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Message
Accepted a new job - IT related
Posted on 6/5/21 at 9:49 am
Posted on 6/5/21 at 9:49 am
Sorry this is a bit long winded.
I started with my current company when I was 19 in the call center and moved around until I landed in IT 3 years ago. It's been 15 years with my company. My current role is more advanced technical support with a bit of a shotgun blast across all segments of IT. Jack of all trades, master of none which turns out is problematic when looking for a new gig. The core of what I do is SQL related (writing stored procs, ad-hoc queries, ETL processes etc). When I have time I make low hanging code changes (C#, C++, Java and html), write some crude powershell scripts, set up jobs in a cisco job scheduler, manage servers, make sure networking paths and firewall holes are punched properly. I've been working 7 days a week, all hours of the day and night, doing every department's work. Much more than what I believe a normal IT person handles. I expect off hours work, but not 7 days a week, on vacation days, sick days etc. . . I asked for a raise from my entry level pay and got a decent raise from a % standpoint but the $ was still short of where I wanted so I started looking about 6 months ago.
Looking for a job is tough even when you have a job. Can't imagine being unemployed looking for a job. My company was remote through Covid but we're back in the office full time because "butts in seats".
I found a company that really likes where I'm at with SQL development and they have a future need for a DBA so they're hiring me as a DB Analyst with the intent of steering me full steam into the DBA role. The DBA's where I work currently are miles ahead of where I'm at, it feels unreal that I have the opportunity to go in this direction. They're 50/50 remote. Even better is they're paying me where I really wanted to be. So excited and anxious at the same time. I was the only one they interviewed for the role, and they were the only company out of about 150 resumes that I sent out to give me a call. It's 100% where I want to go career-wise. They made it impossible for me to pass up.
Are there any DBA's here? What are the staples that you use in your day to day job. If I have to focus on first things first, where should I start? The company is in a star schema DB format which is different than our snowflake/galaxy model I currently use. PowerBI is a black hole that I haven't even scratched the surface of. They want me to learn that but I think PowerBI is a pretty broad subject. Anything in particular used more often than other things?
For those of you who are in IT careers, curious what your career path was.
I started with my current company when I was 19 in the call center and moved around until I landed in IT 3 years ago. It's been 15 years with my company. My current role is more advanced technical support with a bit of a shotgun blast across all segments of IT. Jack of all trades, master of none which turns out is problematic when looking for a new gig. The core of what I do is SQL related (writing stored procs, ad-hoc queries, ETL processes etc). When I have time I make low hanging code changes (C#, C++, Java and html), write some crude powershell scripts, set up jobs in a cisco job scheduler, manage servers, make sure networking paths and firewall holes are punched properly. I've been working 7 days a week, all hours of the day and night, doing every department's work. Much more than what I believe a normal IT person handles. I expect off hours work, but not 7 days a week, on vacation days, sick days etc. . . I asked for a raise from my entry level pay and got a decent raise from a % standpoint but the $ was still short of where I wanted so I started looking about 6 months ago.
Looking for a job is tough even when you have a job. Can't imagine being unemployed looking for a job. My company was remote through Covid but we're back in the office full time because "butts in seats".
I found a company that really likes where I'm at with SQL development and they have a future need for a DBA so they're hiring me as a DB Analyst with the intent of steering me full steam into the DBA role. The DBA's where I work currently are miles ahead of where I'm at, it feels unreal that I have the opportunity to go in this direction. They're 50/50 remote. Even better is they're paying me where I really wanted to be. So excited and anxious at the same time. I was the only one they interviewed for the role, and they were the only company out of about 150 resumes that I sent out to give me a call. It's 100% where I want to go career-wise. They made it impossible for me to pass up.
Are there any DBA's here? What are the staples that you use in your day to day job. If I have to focus on first things first, where should I start? The company is in a star schema DB format which is different than our snowflake/galaxy model I currently use. PowerBI is a black hole that I haven't even scratched the surface of. They want me to learn that but I think PowerBI is a pretty broad subject. Anything in particular used more often than other things?
For those of you who are in IT careers, curious what your career path was.
10
Posted on 6/5/21 at 10:10 am to WhiskeyThrottle
Not in IT, but congrats on getting the job and pay you wanted!
Posted on 6/6/21 at 9:08 pm to GrizzlyAlloy
Congrats on the new position. Should go without saying, take every advantage of the opportunity, training, schooling, certifications etc....
Not a real DBA here, just hack about in Postges, MySQL, AND mariaDB. The Mrs. is an Oracle DBA turned stay at home mom.
Not a real DBA here, just hack about in Postges, MySQL, AND mariaDB. The Mrs. is an Oracle DBA turned stay at home mom.
