How to Become an Exceptional DBA [Paperback]

OK - [...] bucks (that's the discounted price) for 160 pages of time wasting and insulting garbage. Here are some 'insights' that you can gain from this little gem:
"Social networking websites are all the rage now and it seems like virtually everyone belongs to one or more of them. Social networking websites can be divided into two different categories: personal and professional, and I generally advise that you keep the two separate".

Ya think?

You also learn stuff like you should spell check your resume, learn as much as you can, read technical magazines and present yourself in the best possible light. Wow! That's pretty heavy stuff. The book also references everything back to SQL Server and includes 6 pages of the advertisements for the author's other books and software. Get 'em all and you'll be well on your way to being a MOTO (master of the obvious). This book is in it's second edition, I can't imagine how bad the first edition must have been.

This book is a total, total waste of time. Sadly, there's no way to rate it less than 1 star.

Susan

Brad McGeehee is rightly known as a visionary and few people write with as much authority and insight as he does. Here he convincingly traces the route to becoming an exceptional DBA. He does a fine job of distilling tips and advice to junior DBAs and DBA hopefuls with the result that this book is an excellent, elegant and efficient guide which gives a valuable and much needed insight on what to expect while working as a DBA and how to improve your career.

"How to Become an Exceptional DBA" does contain a fair amount of general advice which would be useful to any young person finishing school and looking for their first job, or folks who have not been job hunting in a while. It is true that sections on resumes, interviews, and maintaining your 'brand' on the internet are no-brainers to folks already successfully working in the field. It doesn't hurt to hear them again.

Sections on the MS SQL certification, and active SQL Communities might be available elsewhere, but having them in one place has value. I've tried to answer similar questions in the past... and not nearly as completely as the author. I understand the value of a comprehensive, concise answer to the question 'Should I get my certification?' For presenting a complete, honest answer... or more correctly... how the readers can to find the correct answer for themselves -- I bumped this up one extra star.

It was also helpful to hear that it's perfectly normal to only really be working with specific aspects of SQL... even the Exceptional DBAs aren't experts in all aspects of the product. As an 'accidental DBA', I let out a huge sigh of relief upon reading this revelation.

The book is a quick read, and at the end, I was left re-energized. It had the effect on me of a professional motivational speaker, at a fraction of the price. For this reason, I'll keep my copy close at hand with my reference books... not for any secret formulas or arcane T-SQL incantations.

Don't buy this book expecting to be exceptional at the end... it merely maps the course. Most of us know a lot of the terrain on that map, and the way looks obvious. It isn't a bad thing to remind the younger travelers not to litter - it makes the older folks chuckle, and hopefully prevents the younger readers from making a mess of things. The older DBAs may benefit from the insight provided by one who has already traveled the path.