{"id":2933,"date":"2021-09-29T09:19:48","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T16:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sqlskills.com\/blogs\/kimberly\/?p=2933"},"modified":"2021-09-30T16:33:39","modified_gmt":"2021-09-30T23:33:39","slug":"calling-all-data-wrangers_learn-more_advance-your-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sqlskills.com\/blogs\/kimberly\/calling-all-data-wrangers_learn-more_advance-your-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Calling all data \u201cwranglers\u201d \/ developers \u2013 and those that want to know more about SQL Server!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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I\u2019ve received a few emails over the past couple of months from people feeling that they\u2019re \u201cstuck\u201d or they\u2019re frustrated or they just don\u2019t know how to move forward in their career. One is a developer who works with great DBAs but wants to be able to \u201cspeak their language\u201d. Others are developers that have worked<\/em> with SQL Server but they\u2019ve never been given time to know more. SQL Server has been a \u201cblack box\u201d of \u201cjuju magic\u201d and heck if they\u2019ve ever had time to know more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, as databases grow larger and as online life continues to grow, so do these backend systems. And, some people want to put some of their \u201cworking from home\u201d time toward gaining knowledge. Knowing more about what happens in the back-end can help you be a better developer and possibly lead to a more systems-focused career (if desired) OR just the ability to speak with your DBA more clearly and understand why so many decisions are potentially a lot more critical than they may have seemed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what\u2019s my idea? Well, these people had written to me specifically about SQLskills courses and when the next live courses were going to run. So, part of this stems from a series of online courses \u2013 some live, some recorded, some are free, some are paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the pieces?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SQLskills Insider Sessions (FREE)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SQLskills Insider Sessions:<\/strong> starting on Wednesday, October 6 \u2013 SQLskills will be helping you to stay fresh and focused and keep learning with free online live sessions. Our thought is that it can be great to create a dedicated and regularly scheduled \u201cblock\u201d of time for learning a particular thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, dedicate a two-hour chunk, EVERY Wednesday for \u201cimproving your SQLskills\u201d and we will help fill it with content! Whether you attend one or all of our FREE SQLskills Insider Sessions, you should still consider some regularly blocked time for YOUR learning and YOUR career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for our SQLskills Insider Sessions, we\u2019re going to run different topics or a theme for a few weeks and then we\u2019re going to follow them up with an open Q&A. These LIVE, interactive sessions are completely FREE and will always happen at the same time \u2013 beginning at 10:00am Pacific Time \u2013 on Wednesdays. The only requirement \u2013 you need to be a SQLskills Insider. (That just means you get our bi-weekly newsletter packed with even more free content each time!<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Become a SQLskills Insider here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PASS Data Community Summit (FREE Conference \/ Optional PAID Workshops)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to our SQLskills Insider Sessions, you should be attending the FREE online conference: PASS Data Community Summit<\/a>. The free conference runs for three days Wednesday-Friday, November 10-12 with two optional days of workshops available for a fee. SQLskills has two workshops running:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday, November 8: Solving Query Performance Problems with Statistics<\/strong><\/a> with me<\/a> (twitter<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, November 9: Finding Problems and Stabilizing Performance with Query Store<\/strong><\/a> with Erin Stellato<\/a> (twitter<\/a> | blog<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, there are MANY other great workshops to consider! Here\u2019s the complete list of all 16 workshops<\/a>. And, recently a few WIT speakers (Women in Tech) were interviewed by long-standing WIT influencers: Kathi Kellenberger<\/a> and Mala Mahadevan<\/a> and posted here to PASStv on YouTube<\/a>. These interviews might help you get more information about the sessions in which you\u2019re interested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference is free and workshops are $200 each. <\/strong>https:\/\/passdatacommunitysummit.com\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to these free events, you might want to consider longer \/ more structured training. The way I think about it in general:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conferences are about breadth<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 learn all sorts of topics and get greater insight into where you want to spend more time learning. They can give you a lot of tips and tricks but 60-90 minutes isn\u2019t going to explain all aspects of a feature. Don\u2019t misunderstand \u2013 conferences are fantastic! And, they\u2019re a wonderful piece of the puzzle but the time limit is what restricts the ability to get into phenomenal depth. But, that\u2019s also the benefit \u2013 learn enough to answer critical questions such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n