Re: Becoming ORACLE DBA

From: IANAL_VISTA <IANAL_Vista_at_hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 02 Jul 2005 13:24:34 GMT
Message-ID: <Xns96874133C7032SunnySD@68.6.19.6>

IOANNIS MANOLOUDIS <im33_at_kent.ac.uk> wrote in news:da600l$77b$1_at_oheron.kent.ac.uk:

> IANAL_VISTA wrote:
>

>> IOANNIS MANOLOUDIS <im33_at_kent.ac.uk> wrote in
>> news:da4ob9$jts$1_at_oheron.kent.ac.uk:
>> 
>>> Hello
>>> I am currently finishing my MSc course in computer science.
>> 
>> What's your grade point average?

>
> Well I passed all modules in the exams. I got 83% in Java programming
> and 72% in Unix. In the UK grades over 70% are rated first class. I am
> working on my dissertation with CLOUDSCAPE. If the grade of my
> dissertation is above 70% then I'll be awarded MSc with distinction.

I had to do a Google search to nkow what CLOUDSCAPE is/was. I'm duly underwhelmed.

>

>> With which languages are you a proficient programmer?

>
> I also know good JAVA, C and SQL. With some luck, that is if the
> industrial coordinator can arrange it, I will sit in the exams for
> JAVA core certification.

No PL/SQL & no scripting langauge mentioned. Without being fluent in both you'd be a fish out of water.

>

>> Are you qualified to be a backup Systems Administrator? Which OS?

>
> I have been using Linux ever since 1998. But I don't have any formal
> qualifications.

There is a world of dfference between using an OS & being an admin of same.

>

>> 
>>> I am also looking for a job.
>> So are many unemployed Oracle DBAs.
>> Why should an employer hire you instead of one of them?
>> 

>
> Well here in the UK IT jobs (development, administration,
> communications) involve team working. In the team there are people
> from many national and educational backgrounds and with varying levels
> of experience. There are jobs for graduate trainees who have just
> finished their degrees.
>
>

>>> I am very interested in becoming ORACLE DBA.
>> 
>> Why are you "very interested in becoming ORACLE DBA",

>
> I am under the impression that DBA's are some of the best paid and
> trained IT professionals. Oracle is the market leader in Databases.
> Every company has a database system and most likely it will be running
> Oracle. If I change employer it will be easier for me to find a new
> one.
>

>> when you don't know the answers to the following questions?

>
> But if I knew or if I thought I knew I wouldn't have posted this would
> I? I know of cases where people who don't have yet finished their
> degrees get the chance to work with contract for blue chip companies
> in Databases.
>
> Two months ago I attended the assessment centre of HSBC. Next to me
> there was a 20 year old guy who was a 2nd year undergraduate in
> physics. He had a chat with a Sr DBA and he was told that many IT
> professionals don't have IT degrees and that his department employees'
> background ranges from contract trainees to world leading computer
> scientists with PhD's. While we were leaving with him in the train I
> chatted a bit with him. He doesn't know anything about computers,
> backups, administration, operating systems...yet a blue chip company
> had invested hundreds to call him twice and assess him.
>
>
>

>> Will the answers to the questions below influence your choice?
>> 

> YES.
>

>>> Can some ORACLE DBAs please talk to me about their job?
>> 
>>> Does it pay well?
>> 
>> Quantify well.
>> 
>>> What sort of skills does it require?
>> 
>> It requires knowing how to manage Oracle DBs & related s/w.

>
> What about general skills? Does it involve good communication skills?
> Interpersonal skills? Team leader skills? Client communication skills?
> Do DBAs need to be geeks or anoraks?

All of the above are nice to have, but if you a technical void none of them matter. However, there is someone worse than a technical void, and that is someone how thinks they know what they are doing, but they keep doing the wrong things. Some folks can't solve technical problem, but maintain status quo. Others flail away with purported solutions which make things worse.

The first order of business when you find yourself in a hole, is to stop digging!

>
>

>>> Does it involve working for very long hours?
>> 
>> At times it does.
>> Many/most Oracle DBs are required to be available 24x7.
>> Guess when DB upgrades are allowed to occur.
>> 
>> 
>>> Is it a technical or a consultancy job?
>> 
>>> Does it have fun?
>> What is "it"?
>> Define "fun"?
>> 

> "it".equals(workingAsaDBA);
> "fun".equals(jobSatisfaction);
>

>> Pretend/assume you are hired as an Oracle DBA.
>> On first day on the job a user calls & reports
>> that their database application is running SLOW.
>> Where do you start looking for the source of the slowdown?

>
> From some volunteering experience in helpdesk posts, I know I am
> supposed to carefully listen the client and how he is experiencing the
> problem. As a DBA I should check some log files to compare current
> performance with previous. I start looking in the client side
> interface with the server.
>

IMO, the first thing that needs to be done is to "bound the problem". If/when you can cleanly & clearly deliniate what is working normally and what is no longer working normally, helps to isolate the root cause.

One data point does not indicate any trend or direction. Received on Sat Jul 02 2005 - 08:24:34 CDT