I need your opinions....for the DBAs

I've been working as an Oracle DBA for the last year and a half now. In that time I've gotten my Oracle 8 certification. I got hired right out of college by a state government agency so my Oracle experience was slim at best, along with that, I was hired as the only DBA. Basically, they hired me right out of school because they couldn't afford to hire an experienced DBA. Awesome for me!

I have a couple questions. How did you all learn so much about being a DBA? Were you mentored, did you learn everything on your own? I feel I've learned quite a bit but I know that I could learn A LOT more. Personally, I feel I could learn a lot from a "guru" . I'm at the point where...if I don't know the answer, I know where to look. Next...now that Y2K is over, I'm contemplating looking for a DBA position where I could get mentored. I'm working with a recruiter who is telling me that a 24-7 shop is the way to "jump in and learn a lot". A shop that handles huge amounts of data that has a few DBAs to learn from. What did you all do and how was the best way to gain your experience?

Thanks for hearing me ramble and your subsequent opinions.

Ron N. Received on Wed Jan 19 2000 - 13:13:12 CST