April 22, 2011 at 2:19 pm
I'm currently a student finishing up my CS degree and making a major career change from a completely different field. What skill set would you recommend (languages, vendors, soft skills, type of experience) for landing my first sql developer/junior dba/sql programmer position? Any and all advice is appreciated. Thank you!
April 22, 2011 at 2:24 pm
With no IT experience, it's not likely you'll be able to land a DBA job. Developer, maybe.
http://www.brentozar.com/becoming-a-dba/how-to-get-a-junior-dba-job/
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
April 22, 2011 at 5:09 pm
If you have the opportunity to take on some community projects or an internship - do it. It could help build up some experience.
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
_______________________________________________
I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
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April 25, 2011 at 5:14 am
I only know of one person who went straight from college to a full-time DBA and he spent about 18 months as an unpaid intern first. Since you have zero experience, the best place to start is at the help-desk at a large organization. Other than that... look around, talk to people, network like mad. You might find someone willing to take a chance.
Get a copy of Tom LaRock's book DBA Survivor. It might help some.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
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Author of:
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April 25, 2011 at 5:41 am
GilaMonster (4/22/2011)
With no IT experience, it's not likely you'll be able to land a DBA job. Developer, maybe.
Wow Gail! Not sure whether, as a developer, I should feel insulted by that statement. 😉
You mean I could never be a DBA :crying:
Only kidding really :kiss:
Far away is close at hand in the images of elsewhere.
Anon.
April 25, 2011 at 5:52 am
David Burrows (4/25/2011)
GilaMonster (4/22/2011)
With no IT experience, it's not likely you'll be able to land a DBA job. Developer, maybe.Wow Gail! Not sure whether, as a developer, I should feel insulted by that statement. 😉
You mean I could never be a DBA :crying:
Only kidding really :kiss:
In her world, DBA means last line of defense. You can't put someone there with no experience. If you are willing to start as dev, then the DBA can spot your problem areas and help you improve there. So her statement makes complete sense.
And yes you should be insulted :hehe: :-D.
April 25, 2011 at 5:59 am
Ninja's_RGR'us (4/25/2011)[hrAnd yes you should be insulted :hehe: :-D.
Bummer. Now I'll have to go and sit on the naughty chair :blush:
Far away is close at hand in the images of elsewhere.
Anon.
April 25, 2011 at 6:03 am
Oh! And BTW I have seen some DBAs I would not like as my last line of defence :w00t:
Far away is close at hand in the images of elsewhere.
Anon.
April 25, 2011 at 6:27 am
David Burrows (4/25/2011)
Oh! And BTW I have seen some DBAs I would not like as my last line of defence :w00t:
I've seen 300+ employees companies with a network admin I wouldn't trust my calculator to for security nor data integrity!
Good thing I have many clients... they can't guess who I'm talking about. :w00t:
April 25, 2011 at 6:38 am
Ninja's_RGR'us (4/25/2011)
David Burrows (4/25/2011)
GilaMonster (4/22/2011)
With no IT experience, it's not likely you'll be able to land a DBA job. Developer, maybe.Wow Gail! Not sure whether, as a developer, I should feel insulted by that statement. 😉
You mean I could never be a DBA :crying:
Only kidding really :kiss:
In her world, DBA means last line of defense. You can't put someone there with no experience. If you are willing to start as dev, then the DBA can spot your problem areas and help you improve there. So her statement makes complete sense.
And yes you should be insulted :hehe: :-D.
In that case I insulted myself. I am a developer.
Seriously, few companies are going to give the keys to the data that runs their business, the responsibility for securing and guarding that data, for ensuring the reliability and integrity of data that literally runs the business to someone straight out of school.
Those that do are companies that you probably want to stay away from.
A developer makes a mistake, someone files a bug report (assuming that it's not caught in testing). A DBA makes a mistake, it could result in major data loss, major downtime, major financial impact, even closing of the business.
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
April 25, 2011 at 7:13 am
I tend to agree with Gail. The database is often a single point of failure, and the bottleneck, and contains all the data, which is often more important than any feature/function in the application.
A company doesn't want to, nor should they, trust someone with no experience to manage that system. You might be able to get a position as a junior DBA, but even then if you don't have experience, it's hard to give you much responsibility for managing systems.
April 25, 2011 at 7:32 am
I wouldn't target any specific position type. Go for a smaller company that needs someone who can do many kinds of IT tasks and is willing to let you learn as you go. You won't start out as a DBA, but you'll get to work on a database and with the DBA that they have, learn from that person. Offer to help with everything (even if it isn't SQL) and learn on the job.
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April 25, 2011 at 7:53 am
I agree mostly with what has been said about expierence but I would offer the following advice.
Take your time and target your first job. The more flexible you can be with location and time the more successful you will be but target smaller companies at first. Many smaller shops do not understand what they need and are also more willing to take a shot to save money paying less than they would for a person with a higher expierence level. This can also mean however that you have more responsibility than a DBA normally would. Don't get down if you also find that you are the DBA, local helpdesk, and IT support all in one. This is not uncommon in the smaller shops.
Take the time to build confidence in your skill level however and make sure you take an agressive stance in risk management. Starting out evaluate everything you do and make sure you understand exactly what the outcome should be for every script, job, ssis, or any other process that runs against your system. Often starting out you may feal you need to run a scipt from a support group becuase you do not want to hold up a project. Take the time to ask the right questions. In the long run you would much rather hold up a project than lose data.
Dan
If only I could snap my figures and have all the correct indexes apear and the buffer clean and.... Start day dream here.
April 28, 2011 at 7:30 am
As a comparative outsider - not a DBA, I truly agree with the comments that have been posted here. The DBA role is a critical one and must be carefully staffed with a qualified person.
Having said that, it amazes me how many "accidental DBA's" I have personally run into in my travels, and how many posts I see from poor souls who have been dropped into the DBA role with no training.
Truly amazing.
Steve
May 5, 2011 at 7:22 pm
So Steve what would you recommend then for those poor souls? As being one of them it drives me nuts to constantly be told I can't get more training as it's not my true job position yet I'm responsible for making the databases work. I'll be the first to admit I am not a DBA nor even a developer or have the skills those who are do, yet like it was mentioned smaller companies want a jack of all trades. I wish people would realize that now a days with the way technology is and how quickly it changes it's completely impossible to be a good 'jack of all trades' IT professional. Sure you can study like crazy and learn as much as you possibly can, just don't think of having a life then either.
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