Category Archives: Career

Consultants: Corp-to-Corp vs 1099

Posted on April 11, 2012 by

I blogged previously that when you are a consultant or contractor, you can sometimes be faced with the decision when taking a new contract of whether to go 1099 or W-2 (Consultants: 1099 or W-2?).  However, some staffing firms or clients … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 1 Comment

Houston Area SQL Server User Group Presentation

Posted on March 13, 2012 by

Thanks to everyone who attended my presentation “Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes” at HASSUG. Here is the PowerPoint presentation: Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes As a followup to a question from the presentation about clustering the appliances, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Appliance, Career, Presentation, Session, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 4 Comments

Want to recruit me? Please follow these rules

Posted on January 23, 2012 by

I get 15-30 calls/emails a week from recruiters (not counting the dozens of auto-generated emails I get).  Being a contractor I’m always trying to build relationships with recruiters so when my contract nears an end, I have plenty of job … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 5 Comments

SQLInspire NYC 2011 Videos available

Posted on January 18, 2012 by

There are some FANTASTIC videos of the sessions from SQLInspire New York 2011.  I highly recommend that you check out all the videos, as I found some great career tips in all of them.  As the site says “We’ve lined up … Continue reading →

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Video/Voice conferencing and Microsoft Lync

Posted on January 11, 2012 by

Since I work mostly from home, video/voice conferencing and IM are of major importance to me, and using the right tools is vital to keeping me productive.  The tools used for conferencing should have IM, presence indicator, voice and video … Continue reading →

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Houston Area SQL Server User Group Presentation

Posted on January 10, 2012 by

Thanks for everyone who attended my presentation “How To Make a LOT More Money as a Consultant” at HASSUG. Here is the PowerPoint presentation: How To Make a LOT More Money as a Consultant How to make a LOT more money … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Presentation, Session, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 1 Comment

Salaried employee vs contractor

Posted on November 2, 2011 by

Are you a salaried employee looking to switch to a W-2 or 1099 contractor? (For an explanation of W-2 and 1099, click Consultants: 1099 or W-2?)  If so, what hourly pay rate would you need to at least match your … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 1 Comment

Consultants: 1099 or W-2?

Posted on September 28, 2011 by

As a consultant or contractor, you can sometimes be faced with the decision when taking a new contract of whether to go 1099 or W-2.  Essentially, the question is in what manner will you be paid by your client.  Having faced that decision a … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 12 Comments

Thinking about taking a contract position? Questions to ask

Posted on September 7, 2011 by

Over the years, I have accumulated a set of questions that I usually ask the placement firm about a contract or consulting position (W2 or 1099) that I am looking at taking.  Many of these questions will also apply if you are … Continue reading →

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Microsoft Certifications and MVP’s – What are they?

Posted on August 5, 2011 by

I take it for granted that everyone knows all about Microsoft certifications and Microsoft MVP’s.  But a few years ago, I had no idea what they were.  I had seen a few people list Microsoft certifications on their résumé, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Certification, Microsoft, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 4 Comments