I need some advice.

[slipondajimmy]

Hey everyone.

Something happened at work today. My boss pulled me into his office. I thought for sure I was being let go. I sit down and he says I hear you do programming....I said well im not sure where you heard that. I let him know Although I know some php/mysql a hardly am in a "programmer" catagory.

Well then he drops a bomb on me. He wants me to learn .net, Relational Database systems, and sql server stuff.... I let him know again that I dont know anything about the above applications. He says he would like me to give it a shot. I tell him I will but I do feel this is way above what I can do.

Let me give you a little background about my boss. He owns 2 companies. 1 is a onile retailer that does very well, and one is a company out of the country that does programs and various other things for creative labs. He can program in any language. If he dont know it he can pick up a book and be able to do it after the last page is done.

So with that being said he wants me to read a few books he provided and thnks that sometime next week I should be able to complete his first task. Here is what he wants(this is a test and will not be used for anything)...

Accounting system
Set up a database on local comp.
Set up acual database
Select/insert/Update/Delete with joins

Transaction
TransactionID
AccountID
EntityID
TypeID
ClassificationID
Amount
DateWritten
DateCleared
CheckNumber

Account
AccountID
Name
StartDate
StartAmount

AccountStatement
AccountID
DateStart
DateEnd
Deposits
Withdrawals

Entity
EntityID
Name

Classification-For if it's and expense example"Expense-Employee" or "Deposit-MErchant Account"
ClassificationID
NAme

Type-Check/Credit Card
TypeID
Name

He is offering me a substantial amount of money if I can learn this. A little more then double what im making currently. So I will give it a try, But does anyone else other then me this this is way out of my league?

Sorry for the long post. Just a little confused...lol

 

[HHDomains]

Well, when I see your first line "My boss pulled me into his office. I thought for sure I was being let go."
I see a serious lack of self confidence.

Only you know if you are up to this task or not.
Only you can decide if you are capable of doing the job.

The only thing holding you back is YOU.

 

[slipondajimmy]

The only reason I thought I might be let go is the company slows down alot in the summer months and 2 people have already been layed off. The self Confidence issue is true for sure. I have 3 phonebook size novels in front of me and the need to be read and the above needs to be implemented by mid next week. And I have never done anything this complex.

The information I am reading just is not sinking in...lol . I think its great that he is giving me a chance, I really do. But being realistic on my part I just cant see doing this.

Well, when I see your first line "My boss pulled me into his office. I thought for sure I was being let go."
I see a serious lack of self confidence.

Only you know if you are up to this task or not.
Only you can decide if you are capable of doing the job.

The only thing holding you back is YOU.

 

[allabout42]

If you put your mind to it, it can be achieved. Just takes some perseverance and confidence... Best of luck!

-Allabout42

 

[NPQueen]

Not being a programmer AT ALL this may just make me look really silly :hehe: Instead of trying to read the books cover to cover and take in all that information, is it possible to use the books more as a guide to complete the current task at hand and then continue to study after the task has been completed?

Just an idea and again I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT PROGRAMMING so please all of you be nice to me if I sound really silly here :lol:

One last thing... remember HE called you in, you obviously have impressed him in some way for him to offer you this chance. So as for the self-confidence thing, let this be a boost! :D Good luck to you and please let us know what happens!

 

[SpareDomains]

give it your best shot, if you fail then tell him to send you to a local college to learn at his expense of course, you can say no and be safe or you can try and possibly fail, I prefer to make the attempt as all failures provide some knowledge that you will retain and only help you on future attempts, good luck

 

[slipondajimmy]

Well I know what im capable of. I read 200 pages last night and not one thing sunk in ...lol He is on a plane right now and its a total of a 30 hour flight. Im going to work at it a little more today, but i will need to just tell him its not possible for me to learn it as fast as he needs me to . He really cant expect someone with basic skills to be able to pick this up in a week just because he could

 

[Zilla]

in most case, the life drive you, not u drive the life.....especially while u still young, lack of enough education, no much money...so take any chance and that is fun of the life...

