October 19, 2006 at 4:17 am
I was recently informed that my CV was misleading becasue i put my current job title as SQL server DBA yet i dont have the Microsoft DBA certifcation. The objection made was:
If your present employer lets you claim to be a DBA [without being certified] then that is up to them however it is not industry standard and very misleading to companies who follow normal practice.
I would be very interested to know if this is industry standard.
Any comments?
October 19, 2006 at 7:53 am
Can't tell what the "industry standard" here in the Netherlands is, but as a contractor I come in contact with quite a lot of companies and I would say that no more than 10% of the people who call themself DBA have the MS certification. At my current customer we have 11 DBA's and I'm the only one certiifed.
At the same time I must admit that more and more employers ask their DBA's to go for certification. So maybe the "industry standard" is changing.
Markus
[font="Verdana"]Markus Bohse[/font]
October 20, 2006 at 2:55 am
Ability "to execute" is far more important than any "paper that says you passed an exam".....as is the ability to fit in and work with the new team.
October 20, 2006 at 3:25 am
October 20, 2006 at 4:07 am
If you job title is 'SQL Server DBA' you are entitled to put that on your CV, even if you have never touched a computer. All you are doing is stating a fact.
Your CV should also include details about your experience with SQL Server, as this could be relevant to a prospective employer. Some SQL Server DBAs may spend most of their time working with SSIS and have little knowledge about how to run backups. Others may specialise in production support, and know very little about designing SQL Server VB apps. Both types of people could be called SQL Server DBAs, but they have very different skill sets.
In my experience, most employers place very little value on vendor DBA certifications. It is certainly not (yet) an industry standard that practising DBAs hold vendor certifications, although individual organisations may have this as an internal standard.
Original author: https://github.com/SQL-FineBuild/Common/wiki/ 1-click install and best practice configuration of SQL Server 2019, 2017 2016, 2014, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008 and 2005.
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October 20, 2006 at 5:54 am
I've have been a SQL Server DBA since 1992. I am not Microsoft certified. If I was, then I would explicitly put that on my resume (i.e. MCDBA). In your case, the reader is making invalid assumptions, since you didn't include the term MCDBA.
October 20, 2006 at 8:01 am
Oh crap I think they are right, I guess I am resigning today. So much for 10 years of working with SQL Server.
October 20, 2006 at 10:22 am
I agree with mkeast. The inclusion of the term MCDBA under some kind of "professional qualifications" heading would be the norm.
The reader has incorrectly assumed this qualification is held and does not seem to have any idea about personnel recruitment.
October 23, 2006 at 8:27 am
A certification should be made very clear on any sort of resume. And the term MCDBA is already outdated!! It doesn't exist for SQL Server 2005. The new terms are MCTS: SQL Server 2005 (first level of certification) and MCITP: Database Administrator (second level). I have the MCTS in SQL Server 2005 and this is how it should appear on my resume:
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: SQL Server 2005
The full certification title leaves no ambiguity.
October 23, 2006 at 9:40 am
Everyone above has commented on what I've done for over a decade. My "title" is what the employer lists for me. Or in some cases what I've requested because they don't know what to call me.
However a certification (MCDBA, MCSE, etc) has nothing to do with my work experience, title, or anything other than what it is, a certification I've obtained.
Jules, whoever told you this is misinformed. An entry level electrical engineer searching for his second job puts "Electrical Engineer" on his CV/resume even if he/she has not obtained a PE certification. He can be called an engineer, just not a "Professional Engineer".
October 23, 2006 at 9:52 am
Thanks guys.
What actually happened was i went to an interview abroad having had my salary expectation confirmed. It cost me in flights and hotels. On the morning i arrived i recieved an email saying that since i did not have the certification the salary offered was reduced by 33%. When i complained i was told that becasue i had put DBA as my job title my CV was misleading and they were right to assume i had the certification.
I was informed that it is industry standard that that DBA means you must have microsoft certification. I have sent the guy a link to this thread to illustrate that he must have meant some other industry!
The whole experience was a useful reminder that while being a dba means you can work in any industry they do not all operate with the same level of integrity.
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