Opinion on Job Description

  • I was contacted today by a staffing agency and was told that I looked like a good fit for a Data Analyst position. The agency wanted more information about my resume and wanted me to email them my references. Next step I would assume would be an interview.

    I did want to post the responsibilities of the job and see if other DBAs thought it looked like entry level work. The only thing I know about the company is that they are automotive and pay is under 40K. I have been trying to break into IT for the past few months and this looks like a great opportunity for someone with zero professional experience and just an Associate's Degree.:D I appreciate your comments.

    -Jon

    Scope of Work:

    Provide analysis support for the following: reduction of engine warranty costs, improvement of field reliability, identification of root causes, and development of new data systems. Position also monitors and reports effectiveness of actions taken.

    Perform data analyses in support of problem-solving teams and management decisions, to include identification of root causes, determination of population(s) affected, failure rate estimates and projections, and estimated warranty impact.

    Play a supporting role in the development of new custom-built data systems aimed at informational support of warranty analysis and reducing the time and cost of doing business.

    Maintain SQL Server and Access databases of supporting information for reliability analysis to include: warranty claim information, failure modes, product improvements.

    Support maintenance of custom warranty analysis software (RAS); includes troubleshooting data issues, updating information tables, and checking validity of system data.

    Other Projects as assigned.

  • Jon Heck (4/2/2008)


    I was contacted today by a staffing agency and was told that I looked like a good fit for a Data Analyst position. The agency and wanted some more information about my resume and wanted me to email them my references. Next step I would assume would be an interview.

    I did want to post the responsibilities of the job and see if other DBAs thought it looked like entry level work. The only thing I know about the company is that they are automotive and pay is under 40K. I have been trying to break into IT for the past few months and this looks like a great opportunity for someone with zero professional experience and just an Associate's Degree.:D I appreciate your comments.

    -Jon

    Scope of Work:

    Provide analysis support for the following: reduction of engine warranty costs, improvement of field reliability, identification of root causes, and development of new data systems. Position also monitors and reports effectiveness of actions taken.

    Perform data analyses in support of problem-solving teams and management decisions, to include identification of root causes, determination of population(s) affected, failure rate estimates and projections, and estimated warranty impact.

    Play a supporting role in the development of new custom-built data systems aimed at informational support of warranty analysis and reducing the time and cost of doing business.

    Maintain SQL Server and Access databases of supporting information for reliability analysis to include: warranty claim information, failure modes, product improvements.

    Support maintenance of custom warranty analysis software (RAS); includes troubleshooting data issues, updating information tables, and checking validity of system data.

    Other Projects as assigned.

    There are lots of buzzwords, but not necessarily a lot of "meat" as to what the day to day activities are. I've seen the word "maintain" mean "data entry" in some places, whereas others would mean "troubleshoot".

    I mean - it has potential to be a decent stepping stone, assuming you can get more specifics. Even for an entry position, sub-40 seems low to me, which would make me worry about just exactly what kind of potential it has.

    I would start by asking for some more info:

    - is this part of a bigger team? what's the interaction?

    - what would the typical day to day activity look like?

    - what kind of advancement is possible from here?

    It's probably going to be a "feel it out" kind of thing. Entries on the resume aside - you might not learn a whole lot if you're stuck doing data entry in the back of a warehouse all by your lonesome, and running occasional reports from a canned system; or - it could be great to be seeing experienced DBA's interact on an existing team at work, learning how to design reports/queries/etc... In short - you probably need to get past the HR BS and get more info.

    You just want to make sure that there's a path OUT of this entry-level...

    Your mileage may vary of course....

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?

  • Looks to me like their data is scattered and the person who would be doing this job would be responsible for keeping these scattered databases in line and creating reports off of them. It doesn't seem like they have a real DBA, but perhaps you would have enough freedom to do some redesign, maybe take all the scattered databases and put them into a nice SQL Server database for easier reporting. Throw some Analysis Services and Reporting Services in there and you'll probably knock their socks off. Could be a great opportunity, but you'll have to ask how much freedom you'll have in the job. It could also be very mundane if you don't.

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