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Home -> Community -> Mailing Lists -> Oracle-L -> RE: Personal Experiences in Oracle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Friday, February 15, 2002 12:55 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
Hello all. I'm new to this mailing list and hoping I can count on you for some feedback to help me make an important decision.
I'm doing as much research as possible in preparation for a possible career
change as an Oracle DBA/P. I would appreciate some feedback on what your
personal experience has been:
i.e.,
Are you happy with your career in DBA?
Pretty much. This has been a good month, without too many challenges in
terms of putting new projects into production, system outages, strange bugs
to fix, etc. Happiness can vary a lot, depending on how many calls you get
in the middle of the night.
Has the training been worth it?
Training is great. You will have to augment your training with a lot of reading, so training is like easy learning What skills/abilities/personality traits do you feel are important?
Most DBAs are mature computer professionals already when they switch to the DBA field. So generally the technical skills such as logical thinking, problem solving are quite strong already.
Technical curiosity for how things really work is a must. Contrasted with developers, DBAs need to have a longer-term view. The developer often wants to get something working immediately and then move on to the next project. A DBA must try to fix problems such that they stay fixed and don't recur. A developer tends to focus on a single program while a DBA looks at the health of the entire system. What is a typical "day in the life" of a DBA?
Some DBAs support production environments, others support development
groups. With either, you must have a high tolerance for interruptions and
responding to others priorities. Other days you may have the entire day to
accomplish what you started with.
Is your workday isolated, or do you have opportunities to interact with
others?
Usually more interaction than a developer would have. Some days way too much. Usually isolation isn't a complaint. Are positions predominately in small or large companies?
Usually it takes a medium-sized company to require the full-time services of a DBA. Larger companies have a staff of DBAs.
Personally, I am the only DBA at a medium-sized company. Do you feel you have solid job security?
All surveys consistently show that DBAs with large-system experience will be in high demand for some time to come.
Usually DBAs are technical people with more confidence in the demand of their technical specialty than the stability of the company they work for. What is your opinion of the current and future job market?
The dot-com gold rush pushed the demand for DBAs to abnormally high
levels. Since 9/11 a lot of companies have eliminated consultant positions,
dot-coms have folded, and new projects are not starting. This has resulted
in the abnormal situation of some DBAs actually being out of work. I would
expect that once the economy starts to straighten out, companies will become
concerned about developing systems to support revenue and the demand for
DBAs will surge again.
etc.!
Any and all information would be heartily appreciated. Positive and negative comments are both welcomed!
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Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
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Author: DENNIS WILLIAMS
INET: DWILLIAMS_at_LIFETOUCH.COM
Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051 San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists --------------------------------------------------------------------To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: ListGuru_at_fatcity.com (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing). Received on Fri Feb 15 2002 - 15:36:05 CST
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