So You Want to Work at Microsoft?

I love SQL Server. ^[1]

I love working for Microsoft. ^[2]

For me, these two loves are two things that go well together.

I also love competition.

If you love SQL Server as much as I do (and if you don’t mind competition) you could have the opportunity to see if you love working for Microsoft as well, and have a fun experience while making it happen, by participating in the “Be the Next Microsoft Employee” show. I won’t go into the details – you can click on the link for that – but these are the highlights that leap out at me as being particularly cool:

• The show is focused on real-world SQL Server professionals
• Finalists get to attend TechEd North America in Orlando (to get introduced to the public audience as a finalist) and to Microsoft campus in Redmond (for job interviews) with Microsoft picking up the tab
• The winner has a shot^[3] at a Service Engineer position with Microsoft’s internal IT organization, MSIT^[4]
• There are many foodie tie-ins to the show: Not only does the theme remind me of one of my family’s favorite TV shows – The Next Iron Chef^[5] – but finalists will get to eat at Elemental while they’re in town for their interviews^[6]

Are you interested yet?

If so, follow the instructions to enter, and post a comment to let me know.

 

[1] This should surprise no one.

[2] Hopefully this won’t surprise too many people either.

[3] Since this is a real job for the real Microsoft, there’s no guarantee that anyone will get a job offer, just like with any interview.

[4] MSIT is one of biggest IT organizations in the world, and they work on some of the coolest projects I’ve seen. They’re often early adopters of Microsoft products and technologies, participating in TAP/”dogfood” programs and regularly deploy pre-release versions of products like SQL Server into production environments. Speaking of a member of the SQL Server team this is super valuable, because it provides us with real-world feedback that makes the RTM versions of the product better. Speaking as an ex-BI consultant this is super exciting, because how many clients or projects let you stay at the cutting edge of technology and make a real difference in the products you use and love.

[5] Not unlike the Iron Architect competition from way back in 2007, for those who remember back that far.

[6] They should feel free to invite me along, especially if the show organizers are paying for dinner ;-)

Hey, That Was Fun!

As you probably know, I’m a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT). As you may not know, MCTs are required to renew their certification each year, and the 2009 renewal period is currently underway. I got my MT 2009 welcome kit a week or so ago.

And with that welcome kit came a nice surprise – a voucher for one free Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (MCAS) exam.

Now, if you’re like me, you probably like to think of yourself as being a geek. Someone who builds software that has never existed before, and who dominates the poor software that is unlucky enough to cross your path. (Or something like that anyway.) So although I had been aware of the MCAS certification for some time, I had never really considered trying to achieve it. But hey – free is free, right?

So last Friday I scheduled my exam (77-601: Using Microsoft Office Word 2007) for this morning. I was going to be out of the office for a dentist appointment anyway, and the test center is on the way home, so why not, right?

Well, to make a long story short, I passed the exam and had a great time doing it. The exam was delivered in Word 2007 – each question gave me a list of things to accomplish and I then used Word 2007 to achieve the required goals. It didn’t matter what steps you used (I’m a big keyboard shortcut user and don’t use the Ribbon too often) so long as you achieve the requirements as written.

The thing that struck me here was that this exam really tested my ability to use Word 2007 as a “power user.” Not just someone who typed documents, but someone who knows what features are there and who knows how to use them. I doubt that I’ll stop taking my technical certification exams any time soon, but I think that I may just need to try my hand at the Excel 2007 and PowerPoint 2007 exams too…

Get on the Bus!

if (you.Location.Match(“Atlanta”,
    “Charlotte”, “Philadelphia”, “Columbus”,
    “Indianapolis”, “St. Louis”, “Kansas City”,
    “Denver”, “Albuquerque”, “Phoenix”,
    “Las Vegas”, “Los Angeles”) ==
        MatchResults.CloseEnough)
{
    you.EnterContest(“Get on the Bus”);
}

if (you.WinContest(“Get on the Bus”))
{
    you.AttendConference(Microsoft.Conference.TechEd,
        Cost.Free);
}

Sound like a good deal? Learn more and enter here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/offers/getonthebus/default.mspx

(I just wish that I were eligible…)

I’m Certifiable – Are You?

Odd are, if you read this blog you are certifiable. One way or the other.

