In the first post, I told you how I became a DBA by accident. A contract scare, one SQL Server exam in June 2002, and a new language I was afraid to learn.

I ended that post with a promise. A few months after the exam, a Microsoft partner contacted me about a job, and only later did I find out the work was for Microsoft Brazil itself. I said there was a funny part that only a few close friends know.

This is that story. It's a long one, because the details are the best part. So get a coffee.

After I passed the exam, things changed a little at Stefanini, the consultancy where I worked. I started getting database work, not only development.

It was consulting work: health checks, configuration reviews, performance analysis. I want to be honest about the level. The performance analysis was basic. Really basic. The health checks were a review of some settings, also at a basic level. I was just starting in the area.

I had worked with databases for years, but always from the developer's side. And we all know how that works. As a developer, I could do anything I wanted, whenever I wanted. A DBA sees the same database differently. A DBA protects it.

That change of mindset is the real start of every DBA's career, accidental or not. I was right at the beginning of it.

As I mentioned in the first post, the market was hot back then. Job offers came often, and they came directly.

It wasn't like today, where dozens of people apply for the same position and go through stage after stage. Most of the time, someone called and said: "Come here, let's talk." In that conversation, you agreed on what needed to be agreed, and you started working together.

So one day my phone rang. The person on the line was the owner of a company. He said he had an opening to work with SQL Server.

That made me curious. Every offer I had received until then, and the ones still coming in at that moment, was for a developer. Never for databases. What did they see in my profile to call me about SQL Server?

To be honest, I found it a little strange. But I decided to go and talk to them.

When I arrived at the address, I thought I had the wrong place.

From the outside, the building looked unfinished. Like it was still under construction, or badly finished. Or, to be really honest, like a building waiting to be demolished.

I stood there for a moment before going in, and I thought: "What am I doing here? What did I get myself into?"

I went in anyway.

Inside, I met the owner. The conversation was good, actually. Interesting. He explained it like this:

"We have a very big project coming. We're doing it together with a partner. We found your profile, we're talking to a few people, and we'd like to talk to you about it."

Keep that word in mind: partner. It's the only thing I knew about them at that point. No name. Just "a partner."

We talked for a while. Then came the first funny moment. At the end, he said: "Great, I liked our conversation. It's done. Let's set up the contract."

I said: "Wait. What do you mean, set up the contract?"

Earlier in the conversation, he had asked how much I was earning on my current contract. I told him. Now he offered me exactly that number. His logic was simple: "That's the value you just told me, right?"

That was the moment I started to lose interest. I told him, more or less: "I know that's what I earn today. But to leave my current contract and come here, it's a different number." I like to think I chose better words than that. But that was the message.

He asked what the number was. I told him. He said he would think about it and get back to me.

I thanked him for his time, left, and went back to work as if nothing had happened.

A few days later, he called. "Alex, I reviewed what we talked about. I accept your proposal. We're going to work together."

Then the word again: "I'll contact the partner, because they want to talk to you too. I'll set up a meeting."

I said OK, go ahead. But honestly, I wasn't excited. I hadn't liked that first conversation much. I was curious, sure. But I didn't really believe that leaving my consultancy for this would be a good move.

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A few more days passed. Then, one morning, around 11:00 AM, the phone rang again.

Why do I remember it was 11:00? Because I was just getting to work.

The night before, my team and I had put a new system into production for a client. We worked until the early hours of the morning. So instead of arriving at 8:00 AM, as usual, I came in late.

I remember the scene exactly. I had just put my backpack on my desk and started taking things out, the laptop, the cables, that normal routine before you start the day. That's when the phone rang.

It was the owner again. "Alex, I talked to the partner. They want to interview you. Today. Is that possible?"

I started to back out. "Look, I don't know if that's possible. I worked all night, I just got here. Maybe not today. But give me the address and I'll see what I can do."

He insisted. "Please, it's very important. Without their approval, we can't move forward with the contract. I need their approval."

"OK," I said. "What time, and where?"

The time was one hour later.

And here's a detail that matters: all of this happened in São Paulo, Brazil. If you're in the United States, think of New York. Huge, busy, with traffic everywhere. You don't just cross São Paulo in a few minutes. One hour to get anywhere is tight.

So in my head, this wasn't going to happen. But I said: "Fine, give me the address."

That's when the surprise started.

"Write it down," he said. "Avenida das Nações Unidas…" and he gave me the rest.

I knew that address. I had been to a few events there before. I said: "Wait. That address is Microsoft Brazil, here in São Paulo. Are you sure?"

