RE: Oracle DBA future

I ask a lot of what-if questions. At some point I want them to say, "I'd stop and call for back-up." or "I'd call Oracle and open a TAR."    

 My standard response to an interview production crisis/rman restore type question is  

1. Go for a cup of coffee - always make them sit up and take notice
2. Log a tar - just in case
3. Involve whoever is in the office - i.e sanity check what you are doing

Many years I thought I knew what I was doing and I dived in and made a right mess of things by deleting my current controlfiles. Well before RMAN was in place I might add. There is more benefit in being cautious and being right than being quick and being wrong. Saying that you still need to know what to do but double-checking never does any harm.  

I also recall interviewing a DBA contractor who said something like "I have made my mistakes at other people's expense, that is why you are hiring me". Afterwards my manager thought he was arrogant but I could see the value in what he said and we took him on to everybody's satisfaction.    

www.jhdba.wordpress.com

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