I follow this guy on Twitter.
Should you call yourself an expert? And what does it take to be an expert?
One day on SQLCruise Alaska I gave a two hour session on Isolation Levels in SQL Server– one hour was slides, one hour was demos, and over the two hours we had lots of input and questions from the cruisers.
After that session we had a breakout panel on brand building. In the course of talking branding, the question of self-description came up: who should describe themselves as experts? And how is that interpreted?
What is an Expert?
I’m pro-expert. I believe that if you have rich experience in a defined area and you’ve done the research and the legwork, there comes a time when you should step back and assess if you’ve progressed past proficiency into the realm of the expert. So if I’m at the point where I’m presenting to Senior level DBAs and database developers on a cruise ship about Isolation Levels, I’m going to call myself an expert in that area.
But the term “expert” can be off-putting to some people. Some people were more comfortable with the acronym SME, or “Subject Matter Expert”. To me, this is too jargon-y— I don’t think there’s any arrogance to simply saying, “I am an expert in this area.”
Experts Don’t Necessarily Know Everything
Saying you’re an expert means you are an authority on a topic. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the only authority, and it doesn’t mean you constantly generate new material that’s never been discovered before.
For example, I know experts in problem resolution. These people have mastered triage, identification, research, and troubleshooting methodology. They’re like dive masters– they’re comfortable in scary places not everyone goes, and they can help you learn to go there.
Experts learn all the time. Experts can still be humble.
Researchers can still be experts, but these days they are not the only game in town.
Where Do You Stand Out?
Here’s a thought experiment: imagine yourself in a room with 100 other smart, technical people who work as engineers across a vast range of technologies. You must describe what type of problem you most love to solve. What would you say about yourself?
Think about this problem, and understand that your skills are quite unique across a broad pool of engineers. Think about where you are in your career path– are you a beginner, are you proficient, or have you moved further in your path?
Don’t be Afraid to Be an Expert
Don’t be afraid to recognize yourself as an expert. You don’t have to put “Expert!!1!1!!!11″ in your email signature or on your business card or even describe yourself that way to anyone else. But assess yourself fairly, and put yourself out there as an authority when it’s appropriate by blogging, answering questions online, and giving presentations.
One thing you can do right now is to sign yourself up for the RedGate Exceptional DBA Awards. The contest is a chance to think through your strengths and accomplishments and write them down: that’s a great starting point to map out goals to move your career forward.
I understand your point of view. I must admit I’m more confortable with Brent’s vision of Expert qualifier which is a bit more strict (if I remember well).
We sadly see too many expert business cards and are often disappointed because the technical skills don’t match… There’s a real gap between Senior & Expert to me.
Interesting that the word expert brings the word “disappointed” to your mind.
That matches what a lot of people on SQLCruise felt– they didn’t like the word.
I agree that there are people who overestimate and over-advertise, and they use the word. I think there are also people who underestimate themselves and don’t tend to think about themselves this way at all. Considering the question is mostly useful in terms of planning and growth, I think.
I admit, I did write this post mostly because I wanted to encourage people to submit to the Exceptional DBA contest. I think there’s many people out there who’ve built really great environments, and they manage their environment like real pros— they’re the experts of that particular domain and can handle any issue in it. But they don’t think of themselves as experts because it’s just the environment they know, not *any* environment. And maybe those people aren’t ‘experts’ in the sense of a whole product, but I think they’re great candidates for the Exceptional DBA awards.
I’m with you, I do not like the SME title much either. There already enough letters after most peoples names.
I do not think it is really being afriad to call one self an expert but more self-esteem. At least that is for me. Of course the self-esteem rises as you gain experience and knowledge. Which I am lacking but working on.
I had already put my submission to the Exceptional DBA drawing prior to reading this but it did help me afirm that I needed to. I think getting that honor will go along way for the winner in afirming their path toward being that expert.
Side note: I enjoy reading your material. Your write in a manner that is easy to understand for us beginner experts.