November 27, 2007 at 1:15 pm
I can't agree more with your stress on volunteering and on being willing to work your way up from the bottom. Having worked in tech support, I also agree with your emphasis on soft skills. There are few jobs that you can do completely alone, and if you have to work on a team, you need to be able to work with them.
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Timothy A Wiseman
SQL Blog: http://timothyawiseman.wordpress.com/
November 28, 2007 at 12:24 am
Nicely done, Brandie. Great success story and a great motivational story. I'll throw in that whether you have the schooling or not, you can get there if you want it bad enough. The schooling will certainly help, but the volunteer work you did just to earn some stripes in the trade was a brilliant move on your part. Your eager-to-help/make-a-difference attitude sure paid off in spades! Well done!
--Jeff Moden
November 28, 2007 at 12:30 am
but I am still waiting for a good friend to help me out
Ummm.... I wouldn't wait... take the bull by the horns and get to where you want to be...
--Jeff Moden
November 28, 2007 at 7:45 am
Nice article. I have a few friends who are interested in IT and would like to try and get into it. I'll pass this article on.
As for the MCDBA - I should really do that after being a DBA for 8 years!!
November 28, 2007 at 7:55 am
If you've been a DBA for 8 years already, go for the MCITP instead (SQL 2005 -and possibly 2008- certs). It'll look much better on your job history. @=)
November 28, 2007 at 8:03 am
MCITP?!! I didn't even realise MS had introduced a new cert!
Cheers
November 28, 2007 at 8:16 am
Clive,
They didn't introduce just one new cert. They introduced 4 of them. @=) All new SQL Server 2005 certification information can be found at the following link:
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcts/sql/default.mspx
Hope this helps you out. 😉
November 28, 2007 at 8:26 am
Brandie Tarvin (11/28/2007)
Clive,They didn't introduce just one new cert. They introduced 4 of them. @=) All new SQL Server 2005 certification information can be found at the following link:
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcts/sql/default.mspx
Hope this helps you out. 😉
Actually - it's FIVE... They introduced the "big mama" of certs on top of the other 4 - the Microsoft Certified Architect (Database), which has as a prerequisite two of the certs you mentioned.....
All I can say is - wow, who has that kind of time? 5 weeks in Redmond on my employer's dime? yeah, THAT's going to happen.
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Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
November 28, 2007 at 8:29 am
Nice - Must admit, I've only been using 2005 in anger for 3 months, so I didn't look for any new certifications.
Suppose I should do it. Maybe I should give up practicing the golf and work on certs....No doubt, with the certs, I'll have something to show for the hardwork other than tears as another ball slices way off to the right! 😀
November 28, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Hi pal,
My name is Nadeem. I have degree of Masters in Computer Science and 10 years experience on Database designing and development. Now a days it is necessary to have certification, which I don't have. I want to start selfpaced study of MCDBA. Can any tell me about the stuff required for MCDBA / MCSA. I would appriciate.
Thanks and regards,
Nadeem
November 29, 2007 at 2:34 am
Check out the microsoft sites for the content. Also check Amazon for the study guides.
Also, I disagree that you need certification...Its a nice to have and yes, I agree, stands out a bit more on your cv/resume. I don't have one and nor did I go to University and get a degree, but here I am.
Experience counts for a hell of a lot.
I must admit, my views are somewhat tarnished around the certifications after reading Brandie's story! Granted a lot of work and effort was put in to obtain the certification, but if someone with no real world experience can get certified, to me, it doesn't carry much weight as something that truly sets people apart.
November 29, 2007 at 4:22 am
Clive, I didn't say I had no Real World experience. I said I had no professional experience. Professional = Paid official job title.
My father was a computer programmer, the original punch-card kind. I grew up around computers as they were coming into their own and becoming home computers. I learned from scratch how to program in Assembly, Pascal, Fortran, Cobol and Lotus 1-2-3. I learned from scratch how to put the pieces together and make a system work. I used Gopher and Archie & learned Basic on the Apple II E. And my dad wouldn't let us use the state of the art Commodore 64 he bought unless we learned how to treat it properly.
"A computer is NOT a toy," he told us.
Part of the reason I became a DBA was because I loved doing all this stuff on the side. I figured if I could do it for myself, there wasn't any reason I shouldn't get paid for it. The problem was convincing everyone who got burned in the Tech Bust that I wasn't blowing smoke and I actually knew my way around computers. That's why I put so much work into learning the relational database stuff.
Nadeem, the MCDBA is soon to be an out of date cert. Look at one of my posts above and you'll see a URL link to Microsoft detailing the newest set of SQL Server certs. I really recommend those instead of the MCDBA, unless you're still on a SQL Server 2000 system and need them for your PDS Review.
And I still want to know what you're waiting for from your friend. @=) I'd like to see if it's something the group here can help you with.
November 29, 2007 at 4:54 am
Hey Brandie,
I realised after I sent the post that "real world experience" was not want I meant - it was purely meant that you had no experience of being a DBA in a production environment.
November 29, 2007 at 4:59 am
You're correct there. The closest I got was when I started creating MS Access databases for various things while I worked for the records management firm. I was the vendor contact / supply orderer and my predecessor kept his information in spreadsheets. I decided to try my hand at database development and put the information in a couple of Access DBs.
They certainly weren't the greatest, but they worked. And I learned 2 lessons. 1) What relational databases really are and 2) I really didn't have a clue about database design. @=)
November 29, 2007 at 5:04 am
Ahhh yes, the good old days when I thought 1) Access was powerfull and 2) I knew database design! :hehe:
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