But of course, I’m talking about Microsoft technical certifications in the developer and IT Professional world. (What were you thinking?) I’ve been a Microsoft Certified Trainer since 1996, and have taken any number of certification exams since then. I love certification for many reasons[1] - and one of the reasons is that I thing that the certification exams are fun.[2] I love the ability to demonstrate the depth and breadth of my knowledge in an almost competitive setting – it’s almost like playing chess with myself.

But not everyone has seen the fun side of certification. Until now!

Microsoft Learning[3] has just launched a new online game that is like a cross between a certification practice exam and an Xbox 360 game show. It’s a riot – I played a quick game over lunch today and loved it.

But instead of reading my opinions, you should check it out here. Enjoy!

[1] But I’m not going to try to go into all of the reasons why. If you want more on that front, check out the Born to Learn blog where Ken Rosen and his team post just about every day.

[2] Please refer to the title of this post again.

[3] Yes, this is the group within Microsoft where I work these days, even though I can’t take any credit for the genius behind this site.

Certification Offers at PASS

Are you going to be at the PASS Community Summit 2008 conference next month in Seattle? I am, and you should be too. Why? Well, if the opportunity to attend amazing sessions and rub shoulders with members of the SQL Server product group and SQL Server MVPs wasn't enough, Microsoft Learning is offering a variety of certification-related offers to help PASS attendees get certified on SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2008.

First of all, there are two discounts offers available.

1. If you're among the first 100 to register for an exam, you get the exam for free. This offer has been published for a while, so act now for a chance to get this 100% discount.
2. If you're not among the first 100, you still get a 25% discount on any exams you want to take during the conference - just register and go.

Next, Microsoft Learning is also offering a set of exam prep sessions for PASS attendees who want an extra edge when taking a certification exam. Here's the tentative schedule (it's really unlikely that this is going to change, but you know how conferences are - you should always check the schedule on site once the event begins) for the exam prep sessions:

• Tuesday, November 18                           
• 10:15am - 70 432 TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Installation and Maintenance
• 1:00pm - 70 431 TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 - Implementation and Maintenance
• 2:45pm - 70-447  UPGRADE: MCDBA Skills to MCITP DBA by Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005
• Wednesday, November 19
• 10:15am - 70 448 TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Business Intelligence Development and Maintenance
• 1:30pm - 70 445 TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 - Business Intelligence
• 3:00pm - 70 455  Upgrade: Transition your MCITP Business Intelligence Developer Skills to MCITP Business Intelligence Developer 2008
• 4:30pm - Cert 101
• Thursday, November 20
• 10:15am - 70 432 TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Installation and Maintenance  (repeat)
• 1:30pm - 70 450 PRO: Designing, Optimizing and Maintaining a Database Server Infrastructure using Microsoft SQL Server 2008          
• 3:00pm - 70 453 Upgrade: Transition your MCITP Database Administrator Skills to MCITP Database Administrator 2008

As you can probably guess, I'm going to be presenting the three BI exam sessions on Wednesday. They asked me "can you do two?" and I said "no, but I can do three!" The other exam prep sessions are going to be delivered by veteran MCTs Telmo Sampaio and Rob Boek, and the Cert 101 session is going to be delivered by none other than Microsoft Learning's own Gerry O'Brien. What's not to love?

So - if you're going to be at PASS and are thinking about getting certified on SQL Sever, don't miss these offers. And be sure to look me up during the conference. I'll be in the certification area on Wednesday, and will probably be hanging out in the Ask The Experts Lounge at least some of the time (I have so many questions! ;-) and who knows where else I'll be the rest of the time - just keep your eyes open and be sure to say hello.

Losing My MVP

Since the beginning of the year I've had the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) logo on my blog. I've been delighted to be honored with the MVP award, because is is an acknowledgment of the effort I've made to give back to the Microsoft technical community. This is what Microsoft has to say about the MVP award:

"The Microsoft MVP Award Program recognizes and thanks outstanding members of technical communities for their community participation and willingness to help others. The MVP Award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who foster the free and objective exchange of knowledge by actively sharing their real-world expertise with technology users. The MVP Award celebrates the most active community members from around the world who provide invaluable online and offline expertise that enriches the community experience and makes a difference in technical communities that feature Microsoft products."

What a cool thing to have Microsoft say about you, right? But in another three weeks I will no longer be an MVP - Microsoft is taking the award away from me.

