Passing the 70-767 Implementing a Data Warehouse exam has been a goal of mine for a while now, and I finally achieved that on 11/30/2020! The exam is going to be retired soon (January 31st, 2021), so this was cutting it close. And since the exam is going to be retired in 62 days of starting this post, I’m not going to post in my usual format for passing an exam. If you do have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments. (Note: I do not plan on breaking the Microsoft NDA I signed in the exam, so any content in the comments will adhere to the NDA or will be removed.)
Continue reading “Hurray! I passed my 70-767 and earned my MCSE!”Hooray! I earned my Scaled Agilist (SAFe 5) badge!
On 10/6/2020, I took the Scaled Agile Framework 5 (SAFe 5) (Scaled Agilist – Leading SAFe) exam and passed! I want to thank my company SAIC for sponsoring me for this exam as it can be difficult and pricey to obtain. (This varies based on experience.) While I’m sure you are here to read about the exam and tips I have on it, I think it’s also important to go into what SAFe is and why you would want this certification.
Continue reading “Hooray! I earned my Scaled Agilist (SAFe 5) badge!”Studying for the 70-767 to earn the MCSE
I really only planned on writing about the 70-767 in one post rather than two, but I thought this post may help other people while I continually study for my 70-767 exam. Microsoft is retiring the 70-767 and many other exams on January 31 2021. This is significant for several reasons:
- The exams were originally set to be retired by June 30 2020
- You will not be able to achieve an MCSA or MCSE after the dates
- Microsoft is changing how they design the certifications to be role-based involving Azure technology
T-SQL Tuesday #122 – Imposter Syndrome wrap up
I want to thank everyone who participated in this month’s #TSQL2SDAY! There are new folks starting their journey towards a new career every day and I believe that these stories can honestly help many individuals. Thank you, Steve Jones – (b|t) for letting me host this month and thank you Adam Machanic for starting this blog party back in 2009.
Overall, we had 27 individuals post or share their Imposter Syndrome stories and thoughts. I had a lot of great reading to do this week and weekend.
| Writer | Summary |
| Mala Mahadevan | Mala shares her experiences and thoughts on Imposter Syndrome. She gives us five strategies to help keep us in the moment and be authentic to ourselves. |
| Todd Kleinhans | Todd shares his experiences with Imposter Syndrome and relates it to other experiences he’s had in life. He ends his post with final advice to padawans who may be experiencing Imposter Syndrome. |
| Rob Farley | After a mind-bending paradox, Rob dives into what Imposter Syndrome is like as a Microsoft SQL Server MVP and offers his solution to dealing with Imposter Syndrome. |
| Aaron Bertrand | Aaron discusses how his career evolved and the various hats worn that forced him to work outside his comfort zone. He ends with solid advice and an image of a very suspect doggo. |
| Taiob Ali | Taiob shares how Imposter Syndrome affected his career and how his career evolved out of it. He also provides many fantastic links to resources that discuss and provide suggestions for Imposter Syndrome. |
| Martin Surasky | Martin discusses “YouTube syndrome”, the future of the next generation, and personal experiences. Final advice is offered by Martin and summarized with a quote from Ira Glass. |
| Lisa Griffin Bohm | Lisa brings up the philosophy behind Imposter Syndrome while discussing how everyone differs in life. She ends with a positive message of encouragement to all those beginning their journey through Imposter Syndrome. |
| Jason Brimhall | Jason gives us a list of all the real imposters in the SQL community. Not really actually, but he does provide us with a very pragmatic approach to working through Imposter Syndrome. There are also some links to additional help dealing with Imposter Syndrome. |
| Kevin Chant | Kevin writes about when he’s experienced Imposter Syndrome and what the effects were on his work, specifically his phenomenal (whoops, spoilers) video: SQL Server related services in Azure. He ends with final advice on how to cope with Imposter Syndrome. |
| Deborah Melkin | #BeLikeDeb, is my new resolution for the year after reading Deborah’s article. Deb talks about her experiences with Imposter Syndrome and gives us a great link to Mindy Curnett’s PASS presentation on this topic. The article ends with some sage advice. |
| Jess Pomfret | Jess gives us great advice and insight into dealing with Imposter Syndrome. There is especially great advice if you are a speaker or want to get into speaking but feel like you aren’t up to par. |
