In case you don’t follow me on LinkedIn or Twitter, your humble host joined the smart folks at Straight Path Solutions in March. This is a talented group of SQL Server consultants founded by Mike Walsh and includes several former Microsoft MVPs, and I’m incredibly honored to be part of their team.

Especially since I didn’t have much experience as a consultant.

Maybe you don’t either, which is why I wrote this post. If you ever wanted to know how consulting is different than a typical job as a fulltime DBA, I’ve assembled this brief retrospective of things I’ve learned so far.

Let’s get to it then.

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Presenting is difficult, and you already know that. It is also incredibly rewarding and beneficial to your career, but that’s not important for this post.

As difficult as it is to stand in front of a real or virtual room of folks and speak about a subject, there are several other difficult things about presenting that most of us don’t realize until we start preparing. There are technical concerns like trying to fiddle with Powerpoint or some other slide-related software or crafting demonstration code for scenarios.

There are also procedural concerns like figuring a title, an abstract/description of your session, and your biography. In fact, writing a simple biography can become one of the most frustrating and time-consuming parts of the entire process.

Let me help you with that.

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Something I’ve mentioned in previous career-related posts is the value of a mentor. In case it seemed more like a suggestion, let me be more direct about this: You need a mentor.  

Yes, you. And me as well. Having a mentor is something of which there is no comparable value to any of our careers.  

No matter how far along we are in our career paths, there are always others who have walked a similar path and are further ahead. And often, many of those folks are willing to help others just like me and you. And believe me, it would be incredibly foolish to not take them up on their offer.  

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I’ve been fortunate to have spoken at a few SQL Saturday events this year, and one of the sessions I’ve had the pleasure of presenting has been about getting familiar with the SELECT statement. It’s a basic session designed for folks who haven’t yet started writing T-SQL, or are who have tried a bit but may seem confused. The session has been well attended, presumably because most people end up having to learn T-SQL on their own.

Then again, maybe it’s all movie references in the session.

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Much like your paycheck, this post is two weeks after the fact. But also like your paycheck, it’s got a good deal of personal importance. I’ve taken a couple weeks to let the experience of attending my first PASS Summit marinate in my brain sauce, and now I’m ready to server up my thoughts.

You know what? Scratch that analogy. That’s a little too Hannibal Lecter.

So after fumbling the opening, here’s what I remember about PASS Summit.

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As I mentioned previously, this week I presented my first public SQL Server training session. I’m truly grateful for this opportunity because after all the work I put into preparing the session I believe I ended up with something that has value for just about anyone who writes T-SQL.

But for now, let’s have a few words about the words “all the work”.

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I’ve mentioned on this site that part of the reason I’m even writing my SQL Server notes here is because of my experience on Tech Outbound’s SQL Cruise Alaska last year. It was a more significant event for my career than I could have possibly imagined, and not just because of all the cool stuff I learned. I even found out I had something in common with Bob Ward.

But before I get to that, let me explain to you why I am investing in a second round for the 2018 Tech Outbound Alaska event next month.

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As I noted before, as a Senior DBA I’m occasionally asked to participate in interviews for other prospective data professionals. I really do love doing this, and if you want to know why go ahead and read the first paragraph of my previous post on Curiosity.

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As a Senior DBA I’m occasionally asked to participate in interviews for other prospective data professionals. Full disclosure: I actually love doing this because, and this may sound odd, I really enjoy asking people questions. Unlike most of my IT colleagues, my university studies featured a huge helping of journalism classes, so interrogating, err, interviewing is something that comes naturally to me.

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