Re: Becoming ORACLE DBA

"IOANNIS MANOLOUDIS" <im33_at_kent.ac.uk> wrote in message news:daa50i$hr7$1_at_oheron.kent.ac.uk...
> Wow
> I really didn't expect to see a flamefest in this post.
> I am not insulted by Daniel either. He is just been realistic.
> The thing is that I do get many job postings that have the "Oracle"
> keyword
> inside. Many of them do seek Graduates. They involve everything...admin,
> development and support. The common practice is that a database is managed
> by a team and most of the times that team administrates and supports both
> the OS and the DB. The team has people from different backgrounds and with
> different levels of experience. Which means there can be someone like
> Daniel managing the team, someone with PhD in databases, some developers
> and Unix specialists and some trainees.
> There are graduate job postings for Informix that don't expect from
> candidates to know 4GL but why should I want to apply to them. There 80
> Informix job Postings vs 2800 Oracle.
> Here follows an example job posting:
>
> "Renowned global bank seeks bright, enthusiastic graduate for role as IT
> Support Specialist in the Ops and Systems department for a top hedge firm.
> The aim is to recruit an extremely bright graduate who would be interested
> in joining am Operations and Systems department.This team is focused
> Operation Systems (Solaris, Windows, LINUX), Databases (Sybase, Oracle),
> Networking (WAN, LAN), Applications and Telecom.They are ideally looking
> for a recent graduate with a degree in computer science/engineering.A
> background in strong client facing skills is required, as users will
> include IT people, business people, traders, quantitative analysts, and
> sales staff.In return, you will join a team that will expose you to the
> revenue generating functions of a business within a technically advanced
> organisation.You will also receive a competitive salary comprised of a
> basic and bonus, and private health/medical cover, and a non-contribution
> pen.Candidates must have min. BBB A-Levels,and 2.1 degree. "
>
> These employers are blue chip companies and London has a top of the League
> finance Industry. Career guides state that finance companies are the best
> IT employers in the UK.
> The reason for this thread was to learn more about the DBA job and if it
> will be a good choice to follow that career path. I did learned something
> from this thread. Thank all of you for replies. Could you also tell me
> what
> is the difference, if any, between an "Oracle DBA" and an "Oracle
> consultant"?
>
> Ioannis
>

I think that anyone who is starting a IT career and expects to be in it for at least 20-30 years (depending on age) should expect that the technology will change and they should be smart enough and motivated enough to continually learn new things.

At the same time, someone considering a career as a DBA should consider that the technical aspects of Oracle will become more automated (hopefully), and realize that a DBA who is also good at database design and working with application developers will be more valuable than a purely technical person.

I don't want to underemphasize the need of a good technical background (because things are fairly complex right now) but the ability to learn is just as important (and maybe more so) than what you know right now if you are being considered for a entry-level position.

A consultant is someone who comes in, borrows your watch, tells you what time it is, keeps the watch, and charges you an exorbitant fee. Received on Sun Jul 03 2005 - 21:57:50 CDT