| Taryn Pratt | The article describes the challenges posed by Imposter Syndrome when Taryn arrived back to work at StackOverflow as a DBA. Taryn ends the post with final thoughts and ideas to overcome Imposter Syndrome. |
| Chris Voss | ; WITH ARTICLE ( SELECT [Chris shares two explicit experiences about Imposter Syndrome] FROM TSQL2SDAYPOST) SELECT [Suggestions and ways Chris resolved his Imposter Syndrome towards the end] FROM ARTICLE |
| Sander Stad | Sander summarizes their experiences meeting their idols on SQL Cruise and offers critical advice to anyone experiencing Imposter Syndrome. In fact, the experience Sander had is exactly the experience that led me to have this as an idea for TSQL2SDAY. |
| Nate Johnson | Nate shares server migration pains and feeling the burn of Imposter Syndrome. After an entertaining read through Nate’s experiences, he summarizes some help for those who may be feeling inadequate at their job. |
| Andy Yun | Andy tackles Imposter Syndrome with assurance, self-examination, two core values, and a paradigm shift. It’s a quick read but has mountains of golden advice interlaced. |
| Shane O’Neill | The article talks about the moments where Imposter Syndrome sets in and also where Shane feels the most comfortable. I’m sure many people will be able to relate to this post. |
| Melissa Connors | Here we read about Melissa’s experience where she was afraid to be found out as a fraud, only to discover a workplace paradigm that emboldens its employees. Melissa offers reading material and various resources to help overcome Imposter Syndrome as well as a fantastic idea for a series of printed stickers. |
| Leslie Andrews | Leslie shares how even Idera Ace’s and frequent presenters succumb to Imposter Syndrome. Leslie ends with some philosophic thoughts and what things help them perservere through those Imposter Syndrome feelings. |
| Kenneth Fisher | Kenneth gives us a viewpoint into Imposter Syndrome and how he deals with those feelings. With a mindset adjustment, Kenneth keeps on swimming and gives their final tips |
| Drew Skwiers-Koballa | Drew gives you three great tips for combatting Imposter Syndrome as well as a suggestion for your workplace. A quick but helpful read with some immediately actionable items. |
| Andy Levy | Have you ever felt alone at work? Andy has, especially since he was the only DBA at his job. He writes about his experiences with Imposter Syndrome and how he pulls himself up again to deliver a great experience for his customers. |
| Elizabeth Noble | Elizabeth talks about the community and how they have helped with dealings of Imposter Syndrome. From role models to helping friends, there’s a good story to read here. |
| Shawn Oden | Shawn takes us down memory road where one career begets another. Once Imposter Syndrome takes over, he loops, rolls, spins, and hammerheads his way through. As with other participants, it seems as though he has found his inner voice to help qualm Imposter Syndrome. |
| Eugene Meidinger | Eugene also tackles this matter pragmatically and gives set directions for how he resolves his own Imposter Syndrome. You’ll read about his experiences and at the end he summarizes his suggestions nicely. |
| Allan Hirt | Allan gives us his take on Imposter Syndrome and shares a story “Closer To The Heart” in a different approach from many of the other articles. It features a close correlation between his life as a “Working Man” and the band Rush. He ties these two “Subdivisions” together neatly and ends with helpful advice. |
| Andrew Pruski | Andrew gets a honorable mention here. It’s not a post made on T-SQL Tuesday, but it’s relatable all the same. Here Andrew gives us another view on Imposter Syndrome and suggests it’s more of a blessing than a curse. |
T-SQL Tuesday #122 – Imposter Syndrome
As we enter the new year, I’m sure many of us are setting goals, resolutions, or perhaps beginning new challenges. Change can often be terrifying, but that’s how we grow. With this in mind, the topic I’d like us to write about this month is “Imposter Syndrome”.
Imposter syndrome isn’t a topic I’ve seen addressed before via T-SQL Tuesday and this is an issue I’ve commonly seen in the IT industry.
Imposter Syndrome – The persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills.
https://www.lexico.com/definition/impostor_syndrome
I can assure you that if you have felt this way before, you are not alone. People in the community who I would consider experts have stated they felt (and sometimes still feel) imposter syndrome. These are people with more experience than years I’ve existed on this planet and they still feel this way. Coincidentally, this triggers my own imposter syndrome when I think about that.
