Enhancing your career: Building your personal brand
Proposed session for SQLBits 2026TL; DR
In three years I went from unknown to blogger, PASS speaker, and MVP. It wasn’t genius—just goals, branding, and stepping out of my comfort zone. Learn how to build visibility through blogging, presenting, networking, and more to grow your career.
Session Details
In three years I went from a complete unknown to a popular blogger, speaker at PASS Summit, and a SQL Server MVP. Along the way I saw my yearly income triple. Is it because I know some secret? Is it because I am a genius? No! It is just about laying out your career path, setting goals, and doing the work. It’s about building your personal brand and stepping out of your comfort zone. It’s about overcoming your fear of taking risks. If you can do those things, you will be rewarded. I will discuss how you too can go from unknown to well-known. I will talk about building your community presence by blogging, presenting, writing articles and books, twitter, LinkedIn, certifications, interviewing, networking, and consulting and contracting. Your first step to enhancing your career will be to attend this session!
3 things you'll get out of this session
Learn how to build a personal brand through blogging, presenting, writing, and community engagement.
Understand how goal-setting, consistency, and taking risks can accelerate career growth.
Gain practical strategies for networking, visibility, and becoming known in your field.
Speakers
James Serra's other proposed sessions for 2026
AI-Augmented Query Optimization: SQL Server 2025 Meets Fabric Self-Healing Data Platform - 2026
Data Architectures and Microsoft Fabric - 2026
Deciphering Data Architectures full-day workshop - 2026
How to build your career - 2026
Learning to present and becoming good at it - 2026
Using Generative AI on Structured and Semi-structured Data - 2026