July 4, 2012 at 3:14 am
Hi all,
I am currently working as a Lettings Manager for a small company, and part of that roll is (unofficially) administering a Microsoft SQL 2005 Database, as the support for our product is pretty poor.
I am now looking for a career change, and would very much appreciate some advice. I have looked online at information available to get official qualifications to get on the career ladder, and have formulated the following plan-
Reading-
Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes
Beginning Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Programming
Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012.
Online courses-
SQLcourseonline- 1&2
Microsoft Virtual Academy SQL courses
Getting a Microsoft Technet subscription so that I can administer an SQL database online, and test the skills that I have learned.
Qualifications to be gained-
MCITP-Database-Administrator-2008-certification-training
MCITP-Database-Developer-certification-training
MCSA-SQL-Server-2012-certification - (possibly too much to start off with?)
Would just love peoples opinions as to whether, if I do all this, I would be considered employable at a decent level (bearing in mind unofficial database experience currently), any other qualifications or reading material I should look at, and a rough idea of timescale I should realistically look at, bearing in mind we have just had a baby which is taking up quite a lot of my time 🙂
Any help would be greatly appreciated, really want to get stuck in on this!
July 13, 2012 at 8:01 am
If you want to be a DBA:
Unofficially or not, if you're administering the database, that's valuable experience and should be emphasized on your resume along with the number of years/months you've been doing it. EG: doing backups, monitoring file sizes and table sizes, reading execution plans, etc. Hard to say more without knowing what your database does or what its front end is like.
If you know T-SQL, put that in there. If not, learn it, at least a minimal amount. If you have time with the database (boss not looking, of course!) start writing your own scripts and learning from them. You may be able to add functionality to the current d/b and bosses like that. IMPORTANT: Make a test copy of the d/b to learn on!!! Go into SQL Server Management Studio and look at the Template Explorer. A wealth of programming know-how in there.
To be a developer, you must know T-SQL fairly well. Lots of experience writing stored procedures, functions, etc. You must be a programmer in the general sense and that's something no one here can teach you. You don't need to memorize all the syntax--I've been programming for years and I still consult the SQL Server help and BOL frequently, and this site and others for specific question help. But you do need to know how to slice and dice a problem down into its component, logical steps and be able to code out each algorithm step by step.
You should also study SSIS and be able to automate the import an external file (Excel, CSV, txt) when needed, and at least have an idea of how powerful a tool it is. Also a look at SSRS will also be good. Reporting services are always in demand and that's another way to get your foot in the door. (Or make yourself look good to the boss right now.)
Hiring people usually know little about SQL Server and are looking for the right buzz words on your resume, then they'll forward you to the technical people for a deeper interview. Once you get there, tell the truth and don't BS. But don't sell yourself short, either. You sound intelligent and ambitious and dedicated, and those go some way against offsetting a lack of technical experience. If you're honest and want to learn, you can find a good starter job.
Sigerson
"No pressure, no diamonds." - Thomas Carlyle
July 13, 2012 at 8:20 am
Thanks,
That's all great advice, seriously appreciated. I'm working on my CV at the moment, and already downloaded a few T-SQL ebooks to look at.
Thanks again, think you've confirmed I'm on the right track!
July 19, 2012 at 4:42 am
danielgrimes_9 (7/4/2012)
Hi all,I am currently working as a Lettings Manager for a small company, and part of that roll is (unofficially) administering a Microsoft SQL 2005 Database, as the support for our product is pretty poor.
I am now looking for a career change, and would very much appreciate some advice. I have looked online at information available to get official qualifications to get on the career ladder, and have formulated the following plan-
Reading-
Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes
Beginning Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Programming
Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012.
Online courses-
SQLcourseonline- 1&2
Microsoft Virtual Academy SQL courses
Getting a Microsoft Technet subscription so that I can administer an SQL database online, and test the skills that I have learned.
Qualifications to be gained-
MCITP-Database-Administrator-2008-certification-training
MCITP-Database-Developer-certification-training
MCSA-SQL-Server-2012-certification - (possibly too much to start off with?)
Would just love peoples opinions as to whether, if I do all this, I would be considered employable at a decent level (bearing in mind unofficial database experience currently), any other qualifications or reading material I should look at, and a rough idea of timescale I should realistically look at, bearing in mind we have just had a baby which is taking up quite a lot of my time 🙂
Any help would be greatly appreciated, really want to get stuck in on this!
I don't know what you mean by "decent level" but if I were you I'd be happy to get my foot in the door. That's usually the key to stating a carreer in IT. It's the old "I can't get hired without experience but how can I get experience without getting hired". As a manager you can partially answer your own question. Would you hire someone that took a bunch of self learning courses over someone with experience?
One way to break in might be to sign up with a company that supplies contract workers. They might be able to get you on a team they have at a company where their employees can mentor you and shield you from the full time staff. They also usually have training facilities tailored to what they need at the time. I imagine the pay would be low but once you "get your foot in the door" things will open up for you.
July 19, 2012 at 5:06 am
Yep, I see what you're saying.
I do have experience administering a SQL database her, it's just not part of my official job description, but I think contract work may be the way to go for a bit at least.
Thanks
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