T-SQL Tuesday Topic
I want to read your stories about when you’ve experienced, seen, or overcome imposter syndrome! Was there a job that you felt you were ill-prepared for? Did you make a mistake or did someone say something that made you question if you were a true data professional? Maybe there was a particular task you ran into that made you question your experience? Did you resolve your tasks and succeed in your job? How did you overcome that feeling of being an imposter and solve your challenges? Maybe you haven’t experienced it yourself but you saw someone who was feeling imposter syndrome, were you able to help them?
You can be technical or non-technical with this post, the goal is to share experiences to help those also experiencing imposter syndrome. Maybe you are still feeling it, sometimes walking through your challenges can help you brainstorm solutions.
T-SQL Tuesday Rules
Here are the T-SQL Tuesday rules and a quick summary:
- Stay on-topic.
- Use the T-SQL Tuesday logo, and link it back to this post.
- Trackbacks should work, but if you don’t see yours on this post, please put a link to your post in the comments section.
- Publish your post between 0000 and 2359 UTC on 2020-01-14.
- If you have Twitter, you can tweet your post with the #tsql2sday hashtag
Do you want to host T-SQL Tuesday?
If you would like to host a T-SQL Tuesday you can read the rules on the T-SQL Tuesday site and ask Steve Jones if you can host.
How to Fix SQL Database Error 8942
Summary:
In this article, we will solve the SQL Database error 8942 in different ways and, I will tell you the best way for solving this error. The error is:
“Server: Msg 8942, Level 16, State 1 Table error: Object ID O_ID, index ID I_ID, page P_ID, Test (TEST) failed. Slot S_ID, offset 0xADDRESS overlaps with the prior row.”.
Continue reading “How to Fix SQL Database Error 8942”Future goals and content
As we approach the new year, I’d like to take a moment to state my current professional goals and what the content on my site is going to look like going forward.
I like to show my constant involvement in education with my blog, but this isn’t the only way I learn or keep my brain active outside work. I still:
- Watch tutorials
- Work on proof of concepts
- Read books
- Study for certifications
- Read articles on trends
- Network with folks at meetups
- Attend conferences
What I haven’t been able to do as much however is:
- Write in-depth articles (such as my learning change tracking article)
- Create and present content for an event
- Earn certifications (I still make progress on this, but I am doing it slower rate than I would like)
By the end of this year, I will have written 58 articles in two years. I’m going to take a break from constant blog posting. I will still post occasional content onto my site, but it will be less frequent. The goal is to make the content I post high quality and in-depth. More than just that, I plan on advancing my career in a few new ways.
So here are my goals for 2020!
- Create and present two sets of presentations at events
- I also plan to publish an article about the event’s presentation and include the content and a summary of it
- Earn my MCSE in Data Management and Analytics
- I also plan to publish an article about how I earned my MCSE, similar to my CDMP and MCSA articles
- Earn my MCSA in Database Administration
- I also plan to publish an article about how I earned my MCSA
- Host a #TSQL2SDAY event
- Publish my Learning SQL, databases, and starting your career guide (This will probably be book-sized in content)
Hurray! I earned my CDMP!
On 11/10/2019, I earned my CDMP (Certified Data Management Professional) certification! This certificate comes from an organization called DAMA which I’ve recently written about. Today’s post is more about the preparation and experience of taking the Data Management Fundamentals Exam. I would recommend starting by reading out what DAMA is and circle back here if you are unfamiliar with it.
Continue reading “Hurray! I earned my CDMP!”T-SQL Tuesday #120 What were you thinking?
Thank you Wayne for hosting this month’s T-SQL Tuesday! Wayne shared last year a story where he had to reverse engineer a complex hierarchy pattern within a table. The developers appeared to do this to obfuscate how the software operated. This left him asking, “What were you thinking?” So this month, we are discussing stories that left you asking that same question.
Continue reading “T-SQL Tuesday #120 What were you thinking?”Lessons from conferences
This month I’ve attended SQL Saturday in Denver along with the Pre-Con event featuring Steve Jones and Kendra Little who discuss continuous integration and development. I’ve also attended the Teradata Universe conference in Denver, so it’s been a very busy month. Besides trying to catch up on email and work between sessions, I’ve been trying to summarize material into educational and actionable items for my customers.
I would like to share with you three sayings and some examples around them that I heard at these conferences. I think these phrases have a lot of insight to them and I hope you can take something productive away from this.
Continue reading “Lessons from conferences”