 

[slipondajimmy]

Hahah this is true. not to young (31) Zero education with this stuff.

in most case, the life drive you, not u drive the life.....especially while u still young, lack of enough education, no much money...so take any chance and that is fun of the life...

 

[Jennifer]

Start asking yourself another set of questions... like... "Do I really WANT to do this?" or "Am I only doing this to please someone else?"

If that's the case then you have to stand your ground. I know the money is good... but money won't do you any good if you're miserable... despite what many people in the world think.

In any case... you're right. If you think you can do it... you will. If you think you can't, you won't. That's the story of life.

 

[Zilla]

lol, I thought u are a teenager get the first job...then I try to perform as a senior person help you out..

 

[DeluxeNames.com]

Well I know what im capable of. I read 200 pages last night and not one thing sunk in ...lol He is on a plane right now and its a total of a 30 hour flight. Im going to work at it a little more today, but i will need to just tell him its not possible for me to learn it as fast as he needs me to . He really cant expect someone with basic skills to be able to pick this up in a week just because he could

Donnie, you have been given a tremendous opportunity here. It's time to take life by the horns and TRY YOUR BEST. If you fail, you fail, but your starting to sound like your givng up before you've TRIED.

That's all he's asking from you, to give it a try.

If you do succeed, do you realize how much more employable, how much more is your earning potential, how much more respect you will have?

Learning this is like opening the door to learning more programming and designing. It's like a spoken language, once you learn Spanish, you'll find it twice is easy to learn Italian.

That humb your experiencing is that initial difficulty of that first new language, but I promise you, if you can just get over that hump....your home free!

You need to add one ingrediant to the mix now: BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

I don't want you to ever ask again, "can I do it?" Of course you can do it. Now you must believe.

As to the task at hand and your difficulty with the books, don't worry, everyone has different learning styles and your's might be learning while doing.

Here's what you need to do: Find a programer who knows how to do that task he's assigned. Ask them, and if you have to, pay them to help you. Make it clear to them that they need to teach you how.
By all means, keep reading the books as, believe it or not, you are learning something.

But if the hands on teaching worked best for you, when you boss gets back, have one more sit down with him. Show him that you've complteded the task. Explain to him that you learn from hands on instead of by books and that you're willing to learn and try this new job if he can provide more of a hands on system for you to learn. If he says no, then it's ok, you keep the job that you have.

 

[slipondajimmy]

Yeah IM going to give it a shot. I dont have anything to loose. .

 

[NPQueen]

DeluxeNames that was very good advice!

Donnie-Good for you!!! :D

 

[DeluxeNames.com]

Yeah IM going to give it a shot. I dont have anything to loose. .

That's the spirit :tu:

Keep us updated.

 

[slipondajimmy]

If I could just figure out how to use SQL server enterprise manager....LMAO

 

[Koopa]

I think it's very possible for you to do it, good luck

 

[slipondajimmy]

2 hours of sleep the past 2 nights is not helping this any...hahaha. Anyone know anything about this stuff? Im not looking for someone to do it, put judging by what I wrote above can anyone tell me what (if any) of those need to be a primary key, and what the hell does he mean by Select/insert/Update/Delete with joins

 

[DeluxeNames.com]

2 hours of sleep the past 2 nights is not helping this any...hahaha. Anyone know anything about this stuff? Im not looking for someone to do it, put judging by what I wrote above can anyone tell me what (if any) of those need to be a primary key, and what the hell does he mean by Select/insert/Update/Delete with joins

I've always had good luck creating a descriptive flyer and posting it in the computer labs of a local college as well as giving the flyer to the lab tutors as they often have been the ones to help. Students tend to need money as well as charge less. They often will have the time to sit down with you to explain things.

 

[edmarriner]

"Select/insert/Update/Delete with joins"

These would be SQL querys.