EdStevens wrote:
> On Jun 30, 3:31 pm, Bob Badour <bbad..._at_pei.sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
>>hpuxrac wrote:
>>
>>>On Jun 30, 10:12 am, DA Morgan <damor..._at_psoug.org> wrote:
>>
>>>>dreamznatcher wrote:
>>
>>>>>Hello,
>>>>>I'm considering a career switch to a more database-related job, but
>>>>>need help on a few questions and issues. I'm a Computer Engineering
>>>>>graduate and have always felt most comfortable creating database-
>>>>>driven applications, preferably for web portals.
>>
>>>>>[My questions:]
>>>>>1. What are the most viable career options for me out there? What
>>>>>profile do I fit in?
>>
>>>>You don't fit into any specific hash bucket but rather likely have
>>>>the ability to morph into whichever one you wish.
>>
>>>>Rather than approaching it from the standpoint of "I'm a square peg
>>>>which hole should I put myself in?" Turn it around and say "I am a
>>>>morphable peg and which hole would I most enjoy being in?"
>>
>>>>>2. What is the current job market/salary situation for database
>>>>>professionals? With my current skills, what kind of job might I end up
>>>>>with?
>>
>>>>Best place to look is dice.com, monster.com, hotjobs.com, etc. But
>>>>the job market today is not the job market of tomorrow. Certainly
>>>>there are some things that are safer bets than others. One can
>>>>essentially guarantee Oracle will still be around in 20 years whereas
>>>>one can be rather certain a large number of products and companies
>>>>will not be: At least not in their current form.
>>
>>>>>3. What are the stuff I should focus/learn to advance my skills
>>>>>optimally?
>>
>>>>Depends on what you want to be doing when you are 57 years old. The
>>>>only correct answer is asking strangers is a sure road to disaster.
>>
>>>>>4. And finally, is there any university degree (MS) specializing in
>>>>>databases anywhere? (I'm also deeply interested in the internal
>>>>>mechanism/theoretical aspect of databases.)
>>
>>>>What country? I'm not aware of one in the US but you might want to
>>>>contact Professor Carl Dudley at University of Wolverhampton with
>>>>respect to the EU.
>>
>>>>>_Please read my (following) profile before replying!_
>>
>>>>>[I'm proficient in: ]
>>>>>- Oracle (8i, 9i), MySQL (4.1.xx), MS Access
>>>>>- Have working knowledge of SQL Server 2000
>>>>>- Intend to learn SQLite and MySQL 5 soon
>>
>>>>>- HTML, DHTML, CSS
>>>>>- JS, PHP
>>>>>- Intend to learn AJAX, JSON, ASP.Net soon
>>
>>>>To be brutally honest with you ... no you aren't. One of the things
>>>>that gets me to toss a resume into the discard pile when looking at
>>>>resumes is a laundry list of technologies so vast no person could
>>>>possibly be competent in all of them. Above is such a list and not
>>>>only are you not proficient in all of them neither is anyone else.
>>
>>>>Lists like this create an immediate negative impression except in
>>>>HR departments staffed by former shoe salesmen. <g>
>>>>--
>>>>Daniel A. Morgan
>>>>University of Washington
>>>>damor..._at_x.washington.edu (replace x with u to respond)
>>>>Puget Sound Oracle Users Groupwww.psoug.org
>>
>>>Mr. Morgan said "I'm a morphable peg and which hole would I most enjoy
>>>being in"?.
>>
>>>Yikes.
>>
>>He also said the above is a long list of technologies that nobody could
>>learn. I suspect he is mentally retarded and doesn't realize it yet so
>>he assumes everybody else is too.
>
> He didn't say nobody could learn them. He said nobody could be
> *proficient* in *all* of them. And I would add "especially at the
> apparently young age of the OP".
The truth of the matter is if one has a solid foundation, one can easily
become proficient in all of those technologies quite rapidly. Age is
irrelevant.
Before I started university, I had spent more time playing with
computers than most graduates. And quite frankly, I had not spent as
much time as say Bill Gates had when he was in highschool. Obviously,
Gates had a sound background in compilation and numerical methods before
he wrote the first version of Microsoft Basic--prior to dropping out of
school.
Received on Tue Jul 03 2007 - 08:12:15 CDT
