Re: dba mentor

I believe the amount of mentors I was offered in my career and the difference it made is the reason I reach out so often to those around me in the communities to mentor now. I started out as a jr. DBA with no experience and after the first 9 months was quite frustrated with the lacking leadership and training. As a consultant was having similar difficulties, Tim Gorman was brought in to try to smooth things over. After observing him the first day, I thought- "This is how a DBA should act and INTERACT." I was incredibly impressed and this verified the way I was approaching users and other technologists was inline with those who were successful in the database industry. Tim mentioned to my manager that I was naturally far beyond the other DBAs in learning RMAN and that it was a shame I was considering leaving for project management. My manager took the hint and brought me back into the DBA group, which was great for me and years later, great for Tim, as almost a decade later, we were both divorced and he moved from mentor to partner in life.

Alex Gorbachev, Cary Millsap, Mary Melgaard, Karen Morton, Gwen Shapira and so many others have made a difference in my career. I think the biggest myth about mentoring is that its a formal relationship with some type of agreement. Mentors are those that not only help you find your path, and especially for women in tech, sponsor them in opportunities to grow in the industry. Locating mentors requires reaching out into the community- go to local conferences, networking, become part of forums just like Oracle-l and connect on various platforms. Ask and ye shall receive.

[image: Kellyn Pot'Vin on about.me]

*Kellyn Pot'Vin-Gorman*
DBAKevlar Blog <http://dbakevlar.com>
President Denver SQL Server User Group <http://denversql.org/> about.me/dbakevlar

On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 12:52 PM Jeff Chirco <backseatdba_at_gmail.com> wrote:

> Did any of you have a mentor to help you along your DBA career path?
> Someone to coach you on what is right/wrong, offer advice for various
> projects, etc… I was the first DBA for my company and never had someone to
> go to for advice and such. I learned completely on the job besides going
> to some classes at the beginning and a couple conferences recently. And
> then some consultants over the years. I’ve always reported to a
> Programming manager, and they understand some of the job but not everything
> that needs to be done. Although I have been a DBA for over 10 years I feel
> there is still a ton for me to learn and be better at. I was alone for many
> years and did a lot of database development in addition to DBA duties. Kind
> of a jack of all trades expert at none. I am a lead now, we have one other
> DBA and maybe a third in the near future, but I know I can be a better
> leader and hope to advance that further.
>
> Did any of you have some kind of mentor during your career? For most of
> you it probably was someone inside the company but what about outside? How
> did you find this person and was it helpful? What did they do for you?
>
> Another other details or advice?
>
>
> Thanks,
>

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