Re: Becoming an Oracle DBA (part 3)

Just an attempt at an answer.

Both 1 and 2 can be involved. However, they largely depend on - getting enough resources to build a well-organised environment - the capability, partly by means of scripts, to act proactive (ie predict future problems)
- the capability of developing robust maintenance free procedures to maintain your databases.
This will not say disaster will never strike, but at least you will be prepared for it.
The biggest problem area usually is the first item in my list as management consistently tries to cut back on cost, and they see that extra disk, and they don't see your stress and/or your overtime, as you are getting paid anyway.
If you have a well organised database (or a database where someone is saying 'you are not allowed to do this because it is not in the Service Level Agreement'), being a DBA can be a parttime job. If you are really tied to your screen for 40 hours trying to survive something is really wrong.

As for jobs:
first of all, as a DBA you really should know SQL very well, You also should know how to tune your statements and to tune your database. Those are the aspects of your work that really involve creativity, making backups and installing software is going to be a routine matter soon, and of course it doesn't happen frequently.
So you should try to be on the 'other side', ie being a developer first, before becoming a DBA. I would recommend trying to find a job where they host Oracle on Unix, you will be forced to learn vi and korn shell and the sooner you do that the better, you'r going to need it anyway.

Just my 2 Eurocents and comments are appreciated.

Regards,

Sybrand Bakker, Oracle DBA

"H_H" <gucciard_at_Bayou.UH.EDU> wrote in message news:Pine.OSF.4.21.0010161302580.32757-100000_at_Bayou.UH.EDU...
> Hello,
>
> I've been struggling lately because I'd like to make
> a career change but am not sure which IT field I want to switch to. I'm
> interested in
> Oracle database administration, systems administration, and e-commerce,
> and I'm trying to figure out which of these areas interests me the most.
>
> I took two classes on databases at the university a while ago, and I
> enjoyed them very much. Besides this, I don't have any experience with
> databases.
>
> There are 2 main points that hold me back from going into Database
> Administration, that is:
> 1. A lot of overtime or lots of hours involved.
> 2. High Stress.
> In your opinion, to what extent are these two points true? For instance,
> would you consider
> database administration to be one far more stressful than systems
> administration or other web
> related jobs (such as webmastere-commerce expert)?
>
> Also, it sounds like it is hard to find a job as an Oracle DBA
> when all you have is Oracle's DBA Certification (from OCP) but no
> exsperience.
> My understanding is that, for this reason, people who want to become an
> Oracle DBA
> must first work in some database related job.
> I have a couple of questions on this:
> 1. Which jobs would help me gain the necessary experience to later become
> a DBA?
> (d
>
> 2. How long would I have to wait before I can go into DB administration?
>
> Thank you very much for your time,
> H_H
>
Received on Mon Oct 16 2000 - 13:54:25 CDT