Junior and Senior DBAs

  • Frank wants to know the difference between junior and senior dbas - and it is more than money.

    Dr. Peter Venkman: Generally you don't see that kind of behavior in a major appliance.

    Patrick

    Quand on parle du loup, on en voit la queue

  • Posting in SQLServerCentral.com

    Written by: brenbart

    Respond here: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/forum/link.asp?TOPIC_ID=15438

    Senior DBA: Grey hair, cautious to the point of paranoia, never volunteers for anything not strictly database related and has a tendency to chitchat about normalization.

    Junior DBA: Younger, willing to overcommit themselves and a tendency to say "Ah screw the users. They won''t even know that I took the database down to reboot the server."

    I like the definition of Senior DBA.

    Now, what I wanted to know is, are there any defined prerequisites for a Senior DBA, or can someone with a huge knowledge, but no verifable experience apply for such a position. How many years of experience does someone needs to apply for a Senior position? I know there is no general answer to this, but are there guiding values?

    Cheers,

    Frank

    --
    Frank Kalis
    Microsoft SQL Server MVP
    Webmaster: http://www.insidesql.org/blogs
    My blog: http://www.insidesql.org/blogs/frankkalis/[/url]

  • Hi there

    Good point with the senior dba comment. I am a "senior dba" apparently :), to be honest, its all about the deeper understanding with the dbms, its architecture, and more importantly, the applications utilising it. Its not so much remembering every damn feature and syntax, but really understanding, questioning and leveraging off its inter-related components/systems and making this work consistenty with the business/applications. The senior dba is by nature very cautious, proactive, and perhaps more business orientated.

    Thats it, im off home, too much booze on fridays lunch! 🙂

    P.S. Senior DBA's can leave early and let the juniors take the reins on friday arvos.

    Chris Kempster

    http://www.chriskempster.com

    Author of "SQL Server 2k for the Oracle DBA"


    Chris Kempster
    www.chriskempster.com
    Author of "SQL Server Backup, Recovery & Troubleshooting"
    Author of "SQL Server 2k for the Oracle DBA"

  • Hi Chris,

    quote:


    Hi there

    Good point with the senior dba comment. I am a "senior dba" apparently :), to be honest, its all about the deeper understanding with the dbms, its architecture, and more importantly, the applications utilising it. Its not so much remembering every damn feature and syntax, but really understanding, questioning and leveraging off its inter-related components/systems and making this work consistenty with the business/applications. The senior dba is by nature very cautious, proactive, and perhaps more business orientated.


    so a senior DBA is more of a organizer, while the Junior is more the worker ???

    quote:


    Thats it, im off home, too much booze on fridays lunch! 🙂

    P.S. Senior DBA's can leave early and let the juniors take the reins on friday arvos.


    I know the words are english, but the meaning ????

    
    
    Water, water, every where,
    And all the boards did shrink;
    Water, water, every where,
    Nor any drop to drink.

    Cheers,

    Frank

    --
    Frank Kalis
    Microsoft SQL Server MVP
    Webmaster: http://www.insidesql.org/blogs
    My blog: http://www.insidesql.org/blogs/frankkalis/[/url]

  • booze = wein, bier, schnapps

    fridays = a day in Australia where everyone turns up for work, but very little is done

    lunch = mittagtrinken

    arvos = afternoons

    Cheers,

    - Mark


    Cheers,
    - Mark

  • quote:


    lunch = mittagtrinken


    mittagtrinken ????

    I've always associated lunch with having somethings to eat !

    Must be special kind of humor from people who call a spider 'Daddy Longleg'

    Cheers,

    Frank

    --
    Frank Kalis
    Microsoft SQL Server MVP
    Webmaster: http://www.insidesql.org/blogs
    My blog: http://www.insidesql.org/blogs/frankkalis/[/url]

  • Senior DBAs are also mentors. My mentor made me use Query Analyzer and SQL for everything. Which is a good thing, since now I am aware of all of the commands, etc. Not something that would have happened if I used Enterprise Manager all day.

    He designed the databases. He designed the jobs. I wrote the scripts and we problem-solved as much as possible. He taught me to be very deliberate and not to assume as much as I once did.

    Dr. Peter Venkman: Generally you don't see that kind of behavior in a major appliance.

    Patrick

    Quand on parle du loup, on en voit la queue

  • Senior DBA is usually the person-in-charge. When you have a company that has Senior and Junior DBAs, that usually just means the SR DBA has more experience and might have management skills.

    -SQLBill

  • So, a senior DBA isn't working the whole day deep inside the DBMS, but rather taking care that everything else is going its normal way?

    And when the junior DBA comes help seeking to him, the kind who says:

    'Young man, calm down, when I was young, we didn't even have a RDBMS. We had to do the whole stuff by our own hands!'

    I guess a senior DBA has also more free time to post to such a forum, right?

    Cheers,

    Frank

    --
    Frank Kalis
    Microsoft SQL Server MVP
    Webmaster: http://www.insidesql.org/blogs
    My blog: http://www.insidesql.org/blogs/frankkalis/[/url]

  • I think seniors have less reluctance to ask for help if they need it. Jrs think it shows weakness!

    Andy

    http://www.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/awarren/

  • quote:


    Jrs think it shows weakness!


    it's really stupid, not to ask questions, save time and nerves and participate at someone else's experience.

    There is no gain in reinventing the wheel!

    Cheers,

    Frank

    --
    Frank Kalis
    Microsoft SQL Server MVP
    Webmaster: http://www.insidesql.org/blogs
    My blog: http://www.insidesql.org/blogs/frankkalis/[/url]

  • Maybe,but also Senior DBAs just whip through writing SQL code. It is a great way to learn new tricks.

    Dr. Peter Venkman: Generally you don't see that kind of behavior in a major appliance.

    Patrick

    Quand on parle du loup, on en voit la queue

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