Posted on 6/6/21 at 10:13 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
Go check out midnight DBAs….they have a lot of useful t-sql and powershell scripts.
Posted on 6/7/21 at 12:47 am to WhiskeyThrottle
The fact that the new org knows what a Star schema is AND tries to adhere to it should be very encouraging. If you're going to be specialized in a DBA role then they will no doubt provide training and on-the-job learning opportunities.
Honestly, it sounds like you will be fine if not a great catch.
Good luck.
Honestly, it sounds like you will be fine if not a great catch.
Good luck.
Posted on 6/7/21 at 2:48 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
I work in an IT shop and kind of do a little of everything. Very familiar with SQL i use it daily . Sounds like you will be helping maintain a data warehouse. Don't know if i would want to become a DBA because of the weird hours 
Congrats though.
Congrats though.
This post was edited on 6/7/21 at 2:51 pm
Posted on 6/7/21 at 8:52 pm to FLObserver
As of right now I work at all hours of the day and night. Deployments are 6pm and 2am. Over the last 6 weeks I’ve had 8 vacation days, 12 weekend days and two sick days. I got called to handle problems on all but one of those days. I’m not entirely sure my hours could be any more screwed up than they are right now.
Posted on 6/8/21 at 9:11 am to WhiskeyThrottle
I started just doing hardware/repair type shite to get started. That was in like 1998. Got a MIS degree, some certs.
Trended up in pay, responsibility, and lack of leisure time for years. Worked in management for some time.
Now i'm back to being a IT grunt again, but I work when I want to and am well compensated for what I do/know.
Happy as I've ever been with my career. If I'm not at work, I don't worry about it on my personal time.
Trended up in pay, responsibility, and lack of leisure time for years. Worked in management for some time.
Now i'm back to being a IT grunt again, but I work when I want to and am well compensated for what I do/know.
Happy as I've ever been with my career. If I'm not at work, I don't worry about it on my personal time.
Posted on 6/8/21 at 11:58 am to WhiskeyThrottle
quote:
As of right now I work at all hours of the day and night. Deployments are 6pm and 2am. Over the last 6 weeks I’ve had 8 vacation days, 12 weekend days and two sick days. I got called to handle problems on all but one of those days.
WTF??
Posted on 6/8/21 at 1:10 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
How'd your previous employer handle you leaving?
Posted on 6/8/21 at 1:18 pm to BeepNode
quote:
quote:
As of right now I work at all hours of the day and night. Deployments are 6pm and 2am. Over the last 6 weeks I’ve had 8 vacation days, 12 weekend days and two sick days. I got called to handle problems on all but one of those days.
WTF??
Not that uncommon of a theme in IT depending on your position and staffing.
I checked out of that shite. Life is short.
Posted on 6/8/21 at 3:22 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
quote:
I got called to handle problems on all but one of those days.
Don't answer the phone.
Posted on 6/8/21 at 8:43 pm to Kracka
quote:
How'd your previous employer handle you leaving?
They’re getting my two weeks on Monday. Gonna be bittersweet. But more sweet than bitter. I’m about 99% they’ll throw quite a big counter but it’s just too little too late. I’ll update with what they try to pull. I have a list a mile long that isnt realistic as to what they’ll have to do to retain me.
I work closely with a couple of guys and we are friends outside of work. Really not looking forward to leaving the few people I really enjoy being around but the work won’t be missed at all. The silver lining is the recruiter is trying to get the company I’m going to, to create a position for my closest coworker. It’s a long shot but would be nice to have that familiarity come with me.
In hindsight I should just ignore the calls. Personality wise I have a difficult time not doing what I can where I can but I see where that gets abused. My patience has its limits it turns out though.
Posted on 6/8/21 at 9:30 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
quote:
I have a list a mile long that isnt realistic as to what they’ll have to do to retain me.
Don't make an offer that you are unprepared to accept. It honestly sounds like you need to move on.
Don't lose sight of how content they were with you being in that situation indefinitely. There's no need to be bitter about it but if you accept a counter you run the risk of them pulling shenanigans on you that delays everything, only to sour things with the new employer.
Posted on 6/9/21 at 8:05 am to BeepNode
I want to say there is a 0% chance they'd be able to keep me. In reality it's closer to .01%.
At this point, I'm just waiting on the background and credit checks. They may do an employment verification also. Not worried about anything in any of those. But cross the t's and dot the i's before turning in my resignation.
At this point, I'm just waiting on the background and credit checks. They may do an employment verification also. Not worried about anything in any of those. But cross the t's and dot the i's before turning in my resignation.
