Re: Getting that first Oracel DBA job.

On Nov 17, 2:51 pm, DA Morgan <damor..._at_psoug.org> wrote:
> ddf wrote:
> > On Nov 17, 9:24 am, Jimmy <jimmynesb..._at_gmail.com> wrote:
> >> I finished writing an article for new DBA's that are trying to get
> >> that first Oracle DBA job. I remember how tough it was so I thought I
> >> would share what I learned. You can read the article by going to:
>
> >>http://www.tinyurl.com/firstoraclejob
>
> >> Let me know what you think of it, I would love to hear what other
> >> DBA's and even new DBA's got from reading it.
>
> > The mindset:
> > " I became frustrated at the amount of money that I was pulling in, so
> > I went online to check the current salary averages for different IT
> > occupations. I was amazed to see DBA's at the top of many of the lists
> > I found. From that point on, I made up my mind that I was going to
> > become an Oracle DBA."
>
> > The interview:
> > "So, how much experience do you have?"
>
> > "None, but I have note cards!  All of the answers at my fingertips!"
>
> > "I see.  So if thirteen users complain to you about how long it takes
> > to see query results you'll take what course of action?"
>
> > "Umm, that's not one of my questions.  Could you ask one of these on
> > this stack of cards, please?  Those I can answer!"
>
> > "Let's try again, shall we?  Users are complaining they can't connect
> > to the database because of some ambiguous 'archiver error'.  What is
> > the cause, and what is the solution?"
>
> > "Well, that's because the archiver is stuck and needs to be oiled."
>
> > "Really?  Silly me, and I thought it was because the archive
> > destination filesystem filled to capacity because the scheduled job
> > managing that area failed.  You learn something new every day..."
>
> > "Oh, yessir, I agree!"
>
> > "Let's try another one.  An ORA-04031 error indicates ... what?"
>
> > "The temporary tablespace is allocated to capacity and needs to be
> > dropped and recreated.  TEMP should NEVER be allocated 100% because
> > that's a problem."
>
> > "You don't say ..."
>
> > "I do say, it's a rampant problem among inexperienced DBAs to think
> > the TEMP tablespace is fine at 100% allocation.  All of those
> > allocated extents that can't be reused ... it's a tragedy, really."
>
> > "Well, I think we have enough information.  Thank you for gracing us
> > with your presence."
>
> > "It was my pleasure.  When do I start?"
>
> > Ahh, the power of money.  I was so hoping there was a much loftier
> > goal for your becoming an Oracle DBA.  Silly me.
>
> > David Fitzjarrell
>
> This would be far funnier were it not true in far too many cases.
>
> It is, however, followed by the second most common answer:
> "I'd go to metalink, open an SR, wait until Oracle responds, and tell
> my management the whozit interface to the whatsit API is down. It is
> really unusual and requires a bug fix from Oracle so I am waiting
> for them to release a one-off patch."
> --
> Daniel A. Morgan
> Oracle Ace Director & Instructor
> University of Washington
> damor..._at_x.washington.edu (replace x with u to respond)
> Puget Sound Oracle Users Groupwww.psoug.org- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I realize how true this is, and, yes, I have been the interviewer on the receiving end of similar responses. It was his remark, quoted, in his opening paragraph which struck me as the wrong motivation for a job change. Add to that the notion that the interview questions websites were infallable and the questions, and answers, should be dutifully copied to notecards for use in telephone interviews and my already considerably low opinion of him was reduced even further.

The advertisements were simply 'icing on the cake'.

David Fitzjarrell Received on Mon Nov 17 2008 - 15:36:13 CST