professional development

Back in January, Malathi Mahadevan asked me if I would participate in a book she was working on. The book, “Data Professionals At Work”, is part of Apress Media’s “…At Work” series, an anthology of interviews with Microsoft-focused data professionals

I’m no accidental DBA. Very shortly after I started working in tech, I realized that I wanted to be a DBA when I grew up. Eventually, I landed that DBA job, and have been a DBA ever since. A couple of weeks ago, I told my manager I was leaving and gave my notice. That night, my husband and I celebrated with a champagne moment.

I recently presented for the PASS Professional Development virtual group with my session “How to get your dream job: resume & job hunting tips.” When I’m speaking at SQLSaturdays and User Groups, I frequently meet people looking to advance their career, make a career change, … [Read More]

Writing a good resume is hard. People will tell you lots of rules about what you should always or never do with your resume. Should you follow those rules? Are things different because of your industry/background/geography/niche? Should you be clever or classic? It depends™. There is … [Read More]

Like most people, I’ve changed jobs a few times in my life. My path from teenage grocery store cashier to Database Architect was a complicated and multi-step journey. During that journey, I’ve made some good decisions, and some bad decisions. If you’re like most tech … [Read More]

When you’re interviewing with a new company, pay attention to their benefits. Even the ones that aren’t important to you personally. Benefits don’t just include health/dental/vision insurance and retirement/pension (I’ll call these “core benefits”). It includes life insurance, disability, maternity leave, vacation, sick time, as well … [Read More]

Most of us spend at least eight hours per day working. In America, we spend an average of 25 minutes commuting, each way. That’s nine hours dedicated to work every day. You probably see your coworkers as much as you see your friends and significant other. … [Read More]