July 11, 2011 at 8:12 am
If the only problem were boredom, I'd say stay with the current job and work on honing your skills and knowledge during your "downtime". The primary duty of a DBA is to make his own work as boring as possible. (An "exciting day" for the DBA usually means bad things for the business.)
However, if the manager really is as bad as your first sentence makes it sound, I would definitely take a pay hit to avoid that. I actually did that last summer. I was job hunting, and got six offers. I took the one with the best manager and team, even though it paid about $15k/year less, and the highest paying opportunity also had a sign-on bonus, which I also bypassed because the manager and team came across as borderline neurotic (at best). So I missed out on a sign-on bonus, and a lot of per-annum, in order to end up with a better manager and team. I don't regret that for a second.
Money is just a means of getting things done in life. There are infinitely more satisfying things in life than "I got a big paycheck!"
- 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 11, 2011 at 10:56 am
Boredom can lead to mistakes or a lack of concentration and performance issues. If you are not challenged you cannot grow.
Chris Powell
George: You're kidding.
Elroy: Nope.
George: Then lie to me and say you're kidding.
July 11, 2011 at 11:09 am
GSquared (7/11/2011)
If the only problem were boredom, I'd say stay with the current job and work on honing your skills and knowledge during your "downtime". The primary duty of a DBA is to make his own work as boring as possible. (An "exciting day" for the DBA usually means bad things for the business.)
I agree. As a DBA - you don't want it to be too exciting. One place of difference would be as a consultant. That usually means you are booming with business if it is exciting every day.
Money is just a means of getting things done in life. There are infinitely more satisfying things in life than "I got a big paycheck!"
Though a big paycheck is nice, I much prefer happiness and family time myself. Within reason, taking a paycut is much more rewarding for myself than to be irritated at the employer and hating going to work every day.
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
_______________________________________________
I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
Learn Extended Events
July 11, 2011 at 12:22 pm
SQLRNNR (7/11/2011)
Though a big paycheck is nice, I much prefer happiness and family time myself. Within reason, taking a paycut is much more rewarding for myself than to be irritated at the employer and hating going to work every day.
If you have the patience, an experienced DBA can have the best of both worlds.
Getting a paycheck at the upper end of the DBA payscale comes with experience (5+ years).
Getting a job that you don't hate should also be within your grasp.
This is easier to do when you are job hunting while already employed.
If you are currently unemployed and you really need a job, then you are more willing to just get back to work, so you are likely to accept a less than ideal situation.
But if you are already employed at a competitive DBA salary, then I would adopt the strategy of waiting for the ideal job.
Never take a paycut. Just keep looking for the ideal job with the right combination of factors important to you.
Maybe things are different in other areas of the country. But I get flooded with offers on a weekly basis.
And I am not even looking to change jobs.
I just save the emails offering more money so I can use them at my annual review to get a market adjustment upwards.
Just keep your resume updated on the internet job websites. The demand for experienced SQL Server DBAs seems to be there.
July 12, 2011 at 12:25 am
As somebody else said earlier, if you are waking up and dreading going to work it is definitely time to leave. I've had this twice and as soon as it happened I handed in my notice.
Using the time at work for study etc is a good idea, but it won't last forever. I had a student job like that once and it was so dull I was actually annoyed when they gave me work!
Regarding the small company job, you need to consider more than just the wage cut. I've worked for a number of small firms and they expect you to be available pretty much any time of the day. This is good in one regard, as it makes you an important part of the team and gives you a sense of worth. It's fine if you are single, but if you're in a relationship or have children it's not so good when you're on holiday and the boss phones and asks you to log on remotely to sort something out.
I had a job I loved and I didn't take a day off for the first eight months. The first day I took to attend a concert the main file server went down, cue panicky phone call, and I ended up going in to sort it out.
I still made the concert though...
Mike.
July 12, 2011 at 9:56 am
no...
one of the way your next potential employer will gauge you is based on your current salary. if you are not paid with a market rate (or lower than your years of experience should be earning) they would probably think you are underpaid because you're not as good as others
July 12, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Different industries pays different salaries, so in insurance company you probably will get paid less then in trading\hedge fund based on the same experience...
