July 25, 2003 at 4:49 pm
Hi all, i have a few questions i would like to ask to anyone who would be willing to give me some advice. I am a high school student interested in becoming a DBA or something like it. Im very computer literate and good with computers in general in most fields. My question is what type of education am I going to need to get a good high paying job. Ive read online that an experienced DBA can earn between 55,000-85,000+ a year. Is this true? Do you think it would be possible for me to land a job with just having a certification? What are obtaining certifications like? What can I expect to learn? If there are any sites that could answer any of my questions or give any type of info please point it out to me, or answer my questions if you can. Thanks.
July 25, 2003 at 5:09 pm
The problem with certification alone is you may get the job but when the experience fails to show thru (which you may be someone who can apply concepts in a hurry) you may be tossed which hurts you down the road. Or they leave you in a junior position for awhile and you don't get anywhere.
Typically I would say DBA is more likely $36k in the NC area for an entry level.
I suggest getting the experience thru using SQL Trial edition for starters and get some base education from a tech school or college in addition to the cert. If you are a good book learner get the exam prep books and study them as opposed to the class (cost is huge). But aim for a low end job for immediate experience as opposed to a high end job without. You can always move elsewhere after getting some knowledge. Read, Read, Read, Read, Read and test with a trial version.
July 25, 2003 at 5:35 pm
Ya I have also thought about attending a tech school. There is an ITT and a career point in my area which Ive thought about attending. But im not sure on what they can teach me and if it is really necassary to take an expensive class rather than just pass the test from my own learning. You say that $36k is entry level? What about someone who has say, 10 years of experience with a good company such as a medical or health care company. What might there salary be? Im just wondering if the pay gets substantially higher with experience. Thanks for all the help.
July 25, 2003 at 8:05 pm
Well that has a lot of factors for that. Yes experience will be a big bennifit in that you can get higher placement positions. But what they may be can vary between areas and the company itself. I would suggest check sites like monster.com which has some salary stats.
July 25, 2003 at 9:14 pm
Ok,
I have a bias here. I have every one of the things I am going to suggest you get.
1) A BS degree is CS with a minor in business or something close to it.
2) Some experience writting real programs in a work environment in at least two different programing languages
3) Ideally a MS degreee in CS, MIS or an MBA.
Now why.
I have been a DBA for about 8 years and in industry for 12. During that time the DBA role has changed significantly. I spend more time on business needs than I ever did in the past. Understanding how the data is used by users is becoming more and more important as time goes on.
The top 10% of technical things I do today are much more technical than in the past. More of what used to be technical is being addressed by tools and the like.
Tools and the general progress of SQL Server have made a healthy part of what I used to do everyday obsolete.
The better you understand how someone uses data the better you can design the database and the better you are at that the more valuable you will become over time.
Things like knowing how to recover from a master db failure are nice. But over time the tools are going to take care of more and more of that sort of thing.
My path gives you more flexability down the road if the flavor of platforms or databases changes. When I started working with SQL Server under OS/2 I never thought it would be a DB for real enterprises.
Things change, be prepared.
July 26, 2003 at 7:45 am
There really is no fast track to being a DBA or any computer professional today. The market is oversaturated and underemployed. I vote you get some education (i.e., an AS or BS) and the certification. I for one have a MS:MIS, MCSE/MCP+I, and 16 years of experience. The area I live in is notorious for underpaying employees so if your thinking of making what I'm making off the bat, dream on! Sorry man, it's reality these days.
For salaries in your area, check out Career Builder's Salary Expert, http://floridatoday.gannettonline.com/careerbuilder/content/salaryexpert/index.html
Sorry for all the edits. I slept 13 hours last night and still haven't woke up yet. Been fighting a bug.
All the best,
Dale
Edited by - dalec on 07/26/2003 07:46:06 AM
Edited by - dalec on 07/26/2003 07:46:44 AM
Edited by - dalec on 07/26/2003 07:47:25 AM
Edited by - dalec on 07/26/2003 07:49:04 AM
All the best,
Dale
Author: An Introduction to SQL Server 2005 Management Studio
July 28, 2003 at 1:07 am
Hi Esal,
maybe this threads will help you
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/forum/link.asp?TOPIC_ID=13310
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/forum/link.asp?TOPIC_ID=13473
Good luck!
Cheers,
Frank
--
Frank Kalis
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Webmaster: http://www.insidesql.org/blogs
My blog: http://www.insidesql.org/blogs/frankkalis/[/url]
July 28, 2003 at 1:32 am
Hi Esal,
One thing in your favour is that you have a fair idea of what you want to do, so you can get a head start before you graduate. Agree with the people above, READ! Books like Inside SQL 7 and 2000 by Kalen Delaney and Ron Soukup have a 120 day evaluation copy of SQL included, enabling you to practice what you read.
Any projects you have whilst at school/college see if you can concentrate on db's. Learning db design is fundamental!
Read the articles on here and other sites, read QOD, learn from the explanations of the answers.
I live in the UK, where it's hard enough to get a job with industry experience. With limited experience or if you aren't already a dba it's a hard just to get an interview. I was a support analyst for 3 years, but was mainly doing dba work and was passed over for a few dba positions because of my job title. And more frustrating than that is that Junior dba positions are like gold dust. I would have give my right arm to learn from a senior dba, still would!! (btw thats a hint guys!!)
One thing in your initial comments tho, don't be fooled by the money as it would take you a long time to gain the experience to command that amount. And if it's something I've leant don't just follow a career path for the money. You have got to have a genuine interest/passion for what you are doing. Otherwise boredom and apathy will set in.
Anyway good luck pal.
*I didn't do anything it just got complicated*
"I didn't do anything it just got complicated" - M Edwards
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