Why would they do that, you ask?

Well, since I haven't been violating any NDAs lately, that narrows down the field. Have you guessed yet?

That's right - I'm going to be joining Microsoft as a full time employee. MVPs are "independent experts" and Microsoft employees cannot be MVPs.

Starting October 6th I will be joining Microsoft Learning as a Senior Program Manager/Quality Architect. I will be working with Microsoft Learning's Courseware Development Group (CDG) to improve the quality of Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) courseware. This is a challenge that is very close and dear to my heart. I've been a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) since 1996, and have taught many MOC courses over the years. The quality of the courseware is a big factor that affects trainers (and their students) around the world, and being in a position to make such a big difference to such a large audience is an opportunity I simply could not refuse.

And I get one of those cool blue badges - how cool is that? ;-)

My Interview With Chris Shaw

Chris Shaw is the conference director for the SSWUG vConferences that I have been blogging about for the past few months. Last week he sent out a set of interview questions to the various conference chairs[1] asking questions about careers and technology and such. I replied, and today Chris posted the interview on his blog, here:

Business Intelligence with Matthew Roche

Some of the questions[2] were quite interesting, so if you have a spare minute or two you should feel free to check it out.

 

[1] Not the things you sit in, but so far as I know this is the accepted gender-neutral form of "chairmen" as opposed to "chairpeople" or something...

[2] As opposed to the answers, of course

MCT Summit Event Follow-Up

I've just returned from a whirlwind trip to Berlin, Germany, where I was presenting at the 2008 MCT Summit conference that Microsoft organized for the worldwide Microsoft Certified Trainer community. Despite the fact that I had a 24-hour day yesterday getting home to New York, and this on the tail of a very active and very fun trip that involved very little sleep[1], I am still feeling incredibly energized - this was a great event!

Why am I so energized?

1. The MCT community itself - I've been an MCT for over 11 years now[2] but I have never been surrounded by so many trainers at once. There were over 400 MCTs at the event, from 58 different countries, and although I didn't get to meet each of them, I did get to speak to them all (more on that later) and it was an absolute adrenaline rush. Besides, I got to meet a lot of European friends I don't get to see very often, and meet new friends as well. I love being an MCT!
2. My scheduled presentations - The three SQL Server 2008 sessions that I delivered were all very well received. I had around 100 people attending my first two sessions and probably 150 in the third and final session, and had an amazing time interacting with each crowd. Keep in mind that everyone attending each of these sessions is used to being up on the stage himself (or herself!) so I wasn't sure quite what to expect, but it was wonderful all around. My final session was targeted at MCTs who do not currently teach SQL Server classes (I don't know if I was trying to scare them off or encourage them - both are probably appropriate) but there were many existing SQL Server trainers in the crowd as well. It was a riot. We covered 75 days worth of SQL Server content in 75 minutes, and had a great time doing it as well.
3. My surprise presentation - I have been working in the evenings[3] for the past week or two on a proof of concept SharePoint portal for the worldwide MCT community so that trainers can have better tools to help support each other in many different ways. I've been doing this work as part of my role on Microsoft's MCT Advisory Council, and had spoken to the conference organizers about getting a few minutes during the keynote address to present the portal to the assembled MCTs both to let them know what we were working on and to elicit critical feedback. Everyone agreed that this was a good idea, but the schedule was planned weeks in advance and no one was sure where my presentation would fit in. So imagine my surprise when Tjeerd Veninga, the person responsible for the Berlin summit, announced that the next speaker, Matthew Roche, was going to demonstrate a new MCT Community Portal web site... I just wish that I could have seen my face. ;-) But how often do you get the chance to address a hall full of 400+ professional trainers and a bunch of senior people from Microsoft? How could I resist? So onto the stage I went, and despite the fact that I had no demo, no slides and nothing but a microphone, it went very well. The amount of positive feedback and support that I received from the assembled masses was nothing short of phenomenal. Over the next day I had dozens of MCTs seek me out to ask how they could help, how they could volunteer, all for the benefit of the community at large.
   Now do you see why I love being an MCT?
4. My family - I love to travel, but I hate being away from home. And now I'm home with my wonderful wife and children. What could be better?
5. My music - I'm brutally jet-lagged, but am forcing myself to get up and stay up in order to re-acclimate to New York time, instead of sleeping all day, which is what my body really wants to do. So I have Manowar cranked up as loud as it will go, filling my home office (and probably the rest of the house) with the most powerful music in the world. It will get me through the day, and then my body will be caught up with the fact that I'm home again.

