This post is for the most recent #tsql2sday, a monthly exercise where a topic is proposed by a community member and everyone is invited to post their thoughts on the subject. I’ve read many of these but never participated this before, but when I saw that Alex Yates asked about something in our IT career that we changed our mind about I knew instantly this would be the time to jump into this pool.

Pardon me for getting all meta, but the biggest thing in my IT career that I changed my mind about was whether or not I should even HAVE an IT career.

Let me tell you a story.

You’re Not Very Well

Whenever I am asked how long I’ve worked with SQL Server the answer I give is “over twenty years.” And I usually give this answer sheepishly because my thinking is, since I’ve worked with the product that long then you might expect me to be a subject matter expert on par with Paul Randal, Kalen Delaney, and Bob Ward. But I’m not; some days I’m not even on par with Microsoft Bob.

You see, early in my IT career I was what has been referred to as a Groundhog Day DBA. I learned what was required to solve the specific database problems for my employer, and then worked years developing no other technical skills. Effectively, I did the same thing over and over, and I did this for over a decade. And I did it alone, always working as the sole DBA.

Instead of 10 years of experience, I had one year of experience 10 times.

Why? The reason was simple: I didn’t really want to have an IT career.

The Only One I Know

This wasn’t because I was lazy or unmotivated. I had fallen into IT work on accident (because it paid the bills), and throughout my first decade as a database professional I was working hard at and motivated to do other things. I was consistently applying my real efforts towards starting my own online business, first with partners then by myself. When that opportunity felt exhausted I decided to become some sort of writer, so I started blogging about motorsports – often multiple times a day.

The whole while I showed up and did my SQL Server DBA job, each day more spiteful of this wretched career of late night deployments, after hours emergencies, and of course never ever being complimented for having databases online 99% or more of the time.

So what changed?

Opportunity

In 2011 I switched jobs, and for the first time in my life I was on a DBA team. I was around other people who knew the downside of this career, so I had folks with whom to commiserate. They also knew the upside of this career, and they showed me all sorts of features of SQL Server I had never used. They piqued my interests about how being a DBA could be, well, interesting.

Now, I’m not saying you should never be a Lone DBA, I’m only speaking from my own experience. You can still be a Lone DBA, just don’t be an “Alone DBA.” And definitely don’t be Groundhog Day DBA either.

Participating in online forums, frequenting local user groups, and networking at conferences can give you the support and encouragement you need. I didn’t do any of those things before I joined a DBA team because I didn’t realize what a gift the rest of the SQL Server community is.

I’ve found out, at the expense of over a decade of my IT career, that being alone doesn’t work. Many of us are motivated to prove to others our worth, but trying to do this alone can result in burnout and dissatisfaction. I’m living proof.

Now? I absolutely love being a SQL Server professional, so much so I’ve been presenting sessions about the things I’ve learned as well as writing about them here at this blog. Joining a team and finding a community completely changed my mind about my career.