Re: Becoming an Oracle DBA

Easy answer to all of those questions. It depends. ;-) See below for more details.

In article <Pine.OSF.4.21.0009101926520.19347-100000_at_Bayou.UH.EDU>,   AH <gucciard_at_Bayou.UH.EDU> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm planning on making a career change and becoming an Oracle DBA.
> I'm currently studying for the 1st exam of the Oracle DBA
 certification--
> Exam 1Z0-001 "SQL and PL/SQL". I would really appreciate your
 comments
> and/or suggestions on the following questions:
>
> 1. In your experience, is it easy to find a job as an Oracle DBA with
> no experience and with just the Oracle certification? For
> instance, would it be better to go through my Oracle DBA
> certification and then apply for a
> DBA job (with no experience in databases), or would it be better
> to work as an SQL programmer for a while and acquire some
> experience, and then apply for a DBA job upon completing my
> certification?

Some places will let you in if you can spell Oracle even more if you're certified. Those places are probably one in a million. A lot of places the certification is worth little more than the paper it is printed on.  As a general rule, most of the certified DBAs that I have worked with have been the ones with the least knowledge. I've considered getting certified but am hindered because of knowing a number of people that use that in the place of experience. All that said, since you have no experience, doing the learning to be able to get your certification won't hurt. You will probably have to take less $$$ or get in at a small shop to get started.

> 2. What type of salary should a DBA with no experience expect (in
> Texas). What about a DBA with 1, 5, and 10 years of experience?
I work in Fort Worth but even trying to specify a straight dollar amount is tough. I would guess that a DBA (which I qualify as having at least 2-3 years of experience) would get a minimum of 60-70K. You also have to figure in the "perks" (stock options, bonuses, OT pay, flexible work schedule, dress code, etc.) in addition to benefits (401K, stock matching, insurance, etc.). All of the "others" make it really hard to go on straight $$$. I figure I can make at least 10K more working in Dallas but it would take a lot more than that to get me there. I would rather work in FW because of less traffic, family in town, etc. You have to figure all of those in as part of your compensation.

>
> 3. Which version of Oracle should I get my DBA certification on
 (version
> 8, 8i, 9i, ... ) ?

8i right now.
>
> 4. What are some pros and cons of working as an Oracle DBA?
> Specifically, is this a stressful job? Is there a lot of overtime
> involved?

I enjoy the challenge of a multiple reasonably large DBs - 200 - 400G in a high availability, high performance environment. It can be incredibly stressful but part of that depends on your work environment and your skills. My job was a lot more stressful until we cleaned up a lot of issues that previous people had created. It is a lot less now but definitely has stress points. I can't imagine doing this without overtime ... but again that is one of the "soft" compensation factors that you should factor in. The place I work knows that I will bust my tail when needed and put in the hours but they know that my family comes first. They also know and support that I am not a work-aholic and while I am very game to put in major hours periodically as needed I certainly won't put in more that 45-50 on a regular basis. They also know that they will have to compensate me for weekends worked. Since they don't do OT that translates into additional days off for me.

Hope that helps.

Later,
Geoffrey Bray
>
> Thank you in advance for your help.
> a_h
>
>

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Before you buy. Received on Mon Sep 11 2000 - 14:21:03 CDT