June 22, 2011 at 6:22 pm
Hello,
I'm a student and I'm currently enrolled a technical computer programming diploma. I'll get my diploma in late November. We had two courses on databases. We worked with Access during the first one and MS SQL Server in the second one. I felt at my place working with SQL Server, although I'm aware that we only covered the tip of the iceberg (T-SQL, triggers, stored procedures, transactons, etc). I'm considering a career as a DBA and I will try do find an internship in that field but quite frankly for the moment I feel a little bit lost and would like some advice.
Even if I manage to find a SQL Server internship, my technical college diploma is clearly not complete enough for becoming a DBA (it's more oriented towards programming and web). I have looked around in other colleges and universities and none of them offer programs for DBA, except a very short Oracle diploma and just one or two databases courses here and there in computer science/IT programs.
However, I found an IT graduate program in which half of the credits goes to a personnal project on a chosen subject. Do you think it would be worth to do this kind of program in order to further develop my knowledge of databases in a more formal context? I read forums and SQL Server Magazine, I bought a book and I'm doing small little projects but it's nothing formal that I can prove to an employer...
So the main question is: are there any "academic credentials" asked by employers or it's more the will to learn, experience and certifications that matters for them?
Thanks for reading and for any advice,
Mathieu
PS: sorry for my English I'm working hard to improve it.
June 23, 2011 at 6:57 am
I've never seen someone asking for academic credentials when they are looking for a DBA, it's always x years of experience.
If someone is looking for a junior DBA, they'll know there are no DBA school so they'll be looking for anything related, like developer with some experience with SQL.
The best you can do on your own is to try to make some simple school project (design a DB you would use in a student management application for instance), then look around for what you would need to make some custom maintenance plan (backup, reindex, maybe a small disaster recovery scenario).
All the info to do that are easily available on internet, you can then start looking at all the best practice you can find and see if what you did follows it.
June 23, 2011 at 7:18 am
Hello Ouellette
You might see job ads with the requirement of BS in Computer Science or similar field but there is usually an equivalent in experience. "Require BS in Computer Science or 5 years experience"
An internship is a good idea. This will allow you to do some resume building tasks for a company (maintain x databases, process improvement, performance enhancements, etc.). Try to learn as much as you can from your DBA counterpart. You'll be able to complete some projects to give your resume a nice boost.
When applying for a job, be honest. I've learned that if you just speak the truth, people will give you a shot. Apply for a junior position and tell them what you know, don't lie about what you don't know and never stop learning.
In your courses you'll learn some important basics like development concepts and database basics but most of your learning will be from actually doing the work and self teaching. You'll pick up best practices first from Microsoft's recommendations, then from other's mistakes, then from your own mistakes.
-For everything database, Microsoft Press books could be a good start. 70-432 for administration or 70-433 for database development. (these also come with evaluation copies of SQL Server 2008 Enterprise)
-Books Online (BOL) is also a fantastic quick reference for questions you might have.
-There are other great beginner book recommendations, just do a quick search here.
June 23, 2011 at 8:50 pm
Thank you very much for your advice on becoming a DBA. I'll put your advice into practice.
Thanks!
June 24, 2011 at 9:33 am
Get SQL Server Express with Advanced Services; practice SQL admin tasks. Back up, restore, apply service patches, do index maintenance. Build stored procedures to do those things. Use the wizards and write the SQL yourself.
Play with tuning; load up a few GB of data, and solve the same problem five (5!) different ways; see what's faster and what's slower. Repeat with a simpler problem. Repeat with a more complex problem.
Grab some random SQL from here; look at some from 1-2 star articles, read the discussions. Do the same with 5 star articles (still read the discussions!).
"Forget" the SA password, figure out one or more ways to recover. Corrupt a test database!
June 24, 2011 at 9:42 am
All good advice above.
I'd add ....
- Create a database that holds your personal finances, movies or song list.
- Visit this site EVERY DAY, read questions, post questions, etc... The knowledge found here is invaluable.
- Join your local SQL PASS group. They usually meet monthly and it's just a bunch of people just like you at various stages in their careers.
______________________________________________________________________
Personal Motto: Why push the envelope when you can just open it?
If you follow the direction given HERE[/url] you'll likely increase the number and quality of responses you get to your question.
Jason L. SelburgJune 27, 2011 at 6:03 pm
Also, if you are serious about learning about SQL Server and have some money available, look into purchasing the Developer Edition. It costs about $50.00 (less if you shop around).
This will give you an environment with the power of the Enterprise Edition, so you will have the oportunity with work many of the advanced features as well, plus SSIS, SSAS, SSRS.
June 27, 2011 at 6:22 pm
And yet another option is to get the eval version http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/bb895906.
It's valid for 6 months.
______________________________________________________________________
Personal Motto: Why push the envelope when you can just open it?
If you follow the direction given HERE[/url] you'll likely increase the number and quality of responses you get to your question.
Jason L. SelburgJune 28, 2011 at 12:52 pm
It is sort of strange that the DBA career does not really have a formal schooling foundation.
Most DBAs started doing something else and just transitioned into it because of an opportunity where they were working.
It is almost a DIY education to become a DBA.
There are very rarely junior DBA jobs advertised. They are always looking for 3+ years of experience.
Heck, most of then are looking for "Senior DBA" with 5-10 years of experience on multiple versions of databases.
I don't see anyone looking for SQL Server 7 anymore. But SQL Server 2000 experience is still in demand.
Here is the advice I gave to a QA tester who asked me recently about becoming a SQL Server DBA:
1) let your boss know that you want to be on SQL projects.
2) get your entry level certifications to prove you are serious (MCTS 70-432 and/or 70-433)
3) offer to takeover SQL Server administration tasks for the QA servers so that you can legitimately put SQL Server on your resume.
4) After one year apply for a real DBA job
If we were to expand with a 2nd DBA position, I suspect our ambitious QA tester would get the job if he follows that advice.
July 2, 2011 at 7:46 pm
Hello everyone,
I just want to thank you for all the great advice that you gave me. I'll work hard to put in practice what you've suggested.
Thanks,
Mathieu
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