"Yes. Microsoft is our partner. The project is with Microsoft, and you'll work directly with Microsoft."

On the phone, I stayed calm. "Ah, OK. Got it."

But you should have seen me after I hung up. I'm even thinking about recording a video to show it. Everything I had just taken out of the backpack went right back in, in any order, pushed in however it would fit. Then I raised my voice to the whole team:

"Guys, something urgent came up. I have to go. Don't call me. I'll be back around three or four. If anything happens, talk to a teammate."

That's the funny part. Ten minutes earlier, I didn't want this job. Now I was running out the door for it.

I made it in time. At the reception, I had to register as a visitor for that meeting. They took me to a room to wait.

A few minutes later, two Microsoft employees came in. They were from Microsoft's consulting organization, called Microsoft Consulting Services at the time.

The introduction was quick. They said they had already talked to the owner of the company, that he liked my profile, and that they had seen my résumé and liked it too.

Then one of them turned his laptop toward me. Query Analyzer was open, connected to a database.

"Write a stored procedure that does this, this and this."

They gave me a handful of requirements. For anyone with a development background, you can imagine: I was new to the database side, but I had years of development behind me. Writing a stored procedure was familiar ground.

The only thing I didn't know was how much time I had. So I had to be fast. I started typing, and the keyboard was the only sound in the room.

Then, less than two minutes later, one of them simply pulled the laptop away.

"OK, that's it. Give me the laptop."

I was literally in the middle of pressing a key.

My first thought: they didn't like it. The two of them looked at the screen together for a few seconds. Then: "Good. Very good. We'll review it and get in touch."

In my head, it was over. It didn't work. So I tried to save something: "Thank you for the opportunity. I didn't have much time, so I'm not sure it's the way you imagined."

And one of them said something I never forgot:

"It's fine. We didn't want the finished product. We wanted to see how you think. What you started here already shows us you know what you're doing. That's enough."

I went back to the office, and the whole situation flipped.

A few days earlier, I didn't want this job. Now I was the one waiting for the phone to ring. And of course, a million thoughts started going through my head. What if I had accepted the first offer? Did I ask for too much? Did those two minutes go well, or were they just being polite?

A few days later, the owner called. I was approved.

And again, everything moved fast. Very soon after, I was working as a contractor, through that consultancy, directly with Microsoft. That work lasted about three to four years.

The building that looked ready for demolition turned out to be the door to Microsoft.

Besides the funny parts, there's one lesson in this story that shaped my career. To be honest, I didn't see it at the time. Back then, it all felt natural. I only understood it years later.

Be prepared for what you say you are.

How you position yourself, what you say you can do, what you say you deliver: be ready for it. When you're prepared, and an opportunity shows up, you don't need hours or days to figure out how something works, or to remember it. You already know.

Those two consultants didn't ask for a certificate. They didn't ask me to explain anything. They asked me to start, in front of them, with no warning. And two minutes was enough, because I had already done that kind of work many times as a developer.

It isn't easy for everything. Things move very fast today, and there's an endless list of topics we're expected to know. Nobody knows all of it. But you can choose the topics with the most impact, the ones that give you the most return, and work on them until they're second nature.

Take the skills you list on your résumé or your LinkedIn profile. For each one, ask yourself: if someone turned a laptop toward me right now, could I start it in front of them, without searching?

For a DBA, a short list could look like this:

You don't have to finish in two minutes. Remember what they told me: they wanted to see how I think. The first lines show that. Here's how I'd start that stored procedure today, before writing a single line of business logic:

Validate the input, protect the transaction, and fail loudly. Those first few lines say more about how you think than the rest of the procedure. (In 2002, on SQL Server 2000, there was no TRY…CATCH or THROW. We checked @@ERROR after every statement. Some things did get better.)

If an item on your list fails the test, you just found what to practice this week.

That's the end of the introductions. From the next post on, it gets technical. Very technical. Along the way, I'll share more real stories from the life of a DBA: the ones I lived, and some from colleagues I know.

A new post every Monday, and a short, practical tip every Thursday, on SQL Server and PostgreSQL. Every post is free to read through December 2027.

And I'd love to hear yours: what was the strangest interview you ever had? Hit reply. I read every message.

See you next Monday,

Alex

How I write: every post starts from my own notes and experience. I use AI tools to help draft and edit, and I review every word before it goes out.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Microsoft. The author is a Microsoft employee. All technical details and product behaviors described are based on publicly available Microsoft documentation as of October 2026 and are intended to provide a high-level overview for educational and architectural planning purposes.