January 3, 2008 at 9:32 am
I have a background in desktop support and IT management, but would like to make a career change to DB administration and am looking for advice on making the transition. I currently have only a tiny bit of experience with MS SQL, but am in a position that I could gain a bit more. Where I work we run SQL 2000. My current idea is to 1) have more (but necessarily limited) involvement in DBA at work, 2) install SQL 2005 on a test machine to experiment with, 3) study for and pass Exam 70-431, 4) begin to seek employment as a DBA
Does that sound like a beneficial course of action? What would my job prospects be? Any other advice?
Also, I'm considering starting with one of two exam prep books:
* MCTS SQL Server 2005 Implementation & Maintenance Study Guide by Tom Carpenter and
* MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-431): Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Implementation and Maintenance by Solid Quality Learning
I'm currently leaning toward the Carpenter book since according to the review of it and the other on Amazon, the Carpenter book is more appropriate for a complete beginner. The Solid Quality book seems like it would be more difficult to follow for someone in my position.
Thanks much
January 3, 2008 at 9:37 am
Your ides about how to get knowledge in SQL DBA work seems to be pretty good.
Setting up a test Server and doing some pet projects will definetly help you. But DBA work is quite vast. In our company we have 3 DBAs. The three of us have three diffferent specialization.
Also try to learn more about IT in general. A good DBA should have quite a bit of IT knowledge. (Maybe it is just me who thinks like that.)
-Roy
January 3, 2008 at 9:55 am
January 3, 2008 at 11:39 am
At this point in time, keep your plans to work with 2000, but go ahead & skip 2005 and start learning 2008.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
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