Re: Question about entry level Oracle DBA

From: Jason Baugher <jason_at_baugher.pike.il.us>
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 17:34:50 GMT
Message-ID: <Xns92A77FF6FDBEAjasonbaugherpikeilus@209.242.76.10>

Daniel Morgan <dmorgan_at_exesolutions.com> wrote in comp.databases.oracle.misc:

> los wrote:
>

>>   If every job listing is asking for 3 to 5 years of experience in
>>   Oracle, 
>> how are entry levels supposed to break into the business? Is it
>> impossible to get an entry level Oracle position right now?

>
> You are supposed to become a developer and learn about the
> architecture, how to code, how to tune, how to debug, etc.
>
> Your question is analogous to the following:
>
> Every job listing for Chief of Thoracic Surgery is asking for 3 to 5
> years of experience performing surgery. How are you supposed to get
> into the business? Or
> Every job listing for Supreme Court Justice is asking for previous
> experience as an attorney and judge. How are you supposed to get into
> the business?
>
> In short ... do your apprenticeship. Pay your dues. There are a lot of
> good Oracle developers who are far more qualified than you and they
> get first shot at every opportunity which is as it should be.
>

Unfortunately, some of us didn't start as developers and then become DBA's. For example, I was a unix admin, and a company restructure threw the unix guys and oracle dba's together, and the developers were in another group. The unix admins and oracle dba's were seen as systems/infrastructure, and thus belonged together.

So, with a small group of admins and dba's, we began to cross-train, learning each other's jobs. I started doing dba tasks, got some training, did a lot of reading, and got pretty good at it (although there are still some gaps in my knowledge).

But, since I didn't start out as a developer, my SQL isn't what it should be. I know enough to do most stuff, but the more complicated SQL is tough for me, and I know little to nothing about PL/SQL.

So, now I'm an 8-year unix admin, a 3-year Oracle DBA, and barely any Oracle development at all. I like the DBA work and would like to catch up in the development side of things, but it's hard to start over in an entry-level job when you've done many of the more senior level things already. (and you are used to a senior-level salary :) )

-- 
Jason Baugher 
Virtual Adept Professional Consulting Services
1406 Adams Street, Quincy, IL 62301 - (217) 221-5406
jason@baugher.pike.il.us - http://baugher.pike.il.us/virtualadept

Received on Mon Oct 14 2002 - 12:34:50 CDT