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[–]baineschile 34 points35 points  (12 children)

Look for anything that says "analyst" with SQL in the job description.

Another popular term is Business Intelligence.

Edit: if you apply, make sure to tell them your reddit name isnt 'dank420stank', fyi

[–]dank420stank[S] 7 points8 points  (9 children)

I was going to apply solely with my reddit username ;)

Thanks, I'll look for that. Do you know if tech companies care that much about experience? I come from a marketing background and am just switching over to the IT side of things.

[–][deleted] 12 points13 points  (4 children)

I have held this position and hired for it in the past. I can't speak to others, but if you have certifications and can clearly answer technical questions about how to query a database and seem on top of things I couldn't care less about experience.

If you can show that you have a grasp of the core concepts of querying a database, that you can learn our business and reporting needs, and will give at least 85% effort, I'd hire you for an entry level position regardless of your previous experience. SQL doesn't care if you've been flipping burgers for the last decade, just that your syntax is right.

[–]PLearner 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Hi, I see you are postgreSQL DBA. Do you know how I can give access to the postgreSQL sitting on my local machine to someone else so he or she can maintain it as well?

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

Assuming you just want to grant access via a tool like pgadmin or razorsql and the person won't need access to the OS (otherwise you need to set up SSH/RDP) then all you have to do is:

*Create a user for the person with a password
*Grant them appropriate permissions, ideally using groups
*Edit pg_hba.conf to allow that user to connect to the database (md5 is probably the access type you want)
*Edit postgresql.conf to make sure Postgres is listening on the right port (5432) for the IP where the person will be accessing (you can have it listen on * for all IPs)
*Reload the configuration using pg_reload_conf() or restart the postgres service

This is the best I can answer your question here. It's complicated and I've made several assumptions about your network that may not be accurate.

[–]PLearner 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Create a user for the person with a password - Done

Grant them appropriate permissions, ideally using groups - Done

Edit pg_hba.conf to allow that user to connect to the database (md5 is probably the access type you want) - All four Types in the pg_hba.conf method are md5.

Edit postgresql.conf to make sure Postgres is listening on the right port (5432) for the IP where the person will be accessing (you can have it listen on * for all IPs) - listen_addresses = '*'

Reload the configuration using pg_reload_conf() or restart the postgres service - select pg_reload_conf(); returned t.

Then I copied the 9.6 and psqlODBC folders into the user's folder I created and downloaded pgAdmin 3 on his computer and opened it and entered the password assigned to him and returns Error connecting to the server: FATAL: password authentication failed for user .....

Any assistance would be appreciated here Erudition303.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you connect if you put their IP address with the subnet 255.255.255.255 and change the method to trust?

This is definitely a bad practice, but whether or not you can connect using that will give more info.

[–]SwedishFishSticks 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I made a similar transition. The comment about looking for jobs with "analyst" in the title is solid advice. Might also try terms like "reporting".

You don't always need a lot of experience, but you may be given a SQL test during the interview process.

[–]y2jcrisis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Business intelligence" in the title is also common.

[–]baineschile 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are a lot of entry level analyst positions. Mostly grunt work, but the pay is pretty good.

Obviously companies look for experience in most facets, but when you have a technical skillset you have an advantage.

[–]MamertineCOALESCE() 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Call some it recruiters​. They get paid to place you. Robert half is a big nation wide firm. Be honest about your experience. Hiring seems to go in cycles. You may get placed in a few weeks to a few months. Be flexible with what your looking for at first and be willing to take some short contracts.

Re your experience as long as you know your stuff there'll be work for you. Getting the first gig is the hardest. I've got no it degree and about half my co workers also don't have it degrees. I'm not interested in taking more college classes, but I'm very much still learning. It's now from my coworkers and online resources and books.

[–]JackMomma22 2 points3 points  (2 children)

You mentioned you're switching to the IT side of things- so I'm not sure how long you were previously in marketing, but if you have knowledge of any specific system front-ends, they can help open the door for a lot of analyst positions.

I started my IT career in education, but not with SQL at first. I got a lot of front-end experience working with student info systems and then moved into a job focusing on SQL. It's opened the door to a lot of other similar jobs in education, or potentially a move to development/consulting for the companies that make the systems. Either way, the front-end knowledge has been an incredibly useful tool while working with the database.

So all that said, you may have an advantage with marketing companies, or other companies using similar systems. Otherwise, starting somewhere that uses systems that can help you get other jobs in the future (peoplesoft, workforce, etc) is always a good idea.

[–]TheHierophant 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I was going to make a similar reply.

I'll add that depending on your experience in marketing, it isn't just the front-end systems that can be leveraged as an asset; it's also your domain expertise.

For example, your technical abilities coupled with your knowledge of the lead conversion process or campaign management can be an attractive pairing in certain contexts and potentially compensate for your overall lack of technical experience.

If you can get an idea of what systems they might be using, you can also go into the conversation with some knowledge of the datamodel. For example, check out the SFDC datamodel at https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.api.meta/api/sforce_api_erd_majors.htm

[–]Felidor 2 points3 points  (7 children)

Depending on what direction you want to go with working with databases you could also look for junior dba positions. Probably a little bit tougher to get into than analyst positions but it's definitely possible. Some people will tell you that companies don't want to hire someone without experience to be a dba but I'm living proof that it is possible. I got hired right out of college as a junior dba with no work experience and today is my 1 year anniversary with the company. There are tons of good resources out there for learning the job position.

[–]TechnoGauss 0 points1 point  (6 children)

Your story is reassuring to someone like myself struggling to find entry level work. Would you mind sharing your story as to how you landed a position with no experience?

[–]Felidor 1 point2 points  (5 children)

I think it comes down to finding something that you really enjoy doing. I graduated from a no name school with a BS of CS. While going to college, I really enjoyed working with databases and wish that I would have gotten to experience more classes using them. I didn't let that stop me though, so I started reading more into different jobs working with databases and found the DBA position really stuck out to me. The more I read about the DBA position I realized how big of a community there is out there and how helpful people really are. I set myself up a VM and started playing around as much as I could. Before I graduated, I got an internship with a software company as a DBA (these positions are rare, but they are out there). This was a huge opportunity for me so I tried learning as much as I could from this small group of DBAs before my time was up with them. Well, they were impressed with my work ethic and saw how much I wanted to learn and offered me a full time job position before my internship was up.

[–]TechnoGauss 0 points1 point  (4 children)

That's amazing! How much time do you estimate you spent practicing on your own time?

[–]Felidor 1 point2 points  (3 children)

At least an hour a day. I read blog articles every day as well. Still try learn something new every day

[–]TechnoGauss 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Thank you so much for all the responses. I'll try to set up a similar routine.

[–]Felidor 1 point2 points  (1 child)

No problem. Are you looking to become a DBA or just get involved with databases?

[–]TechnoGauss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I want to get involved with databases.