Tell me how to become a DBA

So, 43 years old and working on a career change(will be a minimum year out) and need some advice/help. (Not literal help, just advice and guidance)

I have been a Data Analyst(Data Informatics Analyst III is my office title/Lead Wireless Analyst is my business title) for 15+ years. I have an AAS in Business Management, working on an AAS in Data Analysis, as well as a MS database specialist advanced technical certificate.(Not official Microsoft cert). I will graduate with both in December, 5 classes left.

After 43 years of life, finally realized what I want to be when I grow up and that is a DBA. What can I do to make sure I am knowledgeable enough to be successful in the position. What additional education or studying or other work should I do?

I'm tired of being in a position where I am pretty much at a salary and position cap. My group is small with no plans to grow in a 600 person company and so my options for advancement are slim. Don't get me wrong, I know my job, and do it well and get praise, but I feel like I am in a rut with no way to get out.

Here are the classes for the Database portion. I have taken the first 2, I am in the 3rd one now, and taken the last 3 over Summer/fall semester. I use SQL all the time for work already, so TransactSQL shouldn't be too hard for me and my education from 21 years ago was in programming.

Access 2016
Database Design and SQL
SQL Server - System Administration
SQL Server - TransactSQL
Client/Server Computing
.NET Programming I

Would you be able to get a MS or Oracle cert in the fall as well? That plus your experience will open a lot of doors. Is your work paying for the classes?

When you say you want to be a DBA do you know what type? There are some that focus on the administration aspects, like sizing, architecture, infrastructure. Otherwise focus more on the development side with queries, performance, table/view design, efficiency. Big companies will have roles for each, smaller companies will have them combined into one.

Also take a look at job posting for DBAs in your area and see what they are looking for. That will give you targets to shoot for. Just keep in mind job postings are a wishlist, you don't need to have all 6 things they ask for, start applying once you have 3 of them.

LeapingGnome wrote:

Would you be able to get a MS or Oracle cert in the fall as well? That plus your experience will open a lot of doors. Is your work paying for the classes?

Not through the school, I would have to do that separately. As long as I get a C or higher in school, work compensates me once the Semester is over and my grades are finalized. Max tuition reimbursement is $5k a year including books.

LeapingGnome wrote:

When you say you want to be a DBA do you know what type? There are some that focus on the administration aspects, like sizing, architecture, infrastructure. Otherwise focus more on the development side with queries, performance, table/view design, efficiency. Big companies will have roles for each, smaller companies will have them combined into one.

My company has 600+ employees, but we only have one DBA. Mostly like I would have to look elsewhere for an opportunity, which scares me, been at the same company for 19.5 years. I don't know what kind, had never heard that, I thought a DBA did both, not one or the other. I suppose I like the idea of the administration/sizing/architecture/infrastructure. However, I guess I'm open, and this is fact finding, so I appreciate the insight!

LeapingGnome wrote:

Also take a look at job posting for DBAs in your area and see what they are looking for. That will give you targets to shoot for. Just keep in mind job postings are a wishlist, you don't need to have all 6 things they ask for, start applying once you have 3 of them.

Thanks for your responses LeapingGnome, I greatly appreciate it! Its a lot to think about and I just want to make sure I am prepared, and knowledgeable enough for a career change.

I’m just going to throw in here. My background is general sysadmin in the Unix/Linux/Windows world (including old school database work years ago) as well as technical sales consulting positions with Sun and Oracle. I’m now working for an Alaska Native Reseller, and we do a large percentage of our work with Oracle products. I’m mostly focused on Cloud, and that’s why I’m writing.

The trend that’s just starting to accelerate in databases right now is Autonomy. Most companies have at least experimented with putting databases in the Cloud, and the coming thing that everyone (Oracle, SAP, MS, Amazon, IBM) are pushing is ERP in the Cloud. These are currently largely IAAS solutions (meaning the customer does most of the DB work) but MS, Oracle, SAP and perhaps IBM are putting together Platform and SAAS solutions at high speed. They will be dominant in the market in a few years, but they are in the first stages of acceptance right now.

So what’s Autonomy? It’s an addition to Platform and SAAS databases that seeks to reduce human error in configuration and management, as well as allow self-tuning. Clouds of course provide various sizes, which can greatly reduce the need for detailed sizing work. They also have canned redundancy and reliability options. These tasks are currently done by DBAs, and are time-consuming and tedious (but also they keep people employed). But the trend is that within a few years, Autonomous Cloud databases will be a large part of the market, perhaps dominant for large enterprises, but certainly a big presence.

An Autonomous database is self-configuring (from a simple profile/size choice), self-resizing (in response to demand) and self-tuning. Reliability and Redundancy options are just a few button push choices to implement. Once running, the instances take care of themselves, with auto-updates (can be manually triggered) and fantastic uptime, usually guaranteed by the provider.

These capabilities will only accelerate as Container As A Cloud (Dell and Oracle are big into this - Oracle calls it Oracle Cloud Native Linux though) takes off as well, although that being Open Standards based, it’ll take longer. (All those Open Source tools need complicated scripts and APIs to communicate before the tuning and config AIs can be put in place.) So this change I’m discussing is not a temporary one.

