February 16, 2021 at 12:00 am
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Dilemma of DBAs
February 16, 2021 at 7:29 am
I find the role of "DBA" is more like "Jack of all trades concerning Database Servers, the Databases contained and how those components interact with the universe around them".
At its core we're all "Problem Solvers / Challenge overcomers".
I came from a "Server / System Administrator" background and got into Database administration due to "See a need, fill a need".
February 16, 2021 at 12:37 pm
I agree wholeheartedly with Jumpin.
I've yet to work with a DBA that isn't or hasn't been at some point a programmer, network admin, etc. Furthermore, most folks that I've worked with stay current (or as current as can be given time restrictions) with programming languages, interesting technology, be them new, or an iteration of a classic.
But what I love the most about being a DBA and being in DBA teams (regardless what they get called in corp-cv-speak) is working with a bunch of very interesting, likeminded, deeply technical people. A conversation can switch from SQL, to C#, to Unity back to SQL before veering off on a tangent to Assembler. In short they're interesting people interested in interesting things.
Be Well.
February 16, 2021 at 1:20 pm
I never really was very concerned with my job title with the exception of a couple situations, neither of which concerned job content. In a couple of companies that also had union personnel there were job classifications that related to pay-grades which unfortunately carried over into non-union positions. Thus a specific title by default placed you in a pre-defined salary range. In these situations at times I had to carefully negotiate a different title in order to keep the salary range open to the level I needed. This happened in one IT department when they had DBA I and DBA II classifications, and I had to get myself granted a different title to get a better salary. With that exception I really wasn't worried about what I was called. In my earlier days I joked that "I don't care what you call me as long as long as you call me when it's time to eat".
In a somewhat similar situation that occurred during my undergrad studies, I had a 'difference of opinion' with the Dean of Students regarding some regulations and expectations where I explained that the way I saw things, the arrangement was that I agreed to pay them and they agreed to educate me.
As long as I could satisfactorily make the job content work for me, and keep my salary level where I wanted it, the title was immaterial.
Rick
Disaster Recovery = Backup ( Backup ( Your Backup ) )
February 16, 2021 at 1:53 pm
Call me anything you want, just not late for dinner.
The job of administering databases was radically different in 1995 than it is today. Technology has shifted radically.
Yet, there's still a need for a person who knows how to recover a database in the event of an outage. A person who understands how the system works well enough they can troubleshoot performance problems. Someone who can set up, and maintain, automated deployment processes. People who can create, and maintain, HA and DR systems.
Are these people called DBAs? I honestly don't know, nor care. The work still has to be done.
"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
February 17, 2021 at 12:11 am
I've never been too concerned with titles, except in a few organizations where they didn't use or really understand DBAs. In those cases, mostly to fit in with HR groups and ensure higher pay, I was happy to take a senior sys admin, or senior developer title.
Honestly, I like different titles if possible. Always stand out on a resume and catch others' attention 😉
February 17, 2021 at 1:24 am
I've never been too concerned with titles, except in a few organizations where they didn't use or really understand DBAs. In those cases, mostly to fit in with HR groups and ensure higher pay, I was happy to take a senior sys admin, or senior developer title.
Honestly, I like different titles if possible. Always stand out on a resume and catch others' attention 😉
That is a good point. It's likely of value to have the specific titles already on your resume that most closely match the goals of a position you may be interested in. or that lead where you want to go.
Rick
Disaster Recovery = Backup ( Backup ( Your Backup ) )
February 17, 2021 at 5:28 am
Can't remember when I last had to said what I did to someone who would know what it was ... so to lay-folk, in answer to "What do you do", the answer I have been using for probably a decade has been "I'm a programmer, I specialise in database engineering". I figure (but never asked anyone!) that the person might consider Engineer in a similar light to mechanical engineering and that might help then grasp what my work entailed. But I've been at this for a long time ... back at the start all I would need to say was "I'm a programmer" and the person's eyes would glaze over ...
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