkoop explore the top 10 SQL Server scripts
[Watch Here] (Part 1) Chris Shaw, Stephen Wynkoop explore the top 10 SQL Server scripts

Working Your Skill Set – Looking to the Future
Ralph wrote with good feedback – he’s not the first person to bring up this type of question –

"I am struggling with this very question, in a sense, and am becoming somewhat frustrated by it.

If I stay where I am, i.e. in the same organization, I have determined that there is very little hope of my actually making the formal move into database work due to fiefdom issues. On the other hand, because I have never actually had the word "database" in my title, I have found that I cannot take the more mobile route of changing companies.

My strengths lie in the realm of the Database Architect, based upon the description you provided, with a bit of BI and Hard Core DBA thrown in. Yet, unlike the Office Specialist that Daniel mentioned, I am beginning to feel the walls being built and moving in to preclude my being able to exercise those strengths in this organization.

So, I guess I come back to the question I have been asking for the last few years: If I know I have the skills and I have shown or can show that I have the skills, how do I get the opportunity to move into the database development role that I know I am qualified for? It is similar to the question anyone has who is trying to enter into a new profession or a different specialty within a profession, if I can’t get hired because I’ve never done it, how do I get to do it so I can get hired?"

Great question. What I’ve been hearing more and more about is that people are volunteering for local non-profits or other groups that cannot afford full-time staff for different duties you’re interested in. By volunteering, you get the exposure and title on your resume, you get a reference on how great you are at the tasks, and it does good things for those groups that you’re helping out. For sure it’s a time hit, and in a time when funds are short, it’s NOT income, but it can be a successful way to get that critical experience visibly under your belt for others to see.

Kathy also wrote in with what they would be looking for in a consultant: "We have *lots* of databases and applications that have been created by people who do not understand relational databases – not how to design
a db, not how to write “good” SQL (something easily handled by joins; instead I see loops within loops in their web code). No primary keys. No indexes. So I can see that at some point in the future just throwing “better hardware” at the problem won’t take care of it. If I needed to call in a consultant, I’d be looking for someone who can troubleshoot performance issues."

With our research projects here at sswug.org, we work with more companies working through performance issues than any other single issue. It’s safe to say that many development systems need more data, more testing under load, but that the means of getting that real-world testing just aren’t clear or used as much as they should be. Performance to a point – the standard stuff that pays off big – is pretty straightforward, but tedious. I think we’ll continue to see this, since just buying a bigger, badder server isn’t an option for many, and isn’t the right choice for most.

SSWUG.ORG Job Boards
Have you checked out the SSWUG.ORG Career Center recently? You can review jobs, you can post your resume anonymously and a whole lot more. It’s a great way to see what’s out there, get your name out without risk and take advantage of the great SSWUG community. Check it out here.

Webcast: Managing a Crisis
Do you have a plan for your next Crisis? What should you look for? Presented by: Chris Shaw
> Register Now
> 9/9/2009 at 12:00pm Noon Pacific