If you have SQL on your resume be ready, know your stuff, and you'll do just fine in the application and interview process. Image: Php2s.comData Types are Important
If you have touched SQL Server enough to warrant a line on page 1 of your resume, you need to know some of the extreme basics, such as data types. Data types are the fundamental building blocks of databases, so take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with a few:
- char and varchar are slightly different. char is a fixed-length string type; varchar is a variable-length string type. However many characters you declare your char field or variable to have, that’s how many it will have. Set a char(4) equal to ‘a’, and the string will actually by ‘a ‘. (Note their comparable Unicode types, nchar and nvarchar.)
- There are several different date and time types, each of which have a different precision and date range.
- Briefly familiarize yourself with the integer data types (part of the family of exact numerics, which also includes decimal and others).
SP_ means System Stored Procedure – Don’t use it
Don’t begin your stored procedures with sp_. In addition to the reasons listed behind the link, a stored procedure whose name begins with sp_ will cause SQL Server to look in the masterdatabase for the SP, before it looks in the current database. That’s what we call a performance hit. And certainly, don’t be like this guy.Database Objects are Important
Again, if your work with SQL Server warrants a page 1 bullet, it’d be an awfully good idea to know of a few database objects.
- Tables contain rows of data. Each column in a row has a name and a type.
- Indexes make tables more quickly searchable (for reads). Indexes come at a cost to writes (inserts and updates).
- Stored Procedures are saved in the database. They can accept input parameters, contain one or more statments, and return a value. Stored procedures can be called manually, or from applications or scheduled jobs.
- Triggers are similar to stored procedures, but they are event-driven: they are defined to execute when a specific event (such as an insert on a table) occurs.
SQL Resumes: Know What You Know
Having recently written about artificially inflating your resume, I was amused to come across an open letter on SQLServerPedia to anyone who has the temerity to include SQL on their resume. Below are some of author Jen McCown's tips.