Posted on 6/9/21 at 3:49 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
quote:
Are there any DBA's here? What are the staples that you use in your day to day job. If I have to focus on first things first, where should I start? The company is in a star schema DB format which is different than our snowflake/galaxy model I currently use. PowerBI is a black hole that I haven't even scratched the surface of. They want me to learn that but I think PowerBI is a pretty broad subject. Anything in particular used more often than other things?
Sounds like you have all the skills for a DBA. In theory DBAs think more in terms of future growth, usage, backups, stores, optimizing database performance, etc.. Here is my only suggestion, just because you have a database installed on it, you are not the server administrator. Find the server admin and basically become that person's friend. Do not get off on the wrong foot. In my experience DBAs always think they should completely control of a server they are DBAs on. Most DBAs really do not know a lot about enterprise server administration.
Also, DBAs that come from a programmer background usually only think in terms of getting the program working. They do not think in terms of security of the servers, what disk it is running on for the san, permissions, etc... Just rely on your server administrators. Congrats on your new position.
Two weeks notice is sufficient. I would suggest you take calls for a few weeks after you transition but cut them off after three weeks.
This post was edited on 6/9/21 at 3:55 pm
Posted on 6/9/21 at 7:38 pm to FreddieMac
Thanks for that.
I definitely have a lot to learn. I’m not arrogant and don’t pretend to know more than I do. If I don’t know something I’ll ask. I’m pretty excited to start a job where I’ll be learning again instead of running through the same routines that I used previously.
In my current job we do a lot of converting parameters passed in to a different variable to prevent parameter sniffing. I’ve been pretty good about error handling when writing stored procedures. I know there is a ton more to it than just that and I still learn even where I’m at.
My company is getting 2 weeks and depending on the time of those last two weeks will depend on if I answer the phone at all or if I give them the 3 weeks like you said. I also entertained offering support after hours at a contract rate if they need it.
I definitely have a lot to learn. I’m not arrogant and don’t pretend to know more than I do. If I don’t know something I’ll ask. I’m pretty excited to start a job where I’ll be learning again instead of running through the same routines that I used previously.
In my current job we do a lot of converting parameters passed in to a different variable to prevent parameter sniffing. I’ve been pretty good about error handling when writing stored procedures. I know there is a ton more to it than just that and I still learn even where I’m at.
My company is getting 2 weeks and depending on the time of those last two weeks will depend on if I answer the phone at all or if I give them the 3 weeks like you said. I also entertained offering support after hours at a contract rate if they need it.
Posted on 6/10/21 at 12:14 am to WhiskeyThrottle
quote:
I also entertained offering support after hours at a contract rate if they need it.
@ no less than $120/hour. Market rate is $160+.
Otherwise they'll abuse the shite out of it.
Posted on 6/10/21 at 6:45 am to GrizzlyAlloy
Sorry, I fat fingered a downvote. Should be an upvote. Maybe someone from it can fix that.
Posted on 6/10/21 at 4:40 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
Congrats on the job, always nice to get away from a company that takes you for granted.
I'm in the IT industry (sr soft eng\arch) and have been with my company for a while. When I was young I was the first to offer up overtime/after hours work to make a name for myself. That was necessary but should stop after a while when you progress more to senior roles. If not.... run away fast. I don't mind the occasional call after hours, as I'm a SME on many things, but that's just too much IMO.
As for a DBA, there are lots of good forums or spaces to learn but exp is key. Not sure what type of DBs (oracle, m$, etc) so that all depends. I've dealt with dozens of DBAs... From the extremely smart ones to the ones you wonder how they got the job.... No kidding: I actually had a DBA tell me he couldn't stop the database service because someone deleted the link to services.msc off his desktop.
If you have specific questions, ask. I don't want to go into too much and babble on. But again congrats, if it's where you want to be great. Gotta love what you do or else you'll get burned out way too fast.
I'm in the IT industry (sr soft eng\arch) and have been with my company for a while. When I was young I was the first to offer up overtime/after hours work to make a name for myself. That was necessary but should stop after a while when you progress more to senior roles. If not.... run away fast. I don't mind the occasional call after hours, as I'm a SME on many things, but that's just too much IMO.
As for a DBA, there are lots of good forums or spaces to learn but exp is key. Not sure what type of DBs (oracle, m$, etc) so that all depends. I've dealt with dozens of DBAs... From the extremely smart ones to the ones you wonder how they got the job.... No kidding: I actually had a DBA tell me he couldn't stop the database service because someone deleted the link to services.msc off his desktop.
If you have specific questions, ask. I don't want to go into too much and babble on. But again congrats, if it's where you want to be great. Gotta love what you do or else you'll get burned out way too fast.
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