And remember! The Berlin event was simply the first of five MCT Summits taking place early this year. There are events all over the world (this link will prompt you to log in as an MCT, so if you're not an MCT, you're out of luck here) in the weeks ahead:

• Singapore
• Sydney, Australia
• Redmond, Washington, United States
• Sao Paulo, Brazil

I won't be at all of these events (I have a family and a full-time job, you see) but I will be delivering the same three SQL Server sessions I delivered this week in Berlin. If you're an MCT based in the US, this is going to be a great event that you do not want to miss. I'll see you in Redmond!

[1] Just in case you have yet to learn this lesson yourself, never go out drinking with your Swedish friends the night before you have three technical sessions to present. Trust me.
[2] And yes, I'm still watching the mail every day, Mike! ;-)
[3] This is on top of all of the other work I've been doing in the evenings. Someone needs to invent a longer day... (NSFW: http://www.xkcd.com/320/)

Architecture: The right tool for the job

Way back when, almost 10 years ago now, I got my first Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) certification. In addition to passing exams on Visual Basic 5.0 and SQL Server 6.5 database development, I also needed to pass two “Architecture” exams. [1] I remember walking out of these exams thinking “what a joke,” because it seemed that most of the questions involved picking a different Microsoft product from a short. When you compared them to the VB5 exam [2] they just didn’t measure up. Who cares about picking the right product, I thought – being able to write solid code is much more important…

And I’m certainly not going to disparage the importance of writing solid code. But as time has gone on (and as Microsoft’s product offerings have grown many times broader and more complex) I’ve come to understand why these exams were the cornerstone of Microsoft’s premier[3] developer certification. And that’s because the best code in the world isn’t going to be worth much if it’s built using the wrong tool.

There have been several recent posts on the MSDN SSIS Forums that have made me think of this. Some of them have taken the format “I’m trying to do this thing that is practically copied and pasted from an SSIS white paper, but it doesn’t work – can SSIS do this?” These appear to me to be the result of both a lack of product knowledge – what is the tool supposed to do – as well as a lack of detailed implementation and feature knowledge – how do I use the tool to make it do what I need. For these posts it’s usually enough to point the poster to the right feature – tasks, transforms, expressions and so on.

Other posts have taken the opposite format: “I’m trying to use SSIS to do something that it can probably do well, but which will be 1,000 times more complex than it needs to be – can you please help me force this giant square peg into this tiny round hole?” For these posts, it’s usually best to point out how they can solve the problem with a simple C# app or a T-SQL query or the like. Even though I love SSIS, it’s not the right tool for every job.

So back to my point. [4] It’s vitally important to know these things:

• What tools are available
• What each tool does
• What tasks are appropriate for each tool
• What tasks are not appropriate for each tool
• How to perform tasks with each tool
• How and where to find out the other things when all else fails
  

That’s quite the list, isn’t it?

I think that this is a big portion [5] of what makes an architect an architect, and not simply a developer. It’s not enough to draw boxes and arrows and look only at the big picture. But it’s also not enough to write the best multithreaded listener either. An architect needs to be able to do both, and to help others do both if he (or she) is going to succeed.

And now I’m done. I don’t know if I said what I was hoping to say, but I’m pretty sure I’m not going to get any more coherent tonight. All the work I needed to get done is done, and sleep’s siren call is getting more seductive by the minute…

[1] That’s right – 70-160 (Microsoft® Windows® Architecture I) and 70-161 (Microsoft® Windows® Architecture II)

[2] Yep – 70-165 (Microsoft® Visual Basic 5.0 Programming)!

[3] This was the case then, anyway. Microsoft’s certification story has grown in breadth and complexity as well, and it’s also gotten a lot more relevant. But that’s a story for another post…

[4] Yes, I do have a point. But it’s almost 02:00 and I’m still not done with my Exchange 2007 migration and ISA 2006 upgrade, so while I wait, I type, and ramble as I fend off sleep.

[5] Another big portion is communication and soft skills, but that’s another story as well.