Professional Development: Internet Image

September 17, 2009 · Posted in SQL Server 

normal_Internet-SeriousBusiness Writing from the plane. I just wanted to let you know this because it sounds like I am cool. ;) On the way to Sacramento with a short stop in Vegas. Hopefully, I do not miss my plane and end up in a poker tournament for more $ than I can afford against people I have to get lucky to beat. *wink* Nah.. That is the first of many jokes that are not funny in this post. It is Grandpop’s funeral that I am headed to so I can’t miss my flight and if I do, I have to go on stand by. Before you bring all the sappy condolences etc, I am not down. He lived a LONG, prosperous, and happy life. He was a violin professor a university in Serbia before WWII. He escaped from a concentration camp in WWII. He came to America and gave up the violin to provide for his family which grew to three daughters, five grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. Oh yah, he outlived two wives and was steady pimpin’ into his 80’s.

Relevance, please?

So, you ask, what does all that have to do with Professional Development? I just advertised some things about the kind of person I am. It is now part of my Internet Image. That first paragraph is like a tattoo. It will never go away. This is what some say should be avoided when speaking of internet image in the SQL Server(and beyond) community. They say maintain the most upmost professionalism at all times. That is one strategy and I agree it is hard to get into trouble being conservative. However, you can also be yourself if assume the following:

  • (Today’s + affirmation) By acting myself, I can interact with people with the same interests as me, I am likable for who I am, and I want to associate with people like me even in a professional environment.
  • I would prefer to work in an environment where I fit the general culture.
  • By fitting in with the culture, I am a foot a head of an equal job candidate for same position that does not fit in the with culture.

Talking about myself again!

To use me as an example, I display my xbox gamer tag proudly on this site. I would not want to work for a company where most of the people do not own Xboxes. At the same time, I would love to work at a company where there are games in the break room.

Of course, you can cross the line and use poop or toilet analogies. At the same time, wouldn’t you prefer to work for a boss who appreciated crude internets geek humor if that is what you are into? Same goes for bowling, knitting, d&d, and wiccan magic. He77, if it was not for HR, my first question to potential job candidates would be “What is Goatse?”. I kid but as a hiring manager, I do look for technical ability first but cultural fit is a not too far behind. Look at it like this. I do not care if I walk by and one of my DBAs is reading the Onion because I know when a server explodes and the ʪĦÍŦ hits the fan, they will be there be it for three hours or thirty; what ever it takes to recover, boot, or function. That intangible quality is a job skill!

Where is the line?

I suggest that anytime you ever post anything online, you follow this decision tree.

  • Picture your dream job that you want to be in DBA century(10 human years)  from now.
  • Ask yourself if this will help or hurt your chances for that job?
  • If the answer is yes, then ask yourself if you would be happy working for such a company\manager?
  • If both answers are yes, then do not post!
  • If either are no, post away.
  • If drinking tasty cold alcoholic beverages, immediately post something “insightful” on your boss’s boss’s facebook wall.

So can this backfire?

There are also other circumstances that I should warn you against being yourself like if you are the only one who laughs at your jokes or is boring, obnoxious, always right, a trekkie, or a LOTR fanatic(7 hours of walking! Even the trees!).  These mostly hold true for the unforeseeable future too so if you are not confident in your future, you may want to exercise caution as well and remember that life happens. Here are some things that would make me be more conservative.

  • Your job market is small. Examples include a small town or a very small niche specialty like a Sybase to SQL Server conversion specialist in Bee-eF-eeVille, Texas.
  • Your experience lends to junior level jobs for now. We all started off some where. Until your technical experience outpaces any possible negative perceptions, then a conservative route made be prudent. As I said earlier, it is hard to get in trouble being conservative so when in doubt, lean tight right like a southern Baptist GOP senator in the closet.
  • Religion and politics(previous bullet aside) – This is more of my personal preference because a valid argument could be made for putting this out there. I, on the other hand, think that my dream job could be working for someone that I don’t agree with on Religion\Politics and I think the hiring manager may choose an equal but “image conservative” candidate over me because of it. However, if this is your cup of tea, +10 street cred homeboy!
  • You are conservative by nature. I am only making a case for being who you are. Do not portray anything you are not.
  • You think you may change careers over the next 10 years. Again, life happens. Lean conservatively unless you are confident in your future.

What am I trying to say...

I have not spoken much about the benefits of this openness on “The CPU” as my wife calls it. Let me wrap this up with that. Basically, it is more fun and more natural to be ourselves. I believe you are more interesting. Why hold back personality for dry dull dialog? That said, being anything but being the utmost professional on the internet should be done after careful thought so don’t log into alt.binaries.erotica.asian.furry.midgets.multimedia with your real name! Besides, I have worked for the same company for the last 10 years and I do not think I will be looking over the next 5-10+ years so take this with a grain of salt. Lastly, the golden rule is don’t do anything you would not be proud to show yo mamma.

Speaking of…. Yo mamma so nasty we tried to flush her dirty pages with DBCC DROPCLEANBUFFERS  but it kept failing because of the stench from that puss bubble excreting from her VLF. BOOM.

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Comments

  • I have to let you know the DBCC DROPCLEANBUFFERS only doesn't deal with puss because we ran out of time for SQL Server 2005 - otherwise I'd have put it in. Sorry. And I like LOTR. :-)
  • Neat story about what your grandfather had overcome in his life.
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