Re: Newbie-to-be question

"Trishah Dee Woolley" <trishah_at_ucsd.edu> wrote in message news:<mmxM7.137099$SF4.3586638_at_news1.rdc1.sdca.home.com>...
> Q: What personality qualities or capabilities are necessary to be a good
> Oracle database administrator in the real world?

Well, that varies based on the definition of "good." There are some papers on what makes a good dba floating around, search on www.tusc.com and www.revealnet.com. There is quite a wide variation in fact, usually based on the history of each company. To some people, a DBA just writes stored procedures all day, and for them, the qualities would be basically the same as programmers. Others have an operational bent, and they expect a DBA to be rigid and militaristic. Classically, (and this goes back to the big iron days), the DBA would be a very precise designer. For Oracle, this evolved into someone who can do everything, hence they originally were someone who was more experienced and had moved up from the programming front lines. More recently, the job description has matured and there has been a big push towards standardization and professionalization, as evidenced by OCP tracks and the Oracle Masters tracks. However, many people still become DBA's by virtue of the fact that some manager knows they need one even though they don't know what a DBA does, so they designate the PC guy. You can sometimes read between the lines in want ads to get an idea where this has gone wrong. The DBA position is often high-visibility, and the job often requires an immense amount of technical work, so sometimes these needs collide, and you wind up with an analogue of http://www.bofh.net , a poker-faced inscrutable person, or an unpleasant blowhard. But those are mostly due to management failure, rather than some personality defect requirement.

The most successful ones are smart, detail oriented, optimistic, able to
communicate well, and willing to see complex tasks through to completion,
and desire to continuously learn lots of new things.

>
> I've worked for a research project for 4.5 years and though computers are
> not my primary job, I'm good with them. We are switching over to an Oracle
> 8i database and I have the opportunity to learn how to use it. I really
> like working with the old database and keeping the data clean in my
> department though I've just learned on the job and have no formal training.
> I am considering going for Oracle certification but don't want to invest the
> time and money if I don't have what it takes to run one *in the real world.*
> (Learning information and passing a test doesn't necessarily mean one is
> right for the job.)

This parenthetical comment is exactly true, but there isn't really a reliable way to figure out if you are right for a dba job in general.

My personal feeling is that much of what is now called dba is just a temporary thing, and will be completely transformed within 10 years. That doesn't mean not to pursue it, but rather points toward getting on the treadmill and following it as it transforms. Many of us who have been around for a while have discovered that many jobs vary quite a lot from their description when you actually do the work. Whether you are right for a particular job may depend more on the people around you than anything else (assuming technical ability, of course).

There is a certain amount of investment required - a lot of time, and some money. A lot of money if you take the Oracle courses, but there are ways around that, the best of which is to find a company willing to pay for it. I've seen several people fall into the job, then once they get a little experience and show some aptitude, get a company (or the government!) to pay the 20 grand. A more expensive way, and one I would recommend for those young'uns truly serious about it, is to get a real Masters degree, then go to work for Oracle for a couple of years. Then write your own ticket.

>
> Once trained it is unlikely that I would be able to be the database
> administrator at my current company so I'd have to go elsewhere for work.
> The "real world" is most certainly different from the "university system"
> that I'm used to.

What's in a name? If you can make the job you like at your current company,
do that! At least through this next years "recession." (Let's see, 48 companies each with a net worth of more than $1 billion have gone bankrupt so
far this year...)

Of course, some people have been trained to think DBA's have godlike powers,
and they go "Whoa!" when you tell them you are an Oracle DBA. But the more common reaction is "What is a DBA?"

>
> Any insights, thoughts, comments, hard-lessons-learned, leads, etc. are
> greatly appreciated!

Some people think I'm a great DBA, others think I suck. At least I make an
impression! The market is flooded with DBA's right now thanks to the dot.com bubble. In a couple of years, there will be a whole lot of managers with a skewed idea of what a DBA does because "they were a DBA once." <sigh>

>
> TIA!!
>
> Trishah Woolley, M.A.
> California Smokers' Helpline
> University of California, San Diego
> trishah_at_ucsd.edu

Check out the user group meeting at http://www.sdoug.org. San Diego is somewhat
insular in the commercial technical job market.

jg

--
http://www.garry.to                                Oracle and Unix
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