In 3-5 years, most DBAs will be doing things like designing tables and working on the *structure* of the database, rather than working with day to day tasks involved in *changing* or *standing up* new elements of an existing database. So keep this shift in mind as you pick your path. As cool as it is to get into the weeds in performance and configuration and all that day to day stuff, the AIs are taking over those areas. Look instead at stuff like “How do we design a database to do this efficiently” and “What do we need to change to merge these databases/tables together”, that sort of thing. Stay away from Operations, look towards Database Management and Design.

I hope I’m describing this well, as I said, I am not a DBA, but I do see what Cloud will do to DBAs over the next few years. They will not lose their jobs, most of them, but they *will* have much less need to do things like evaluate competing systems for a workload and figure out what the best RAM and disk options are. That’s going to be - IS today - much easier in Platform clouds and it will not be a temporary change... Oh, and honestly, cloud training or experience (SQL or Oracle or SAP Platform/SAAS, not Amazon IAAS or the like unless you want to have a skill set that you’ll evolve out of in the next 5-10 years) will also add to your marketability. Companies will want people to lead the change from traditional operations to DB Dev/Ops paradigms, so understanding that would be a great addition to a DBA skillset. Even a bit of it would help.

Hope this helps.

The company I work for is using AWS/Amazon cloud, so while I don't interact with it daily, I do understand at least currently that everything is moving to the Cloud eventually. Talking to my teacher, he knows Microsoft as well as Oracle, but is teaching Microsoft as the school is more pro Microsoft. He is talking about eventually going to NOSQL(Not Only SQL) but that is the current state. I have 5 classes left before I graduate, and the school doesn't offer anything in the way of Cloud based technology education currently but I'll look into other schools in the area.

If you want to dip your toes in and at least learn the lingo for interviews and job apps, there are many free or cheap online courses for stuff like AWS, Azure, Watson, etc. I recommend going that way.

Or do some reading online or via reputable publishers (O’Reilly, etc.). Right now there is a dearth of Cloud people, so for some organizations, just being familiar with IAAS/PAAS/SAAS/DBAAS is a decent start.

Should I get a bachelors in Computer Science? Is an AAS in Business Management, an AAS in Data Analysis and that career certification in DBA good for now?

Personally? I’d go with the AAS’s and the cert. I’d pitch that with my previous experience, explain where I want to go and how I would want to get there in the company I’m talking with, and listen really hard to see whether the person they want fits my inclinations and skills. (Usually, about 4-5 years experience is considered the equivalent of a BA in a computer field, so don’t sweat that, that’s really just saying “We want someone with education and experience at least equal to a college graduate”.)

Research the company and position offered as well as you can, and discuss similarities in job role expectations with what you’ve done in the past, and areas where you haven’t done it, how you’d deal with that, and what you’d bring to the team from day 1. Don’t get bogged down in skills; tell *brief* stories of your successes, stuff that just discussing lets them know you are experienced. “Oh, man, this one group came to us with a homegrown DB that had gotten so big they needed to refactor it to maintain performance, and whne I worked out the schema on a white board it looked like a giant squid attacking the Nautilus!” Remember that most job descriptions are ideal wish lists, and most candidates are compromises from that list. Too, make sure that you have either a personal contact at the company (even just an ex-employee you’ve worked with, or similar, to drop the name), or that you’re working with a qualified recruiter who can coach you on the group and even the person you are interviewing with. (Just like never getting into a fair fight, always go into interviews with an idea of what they are looking for, not just the skills list, but “You know, from your business and your job listing, I’m guessing you’re about to consider modernizing your DB backend, and I think that’d be really fun to work with” kind of thing. As well as a bit about the people/team you are going to interview with. Have a contact or an angle; either inside information, or your own spin on what you think they are doing. If you’re right, you’ll impress them; if not, well, they’ll be interested that you tried to figure them out.)

And good luck!

I have some experience writing queries in SQL as a Data Analyst, but no experience as a DB Admin or DB Analyst. So would probably be looking for entry level DBA to try and get at least 1-2 years experience with that before pushing for bigger and better opportunites. Wish I figured this out 25 years ago the first time I was in college out of high school

Have you had experience creating and maintaining tables, indexes, views, etc.? At one company I basically had DBA rights and was responsible for a lot of DBA-ish tasks. At another company things were very segmented and I couldn't even create my own tables.

I agree with what Robear stated about how the job of a DBA is changing. Our company has moved a lot of our databases into the cloud and we have vendors responsible for them rather than the in-house DBAs. A DBA recently quit and the job is not being filled because of this shift.

No, just writing queries, but in school for the DBA stuff. Would it be advisable to work on the Microsoft certs before or after I am done with my degree?

I'm not sure about certs before or after degree. One things you could do is download mySQL (should be free) and try some things on your own, outside of schooling.

Yah, I am in SQL System ADmin, and we downloaded the developer version which is free to everyone.