June 27, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item What's Your Ideal DBA Job?
Brad M. McGehee
DBA
June 29, 2009 at 1:06 am
This is possible in France, Austria, Germany, Netherlands - Western Europe. You should start going on strike and asking for workerman's rights. It's not a dream, it simply equality and fairness what you should ask for.
Good luck.
June 29, 2009 at 1:37 am
No one in the UK would want to go back down to only 4 weeks paid holiday. That was the norm thirty years ago when I started in IT. 5 or 6 weeks is more normal now. I shall rise to 6 weeks this year plus up to two flexi time days a month from the flexible working hours system (like time in lieu).
All I want now from the list is the Work Environment, Salary and especially the Corporate Culture but there's little hope of that in the Civil Service 🙁
June 29, 2009 at 1:37 am
I believe that you can ask the things on that wish list and you might get some of them if your future employer is desperate enough and cannot find anybody else. If you look at some job offers, there are unrealistic as well. So why not being unrealistic yourself. It might be possible that in France, Austria, Germany and Netherlands (all those socialist countries) this is possible but see where they are with their economy.;-)
Flexible working hours, corporate culture, learning opportunities and last but not least the salary are the most important for me.
June 29, 2009 at 2:24 am
There probably are a large number of people here in the UK still on 20 days paid leave.
The one item in Brad's list that jumped out at me was the "...enough to retire by the time you are 50". That would be nice....but to retire at 50 you'd probably have to put your entire net salary into your pension. At least in the UK. Unless you get a nice public sector final salary pension.
June 29, 2009 at 5:34 am
That's not an unreasonable list, I have quite a few of those at a small US firm now... however enough salary to retire by 50 is not one of them!
I did the "work for yourself" route for a few years and even with plenty of clients I didn't find it to be very rewarding. I'd rather be a part of an organization with good co-workers.
June 29, 2009 at 5:54 am
Things can always be better but to be honest having a job which even resembles secure is a great place to be at present. It is the motivating factors which I value, work environment, appreciation from others, new challenges, development opportunities.
We all have that little place where our minds wonder off too on Friday afternoon but for most people this will never be a reality. If it were a reality then our economies would be in melt down and our dreams would be shattered anyway, it's all a fine balance.
June 29, 2009 at 6:27 am
Another on my list would be that the higher ups listen all of the time!:-P
June 29, 2009 at 6:27 am
Another on my list would be that the higher ups listen all of the time!:-P
June 29, 2009 at 6:43 am
I have a simple list: Enough to do to keep me engaged, enough pay for my plans and goals, co-workers I can get along with. I'm easy to please.
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
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"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
June 29, 2009 at 6:56 am
I'm nearly 50 now so retiring in the next year is highly unlikely 😀
However I think I'm in the perfect job now (I've had to work to get here) but now I simply hope I don't wake up and find I've just been dreaming.
I make way more then I every dreamed I would and probably more than I deserve (but please don't tell anyone). I'm currently the senior DBA for a small US Government organization and have responsibilities for 2 important SQL Server databases (both slightly less than 50gb in size) and 6 other less imporant department level databases (and a slew of Access databases). I have a junior DBA that works for me, I get 26 days off per year and 10 holidays. I can work from home (tele-work) 1 day a week if I choose and additionally have a flexible schedule (options to work 10 hrs days or 9 hr days and have one day a week or one day every two weeks off). While I generally work 5 days a week having the options are nice (especially when gas gets expensive). This is not a special perk that I get but is available to most US Government employees.
I work for a very stable organization that has never laid anyone off. Of course there are no 100% guarentees, still I have 25 years of seniority so unless I really step on "it" hard my job is pretty secure. Additionally when I have needed/wanted to move I've had my pick of locations to work around the world (I've worked in Germany, and visited quite a few locations in Europe, traveled most of the rest of the world for my job, and have worked in Virginia, Georgia, Colorado, Arizona and now Ohio).
I share a large private office with my junior DBA (so not perfect but it is my preference because it facilitates getting the work done).
I have state of the art equipment and a more than adequate budget. As long as I'm reasonable I have only to ask to receive any training I want.
The best part of all is I'm a closet application developer and I'm "allowed" to develop/redevelop all the existing "Access" database applications into web based SQL Server applications for all the organizations departments. So on a daily basis (except for emergencies) I get to pick and choose what I want to work on each day.
While maybe not everyone's idea of perfect, for me I intend hold on to this assignment for then next 10 to 15 years when I will be able to retire with a VERY nice pension (about 70% of my current salary).
I still hear disparaging remarks about working for the Government but I recommend it to anyone who will listen. While you won't get rich (never thought I would) the work is rewarding, challenging and stable. I've worked both Government and Private sector (done well in both) but don't regret returning to Government service especially now during this economic slow down.
The only thing I can think of that would make this job better is if I won the lottery and then money wouldn't even be a consideration (though I think I would continue to do my current job because I really enjoy the work).
James.
June 29, 2009 at 7:52 am
You pick when you work.
have a private office at work.
Amiable Co-Workers: Everybody gets along well with everyone else, and everybody tries to help each other.
Salary: Enough to cover current expenses, enough extra to have some fun, and enough to retire by the time you are 60.
Benefits: 100% paid health care for your entire family, 4 weeks of paid vacation.
Learning Opportunities: 2 weeks of paid training/conferences every year.
Corporate Culture: A place where all managers understand the value of DBAs.
I think this would be enough for me.
John Burris
[font="Tahoma"]John Burris:hehe:
MCITP Database Administrator[/font]
June 29, 2009 at 8:31 am
Well James, your position sounds prety perfect to me. In fact if you want a replacement I'd be only too happy to step in (20 years working with a variety of relational databases). All I'd need is a green card, which from the UK is harder to find than hen's teeth 😀
June 29, 2009 at 8:50 am
I look at the wish list and think, "Wow! I've got it pretty good!" Four weeks paid vacation, a team and a manager who are a pleasure to work with, good salary (but I won't be able to retire at 50), and flexible work hours and locations (my company actively supports and subsidizes telecommuting). I'm not sure that it's realistic to hope for no night/weekend work (since a lot of maintenance happens then), but we can at least wish that the responsibility gets spread around. Not many places in the U.S. that offer 100% paid health care for you and your family any more, though. That goes beyond wish to fantasy.:(
June 29, 2009 at 8:51 am
Andeavour (6/29/2009)
Well James, your position sounds prety perfect to me. In fact if you want a replacement I'd be only too happy to step in (20 years working with a variety of relational databases). All I'd need is a green card, which from the UK is harder to find than hen's teeth 😀
While I do hear Disparaging remarks about working for the US Government I've never had a shortage of canidates for openings. When I selected the junior DBA I had over 100 applicants (and that was just what was referred by Civilian Personnel which does the initial screening), several of which were more qualified then I am. While we do consider non-US Citizens most government jobs now require a minimum of a Secret Clearance (thanks to 9/11) and my area requires even higher which makes it difficult for Non-Citizens. Though if we expand here I will post a note in the SQL Jobs section so anyone who wants to apply may. We do expand occassionaly and have some turn-over though it is very rare here. One of the biggest selling points for the Government is we do have Excellent health care benifits at very low cost.
James.
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