Re: Career questions: databases

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. Received on Sat Jun 30 2007 - 19:47:48 CEST