This year I’ve decided to include a few more articles that will centre round my personal experiences. One thing I love is mentoring people just starting out in their career. I love teaching people who are really passionate about learning things but perhaps just don’t know where to start- because I use to be one of those people.
I won’t lie- when I started my IT career I never envisioned me being a DBA.. in fact I didn’t know what a DBA even did when I first started out. But like most people I sort of fell into it- I was lucky really, people at my company saw something in me and I’m really glad they did!
So I thought I’d write down a few notes on what helped me from being someone who felt like a deer in the headlights at times - to the person I am today!
Points I’ve learnt along the way
Listen to your mentors and senior people in your team- they have a wealth of knowledge and are people to look up to. I had really great mentors around me- experienced people who really took me under their wing. Every piece of advice they gave I took it on board. I tried to replicate how they work and the way they would diagnose issues. Most importantly I really wanted to impress them!
Don’t be afraid to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Do tasks that scare you- it sounds silly but it’s very easy to hide behind the wall of “but I’ve never done that before”. I’ve learnt its impossible to come across every issue you might face, in fact the most important thing is how you face a problem you don’t know, how do you break it down, what are your thought processes. These types of things you really have to learn by yourself because everyone is different- so it’s how you rise to the challenge.
You don’t have to know everything. Don’t beat yourself up- I’ve been a DBA now for about 3 years.. I still don’t know everything and I never will but that’s the beauty of it- there’s always something to learn.
Set time outside of work to study theory. This really helped me- nothing good ever comes easily as they say. You need to invest in yourself just as much as your employer has invested in you. I studied for the SQL MCSA exams outside of work and this really helped “click things into place”.
Don‘t be afraid to speak up and bring new ideas to the table. It’s too easy to say well this is the way it’s been done for x amount of years so they know best. Bring new ideas to the table. I’d personally be more impressed by someone who brings ideas and opinions to the table rather than sitting on the side lines.
Don’t always ask for help immediately. Sometimes you will hit a wall and the easiest thing to do would be to give up and say well I’ll ask someone else. Have a good think about it for a while, the idea might come to you. You’ll get a lot more reward from helping yourself because you can’t always expect everyone to hand hold you 24/7- independence is really important. Yes it feels like a bit of an uncomfortable struggle at the time but you’ll look back and be glad and really feel like you accomplished something good!
Attend conferences and network with people. Conferences are so important- conferences can cover a range of different and interesting topics and are useful to people just starting out and also experienced people!
Some days you’ll feel like your bossing it... other days you’ll feel like a fraud! Remember that this is a completely normal feeling and although you may not know it- everyone has days like this!
Make a plan and focus on areas- don’t take too much on. It’s too easy to go at 100 mph and want to learn 100 things at once but you need to accept that it will take time, therefore don’t expect to be a knowledgeable DBA overnight. Focus on areas you want to upskill in, speak to your management about tasks you can do for the company that involve those areas!
Comments