MiniMax m3 and SQL Server (2026-10-26)

• MiniMax m3 and SQL Server
• Strip double quotes from an import file in Integration Services SSIS
• Take the 2027 State of the Database Landscape Survey
• From the SQL Server Central Blogs - DiskANN Experiment — Exploring Entry Points and Graph Neighborhoods
• Introduction to PostgreSQL for the data professional

• SQL Server Vector Support I

Making an Impression

It's a weird time in the job market. Companies are hiring, and I see friends and colleagues starting new positions. At the same time, I have had many more friends reach out, saying they are struggling to find employment, and job searches are dragging on for months. I sympathize, and it certainly seems that lots of people are trying to hold onto their existing positions.

Whether you're looking for a new position or trying to create security in your existing role, it pays to be aware of the impression you leave in the world. Is it a positive one? Do others want to work with you? Or maybe you find people gravitate towards others. Are they impressed with your output? Satisfied? Left wanting?

Maybe a better question is: if you were running your team, would you hire you again?

I think it's a very human tendency to overestimate our abilities and underestimate our weaknesses. That's why 90+% of people rate themselves as above-average drivers. In my travels, I find plenty of people who aren't very self-aware of the impression they make, good or bad. Lots of people aren't very observant, which is another human tendency.

Recently, a friend was hiring for a position and noted that they received a large number of resumes and cover letters with spelling and grammar mistakes. They deleted those and then started to review the rest. They also mentioned that while checking LinkedIn, they were turned off by people who hadn't added their picture. I'm not sure if those candidates were discarded.

Whether you think those are valid reasons to judge others, the reality of the world is that humans judge each other. We have our own prejudices, attractions, turn-offs, and more that influence our decisions. It's easy to say that you'll pick the best candidate, but that's much harder in practice. Many of us fall into buckets with lots of others who are applying. How do we stand out?

It can be hard, especially when different people form different impressions from the same experience. Not enough experience is a challenge, and these days too much experience can also be a challenge. There are plenty of hiring managers who might not consider a candidate if their impression of a candidate is "too old", "too expensive", or "too set in their ways."

It's a tough world these days, and AI doesn't help. What I can say is that you should be aware of the impression you make and work to regularly improve it. It's unlikely you're clearly above or below others who have similar experiences and skills, but building a preponderance of evidence that you are a good hire might make a difference.

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Join the debate, and respond to today's editorial on the forums

Daniel Calbimonte from SQLServerCentral

Learn how you can download and run a local model to help with your SQL Server work.

Additional Articles from MSSQLTips.com

When loading data using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) to import data from a CSV file, every single one of the columns in the CSV file has double quotes around the data. When using the Data Flow Task to import the data I have double quotes around all of the imported data. How can I import the data and remove the double quotes?

Press Release from SQLServerCentral

Share your view on the database landscape and you could win USD$500.

Diligentdba 46159 from Mala's Data Blog

Introduction I was experimenting with vector search in SQL Server 2025 using approximately 3.8 million Hacker News articles that that I used for my talk on SQL Server-based vector...

Site Owners from SQLServerCentral

Adoption and use of PostgreSQL is growing all the time. From mom-and-pop shops to large enterprises, more data is being managed by PostgreSQL. In turn, this means that more data professionals need to learn PostgreSQL even when they have experience with other databases. While the documentation around PostgreSQL is detailed and technically rich, finding a simple, clear path to learning what it is, what it does, and how to use it can be challenging. This book seeks to help with that challenge.

Today's question (by Steve Jones - SSC Editor):

Think you know the answer? Click here, and find out if you are right.

Here's a few of the new posts today on the forums. To see more, visit the forums.