Re: Becoming an Oracle DBA - part 4 (& last?)

I work as an Oracle DBA for a fortune 100 company. We just hired 2 new DBAs. One was fresh out of the military with a bit of SQL knowledge. The other used to work as a developer for a web company that went belly up.

Both are bright, motivated and ready to learn and contribute. Neither have any prior DBA certification or experience. No, they are not being paid at the top of their field, but they are now Oracle DBAs working on projects of international scope in a 24x7 production environment and in a few years, they will be able to command a very nice salary.

As for me, I have been an Oracle DBA for a few days over 1 year. Prior to that I worked for the same company in a monitoring capacity. Prior to that I sold cars.

Many experienced DBAs switch jobs because they want more money. Companies understand that no matter how much they pay them, in a year or two they will leave to go for more money. As a result, there are opportunities for the candidate with the proper attitude and motivation. Also, IT is and has been experiencing a critical shortage of people, as a result hiring standards are low. This isn't an insult, it just means you don't need a doctorate and 25 years of experience anymore.

If you *want* to be a DBA, send out your resume, go to some interviews and pick the offer that seems most attractive to you. Then work your butt off to become good at being a DBA.

--
Dave A


"H_H" <gucciard_at_Bayou.UH.EDU> wrote in message
news:Pine.OSF.4.21.0010171116190.17378-100000_at_Bayou.UH.EDU...


> Hello everybody,

>

> Thanks for your feedback. I really appreciate your advice.

>

> I've been told that it is very hard to find a job as an Oracle DBA if,

> as in my case, you don't have any experience with databases. How hard do

> you think it is to find a job as an Oracle DBA with just the Oracle DBA

> certification and no database experience? Would you exclusively apply for

> DBA positions --and possibly wait a long time until a company decides to

> hire you-- or would you also include other database-related jobs in your

> job search? If so, which job titles would you look for?

>

> Thanks for your help,

> H_H

>