I had a problem.

I discovered that some of the companies in our database are missing countries. Most likely, the hiring team neglected to enter this information when they posted the job, but the outcome is that if a user filters to a country, they may not see those job posts.

Since every job post is precious to me (and our users), I knew I needed to take action. I needed to fix our database.

But there was another problem.

I never learned SQL.

Why would I? As a designer, it wasn't part of my toolkit or my job. Someone else on the team was always there to run a query for me if I needed some information or to make updates to the database. But not this time.

The ZenSearch team is very small. With my co-founder unavailable, I had to figure it out for myself.

Yes, I was scared I'd mess it up. Yes, I was most definitely outside of my comfort zone. Yes, I was a little angry that I had to do it at all.

I let all that go, took a deep breath, and got started.

With the help of an online course and ChatGPT, I composed my first query. It worked! Then, I updated our database. I was doing it!

And you know what? It was EMPOWERING!

I didn't need someone to help me or do it for me. I became self-sufficient...and you can too.

I'm not saying everyone should learn SQL (although it does seem pretty useful), but consider the massive upside of learning something you're uncomfortable with. Whether you're forced into it by circumstance, like I was, or you intentionally decide to learn a new, valuable skill or attempt something you've never done before.

Give it a try. You'll be surprised by how you feel.

Completing the task is a great side effect, but learning and growing is energizing!

--------- Check us out at ZenSearch.jobs and share our platform with anyone looking for something new. Together, we can make job searching a little more zen.