Re: Is Sr. DBAs afraid of not be able to pass cert exam ??

Keith Boulton doodled thusly:

>1. Most DBAs do not require the level of knowledge shown for instance by
>some participants in this forum. Many DBAs I've worked with try to make out
>that being a DBA is a tremendously difficult job - it isn't.

Agreed. 90% of sites out there do NOT need a full time DBA: that's something I found a long time ago.

>2. DBAs DO need to be able to address new problems/situations as they
>arise - in my experience, this is an attitude, not a skill and is not
>something people learn over time.

Disagree.
Analytical skills - that's what you're talking about - are (usually) acquired as part of tertiary or post-tertiary specialist training. Nothing to do with attitude. Of course, a good one helps.

>3. They should never stop learning.

Agreed.

>4. Certification is a largely pointless exercise because certification tests
>are based on what can easily be measured by computer and so generate a
>profit.

Agreed.

>5. You cannot tell from the number of years spent doing something if the
>person doing it learnt anything - it is therefore *foolish* to base a
>decision on that, rather than an evaluation (based on a structured
>interview) of a person's skills.

Partially disagree. Although what you mention is common in some arenas, in technical environments (the case in question here) it is most definitely not the case.

To give you an example: I've spent the last 10 months hand-holding a newbie IT person who is absolutely not geared to be a DBA, no matter what I try. Even basic concepts such as differences in speed between memory and disk are incredibly difficult to convey: there is just nothing on the other side. "Lights are on, nobody home" sort of thing.

But this person is "young" and perceived by management as having the necessary qualities for long-term employment potential. (Which nowadays means the person is recognized as "thick-as-a-brick" and a "yes-person")
It is a total chore to teach this person. I'm being paid to do it, but I've explained many times it's money thrown to the wind. Oh yes: OCP "certified", of course.

The counterpart is another person in another organization that recently started to receive mentoring in Oracle. Ex-DB2 Cobol analyst/programmer with quite extensive mainframe and IT experience. It is a pleasure to mentor this person: concepts just slide in so easy and the speed of catching up to principles is so great! Half the time all I have to do is explain where to look: this is followed by immediate self-study and a follow-up session of questions.

Rewarding, is to put it mildly: I don't have to explain why backups are needed, just how to do them reliably. That sort of thing.

My preference would always be to go for the second type of person for a DBA job. I know for sure this person would do a good job. While the other one will always be mediocre, no matter how much I or anybody else tries.

However, I do agree that a good set of interview questions or tests is a plus to weed out the first type. But the replies have to be evaluated by a person, not a computer.

>6. Attitude is more important than technical skill - a good DBA should look
>at the big picture not just the technical detail of e.g. what is most
>efficient for the database.
>

Agreed. However, I maintain that attitude comes with experience, not genes.

Cheers
Nuno Souto
nsouto_at_optushome.com.au.nospam Received on Thu Jan 31 2002 - 06:07:34 CST