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How to become an Oracle DBA
Oracle Tips by Burleson Consulting |
Every year, young computer
professionals leave the
hallowed halls and ivory towers of college and survey the landscape for
computer jobs. They look at the salary surveys and drool at the prospect
of earning up to $250k per year as a DBA. Many of them don't know what a
DBA does, but they sure like the money. Also see these related articles:
Since I've been a DBA for 25 years I'm often asked
"How do I become a DBA?", many from neophytes who are enticed with the
glamour and power of the DBA role.
The life of a successful DBA can be
glamorous
While being a DBA is exciting and lucrative, it's a career choice that
requires years of preparation.
The most important thing to
remember is that the job of a DBA requires a 24x7 commitment. Being an
Oracle DBA can be a very stressful, thankless job, and many DBA jobs require the
DBA to be on-call on Thanksgiving and Christmas to perform downtime maintenance.
Plus, the DBA is expected to constantly keep-up with the rapidly-changing
technology, working nights and weekends on a regular basis.
It's not uncommon for a DBA to
earn as much as a mid-level manager, and the high pay is a double-edged sword.
The DBA must constantly justify their salary, and a good DBA who automates many
of their job functions may find themselves looking for a new job.
You cannot fake your DBA credentials
Here are some common questions
that I'm asked about becoming a DBA.
What classes should I
take to prepare for a job as a DBA?
In grad school, all IT and CS
students take courses like Operations Research where they learn to develop
complex decision rules and them apply them to real world datasets. Using
Oracle as the back-end storage of data and decision rules is a great way to
prepare for real-world applications of expert systems, DSS and AI. Also,
advanced statistics courses (multivariate analysis) are a good way to prepare
for a career in Oracle data mining and Business Intelligence (BI). For
details, see my notes on
expert systems and decision support systems using Oracle.
What
College Degrees are best
for the DBA?
Companies are now requiring a
combination of technical and managerial skills and the best-fits are those with
an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and a MBA in Information Systems.
Employers need a DBA who can understand business systems areas (accounting,
finance, marketing) and MBA's are a perfect fir for the DBA job role.
The hard-working kids who have
distinguished themselves by graduating from a top-tier university are
aggressively courted by the major software vendors (Oracle
likes to hire from Harvard, MIT, etc.).
Do I really need a
Masters Degree to be a DBA?
Not always, but articles note
that
Tech jobs are way-up for those with advanced
degrees and
Experts say IT hiring up 40% for top college
graduates.
Remember, there is a difference between working
in database administration and being "the" DBA, the person solely responsible
for the corporations data resources.
How much can I earn as an Oracle
DBA?
Here are my notes on
Oracle Salary Compensation,
and there is a wide variation according to the responsibilities of the DBA job,
the quality of the DBA, the cost of living, and the experience of the DBA.
Here is a good
Oracle DBA salary survey showing the national average at $65,000 per year.
However, there is a huge variation in DBA salary. Back
in 1981, the average DBA salary was about age+10, and a DBA right out of college
could expect to earn $32k/year, a nice salary back when gasoline was 80 cents a
gallon. Today, inflation
and increased demand have increased the DBA pay scale:
Low Tier DBA
An Oracle DBA without college and less than 10
years experience earns about (age*2), a 25 year-old earning about $50k/year.
Middle Tier DBA
A DBA with a Bachelors degree and ten years
full-time work experience can earn up to (age*3), with a 35 year-old DBA earning
about $105/year.
Senior DBA
A senior DBA with a Masters degree, 20 years
experience managing mission critical database can earn up to (age*4), with a 45
year-old DBA manager earning up to $180k/year.
Superstar DBA
For those
DBA Superstars with
advanced degrees and specialized skills (RAC,
Oracle Apps), the pay is often as high as (age*6) and a 35 year-old superstar
can earn up to $210k per year.
In sum, becoming a DBA requires a lifetime commitment. Large
corporations will not entrust their life-or-death data to just anyone, and most
insist on hiring DBA's who have demonstrated a commitment to the profession,
constantly acquiring new certifications, degrees and knowledge.
