[rescue] SQL Programmer wanted in Columbus, Ohio

Sheldon T. Hall shel at cmhcsys.com
Thu Jul 3 12:19:33 CDT 2003


 Phil Stracchino says ...

> Unfortunately, describing myself as a SQL programmer would be, at best,
> stretching the truth ...  (something my wife doesn't always seem to
> grasp -- she's convinced that because I know a little about some field,
> I can do the job of a trained and experienced professional in that
> field.)

Well, you probably can.  I can, have done, and do.

Now, I wouldn't want to walk into the OR and play brain surgeon, but I
wouldn't hesitate to take on programming in a new language (I've worked in
25 of 'em) or on a new OS (8 of those), if someone could be convinced to pay
me to do it.  Or to write an authoritative book about something with which I
had only passing familiarity.

Over my lifetime, I've done a lot of things professionally with no actual
previous experience.  I read a book, or several of them, maybe, or watched
someone do it, or something, so I had some idea how it was done, but that
was it.  Given the easy access to information these days, I'd answer "Do you
know the procedures for Mil-Spec QA?" with "I will by Monday," rather than
with the "No, but I can figure it out if you have a book or something" I
used in 1968.

Similarly, given MySQL and other such things you can play with at home, you
could acquire enough SQL knowledge to talk the talk, even if the walk you'd
taken was a little shorter than the stroll the employer really wanted....

-Shel



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