July 12, 2011 at 1:26 pm
If the pays so good I can retire early , I would 😀 , Usually as long as I get paid in proportion to the work I do , its all good.
Money comes second to a good balance between work and life.
There are companies that understand IT is not always in line with the actual Business model followed by the company and treat developers exactly as software professionals. In these companies the pay grade is almost always the industry standard as in other software companies.
July 13, 2011 at 9:24 am
Trey staker and brazumich - only you two understand job satifaction does not come from money.
My boss asked me one time to write a .NET web program and I told him I am a database developer and he should find someone with .NET skill to write the web program, he looked at me at awe. In his mind, a developer is a developer, you should be able to do every type of programming. Lately he is bugging me to write an Iphone app. That is the last straw!!!!
It is not just bordom, when you are not appreciated for your work and your talent, what are you going to do?
July 13, 2011 at 9:34 am
Yes, Life is to short to have a crappy job!
July 14, 2011 at 9:11 am
My Dad, God rest his soul, was fond of saying that work is what you do to maintain your standard of living and save for retirement. If you happen to like your job, that's a perk. Having said that, he changed careers three times because he got bored, and retired very well setup. Didn't go backwards, though. I took a new job with a pay cut once, albeit not a $12,000 cut. I had a neurotic and unethical boss and I knew that sooner or later I'd end up saying something to get myself fired. As it turned out that springboarded me to a good job with much higher pay a year later.
My best advice is this: Never run away from difficult things. Run toward something better.
July 15, 2011 at 3:20 am
I am in the similar situation. I am upgrading my skills through forums and keep myself as current as possible. Simultaneously looking for better roles 🙂
- SAMJI
If you marry one they will fight with you, If you marry 2 they will fight for you 🙂
July 15, 2011 at 9:06 am
How about we flip the question around, would you take a worse job for double the salary.
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
_______________________________________________
I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
Learn Extended Events
July 15, 2011 at 9:44 am
SQLRNNR (7/15/2011)
How about we flip the question around, would you take a worse job for double the salary.
Very good question. I would say yes. Double is A LOT of money.
I have a thick skin. I can handle a job that comes with some pain.
A more relevant question, "Would you take a worse job for a $10,000 increase in salary?"
I am regularly offered positions in my area that would provide about $10,000 per year more than my current salary.
I turn those offers down because they would require that I drive one hour each way and also deal with tolls, parking fees and longer traffic.
My current job is a 10-15 minute drive, free parking, no tolls, I have my own office with a window (big plus), cutting edge technology and it is a great group of people. So I would rather just wait till my next review and try to get a market adjustment at my currnet job.
July 15, 2011 at 9:48 am
Loner (7/13/2011)
Trey staker and brazumich - only you two understand job satifaction does not come from money.My boss asked me one time to write a .NET web program and I told him I am a database developer and he should find someone with .NET skill to write the web program, he looked at me at awe. In his mind, a developer is a developer, you should be able to do every type of programming. Lately he is bugging me to write an Iphone app. That is the last straw!!!!
It is not just bordom, when you are not appreciated for your work and your talent, what are you going to do?
It all comes down to what "appreciated" means, which often will end up being a highly personal definition. Some might incorporate that not being paid at commensurate rates is a form of not being appreciated: there may be some truth to that, but it's certainly not entirely black and white.
As to having folks "appreciate" what you do - part of it is to ensure they understand the value and effort going into what you do. You can't expect every boss to have a full hands-on knowledge of what you do and how you do it (they'd be doing your job if they did), so in part, it is up to each of us to keep imparting/showing what we do and that it's not always just a skip through the park.
For me - part of the "valuing" I see is how much latitude I get. My manager has figured oput corectly that I do best when not heavily managed: I find the defects on my own, devise a way to improve, implement and move on. No major need to be parked in my cube, etc..., it just "happens" and he reaps the benefits.
You'd have to come up with what your set of rules are to value your position and assess how they treat you. I can't help but recall you've had this kind of thread before, so you might be seeking positions which will not make you happy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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?
Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 38 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply