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Ask HN: How can my mom downshift as a SQL developer?

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Re: Ask HN: How can my mom downshift as a SQL developer?

#101

Post by oliwarner »

MichaelRo wrote: post #97
oliwarner wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a helpful comment. Yes. How dare someone wish to maintain the work/life balance they have worked hard to attain. They must be lazy like your anecdotal associate. Just a counterpoint to consider: Start-ups are a dirty fraction of the private sector. They burn through people to achieve short-term goals and reach IPO or takeover. They offset this wear and tear with direct remuneration and options. Most private sect…

>> 20 years of experience with Oracle SQL. She's an expert in that, but not in other dev stuff I'm not so sure how much of an expert either. Everyone's parent is a hero to them so one has to take the statement they make with a grain of salt. Is she "an amazing DBA"? If so she probably has little problem finding another job. If she just knows SQL or worse only "Oracle SQL", meaning little experience with other types o…

20 years of being a DBA on a single system is about fifteen years longer than you'd need to be an expert. I'm not sure why you're suggesting she might not be "amazing" (your word, not OP's). This rhetoric is unhelpful.

And I don't think your comparison fits. DBAs aren't software developers. They're analysts, operations, runtime support and debug. Their job is inherently long-term. There isn't the churn of frittering between framework-des-jours because migration is expensive.

The complaint isn't that she might have to learn something new, it's the quality of work. It's not lazy or unrealistic to resist a transition from planned workloads to no-notice scrotwork without respect for your personal time.

And even in software development, there are companies that respect their developers, even work hard at that to retain them. It's a skilled position where domain experience counts for a lot. More to the world than the Bay Area FAANGs and wannabes.

Per every other comment, there are jobs for DBAs at all ends of the intensity spectrum.

Re: Ask HN: How can my mom downshift as a SQL developer?

#103

Post by gemstones »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #23

https://usds.gov/apply (not tour of duty roles in DC, remote analyst or 18F) https://www.usajobs.gov/ Slower pace but remote available and very much in demand. Should carry your Mom through to retirement. Hope it helps.

I would vote in anyone who recognizes what a giant problem it is that the first suggestion for someone who only wants to write SQL for one specific database is our federal government.

I do not want the government to be the landing place for people who just want to coast. We could make a rubber-room department if we really need it, just pay this woman to make SQL reports on nothing to nobody if just getting her a salary is the goal.

But if we need real work done this woman is not our collective best option.

Re: Ask HN: How can my mom downshift as a SQL developer?

#104

Post by hardcopy »

runnerup wrote: post #63
hardcopy wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ehh, public uni salaries are quite fine considering the vastly better health insurance and other benefits...

Huh? 3 weeks vacation, $3,000 deductible and $8,000 OOP max for a couple. Not particularly notable, and higher than most OOP maxes I've had at private companies. I mean, sure I can go to some concerts for free at the music school and use the makerspaces but that really doesnt make up for the $50k+/year I’m leaving on the table.

I suppose your mileage may vary. The individual deductible at UW-Madison is $250, out of pocket limit is $1,250. You can also choose between 3 providers. Also, vacation benefits ramp up and are quite generous after you've been there for a while.

https://etf.wi.gov/insmedia/2023/23et-2112sb/download?inline...

Re: Ask HN: How can my mom downshift as a SQL developer?

#105

Post by toomuchtodo »

gemstones wrote: post #103
toomuchtodo wrote: post #23

https://usds.gov/apply (not tour of duty roles in DC, remote analyst or 18F) https://www.usajobs.gov/ Slower pace but remote available and very much in demand. Should carry your Mom through to retirement. Hope it helps.

I would vote in anyone who recognizes what a giant problem it is that the first suggestion for someone who only wants to write SQL for one specific database is our federal government. I do not want the government to be the landing place for people who just want to coast. We could make a rubber-room department if we really need it, just pay this woman to make SQL reports on nothing to nobody if just getting her a sala…

You're entitled to an opinion, but consider reading the room that this particular opinion has no value in this thread. What you want is immaterial to OP seeking a role for his loved one that isn't a grind. If you’re not helping, what was the point in writing this comment? More empathy please.

Re: Ask HN: How can my mom downshift as a SQL developer?

#106

Post by Spooky23 »

Definitely contracting for government. The places with the most people in these roles are human services (welfare, child protective), tax, transportation and health.

Tax and human services are usually state level programs with federal money and local boots. Health often has a county component, and transportation has lots of federal money everywhere but often not a lot of IT. (They manage things as capital projects)

I don’t know about Illinois and Chicago. It’s probably worth figuring out how stuff works.

Re: Ask HN: How can my mom downshift as a SQL developer?

#107

Post by Spooky23 »

hardcopy wrote: post #62
runnerup wrote: post #12

Universities use a lot of OracleSQL (almost all of them), are generally very accepting of older workers and have a working environment that is friendly to aging workers. The salaries aren't excellent but the comfort is high.

Ehh, public uni salaries are quite fine considering the vastly better health insurance and other benefits...

Depends on the state. In New York, for example, the health benefits are awesome, but retirement for new employees, especially mid-career, are meh.

Other places are way worse. Devalued benefits and pensions funds that are unfunded.

Re: Ask HN: How can my mom downshift as a SQL developer?

#108

Post by svnt »

pmarreck wrote: post #56
svnt wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went back and re-read but I still can’t find where the poster said “judge my mom’s career.”

It's just sad because so many people accept this kind of mediocrity as the norm, when I absolutely believe it doesn't have to be. If you actually enjoy your job, the technology space, and your coworkers (all achievable in theory), then no matter how old you were, those other asks would be givens. And in addition, you'd be 100% likely to be more successful and have some pull when you need some emergency (or necessary)…

Maybe her primary motivator was taking care of her child?

Not everyone wants to occupy more of their mind with work than is required, and society benefits from this in all kinds of ways.

Re: Ask HN: How can my mom downshift as a SQL developer?

#109

Post by bvan »

I would look at Financial institutions’ IT groups. Lots of mediocre SQL query tinkering out there and having an experienced SQL person around can be gold. Think banks, pension funds, insurance companies, not fintech/insurtech. In Chicago, AON has a very significant presence (reinsurance/insurance broker).

Re: Ask HN: How can my mom downshift as a SQL developer?

#110

Post by ok_computer »

Clubber wrote: post #41
seneca wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, I was unclear. I mean Oracle specifically.

Oracle may be "uncool" to the young crowd, but it runs a lot of very large, very important systems. https://www.thomsondata.com/customer-base/oracle.php That doesn't even include primarily government contract companies.

I work on oracle dbs at a large non tech company. It is a great performant rdbms with poor tooling that I cannot believe they included for the licensing cost. Sqlplus could be great but totally isn’t good as a shell tool. Sqldeveloper is garbage. Python libraries and connection engines are solid for running anything automated. Dbeaver is a cool IDE alternative for clicking through tables.

From my experience across some MSSQL server, oracle, sqlite, and some non-professional postgres, the given database model trumps the underlying database tech when dealing with pains writing analytics reports. There are many options to mess up a model design or for feature extension to turn the model ugly.

Forget about building a new company on an oracle stack, the cost is prohibitive. The open source rdbms are very good and cloud providers have chosen their champions. But for a large legacy corporation with expensive, sensitive data, oracle makes sense. To an extent with a well trained dba the db is “self-documented”

Lol sometimes dbs aren’t exclusively used as a global web app backend for ultra scaling grocery delivery services or whatever. Sometimes db models persist for years and you need assurance that this tech is archival quality.

An aside, I think it’s funny the link you shared is a php site, another dinosaur!

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