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What steps can I take to be a database administrator?

Certifications?
Graduate programs?
Side projects?
Online/Text resources?
#computer-science #stem #technology #tech #programming #software #women-in-stem #software-engineer #information-technology-and-services

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Russ’s Answer

Being a database administrator can be an exciting and lucrative career, so thank you for your interest. The amount of data gathered worldwide is growing exponentially, is showing no signs of slowing down, and we need the help!

Most DBAs are either repurposed system administrators who have a particular talent with database systems, or software developers who find schema design and querying data interesting. Often for a junior-level position, experience isn't required but a passionate and determined attitude go a long ways. So no, you don't *need* a certification to become a DBA, but having one or more demonstrates a passion for the field.

The most common skills for a DBA are a basic understanding of hardware, relational database design concepts, and the SQL language.

Good luck on your journey and welcome!

Russ recommends the following next steps:

There are a number of resources freely or cheaply available: Udemy .com has a number of courses on SQL and Database Design.
There are tons of books available; the Celko books in particular are excellent for understanding SQL and database design.
Side projects are an awesome way to contribute. Sites such as Wikipedia.org have a vast collection of databases and frequently looks for volunteers to help out.
Also, don't forget about open source databases such as MySQL and Postgres. All are freely available, and have several online tutorials. In particular, https://pgexercises.com/ is a great way to get started with databases and SQL.
Thank you comment icon Can confirm that this is excellent advice and that Russ is an excellent DBA. Yonatan Schultz
Thank you comment icon I can second that! Russ is great! Follow his advice here! Matt LeBeau
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Farheen’s Answer

Decide which technology: Oracle or Microsoft (usually).
Learn the SQL for that database vendor.
Learn more advanced SQL and database topics.
Learn about database administration.
Look for junior database developer roles.
Get experience as a database developer.
Look for junior database administrator roles.
Move into a database administrator role.
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Alex’s Answer

  1. Spend lots of time working with databases.
  2. Learn how databases work internally. Learn about data structures like B+ Trees.
  3. Learn about the wide variety of databases: relational, nosql, document-oriented, in-memory, embedded, etc. Think about how the strengths of one make it a better fit for some situations.
  4. Work with smart database administrators! You'll learn the most by being around smart people.
  5. Let people know you want to be a DBA!

In my experience, courses and certifications may help, but there is no substitute for spending lots of time working with a database to build different things. For example, building a blog comment system will be very different than building something to track lots of data points and aggregate data calculations.

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Rajelakshmi’s Answer

Hi Augusta,

Your responsibility as a database administrator (DBA) will be the performance, integrity and security of a database. You'll be involved in the planning and development of the database, as well as in troubleshooting any issues on behalf of the users.

Skills

You will need to show:

  • Problem solving & good analytical skills
  • Communication
  • Ability to work in tight deadlines under pressure.
  • a willingness to keep up to date with developments in new technology.


From a qualification standpoint either of the following courses,

  • computer science
  • computer software/computer systems engineering
  • electronics
  • information technology
  • mathematics
  • operational research.

Hope these pointers helps!

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Rajesh’s Answer

Formal education, industry certification, and experience will definitely help you be a database administrator.

Based on my professional experience, there is a technology shift happening and industries are now exploring a combination of on-premises storage/compute as well as off-premise storage/compute (e.g. cloud). Hence I suggest that you look at adjacent areas as well. Once you build a subject matter expertise in one area, it gets easier to move into other adjacent or emerging trends.

Good luck with you career!

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Rohit’s Answer

DBA courseis more than enough for you to make your career in this field

Oracle is among the world’s most complicated and complex data base, and perfecting this complicated set of applications needs many college-level abilities.

Learning Oracle is only appropriate for experienced pc researchers and pc experts with appropriate requirement training.

Every season, young pc experts leave the hallowed places and cream color systems of school and survey the scenery for pc tasks. They look at the wage surveys and spit at the average Oracle DBA earnings of $100,000 and the possibilities of making up to $250,000 annually as a production DBA. Many of them don’t know what a DBA does, but they sure like the money.

An Oracle DBA is a senior-level manager who often generates as much as a Vice Chief executive, and has lots of liability, handling the mission-critical data for the whole company.


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José’s Answer

There is no specific career degree to obtain a database administrator qualification. There are some specializations and masters in the database area, but to practice as a professional graduate, you must have a degree in computer science, or computer engineering, or systems engineering, or any related qualification. Young people who want to become database administrators, should have an analytical and logical profile, be curious by nature and have good skills in mathematics and computers, as well as showing an optimal knowledge in the use of information technologies.

José recommends the following next steps:

Researches on the internet pensums of computer science studies in different universities.
Compare which pensums includes more subjects on database. Example: Database I, Database II, and so on.
Carefully analyze that information so you can make a good study decision in the near future.
Good luck in your choice !!!
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G. Mark’s Answer

A database administrator, in my opinion, is effective when they have a prior knowledge of how that data is used. In other words, they should have an appreciation for computer technology. In fact, most database administrators are computer folks. This might be a Associate Degree, a Bachelor Degree or even higher. Then you'll want to get familiar with the various database applications and technologies, like SQL and NoSQL and data structures. And various applications for adminstering these databases. So the first step I would recommend is to choose a degree in some branch of computer programming or computer science or computer engineering. Once you have a good conceptualization of what data will be used for, you'll be an ideal candidate to "shepherd" it along -- be an administrator. It's great to be able to support some resource -- like data -- but it's even better and then fun if you know what it's for!

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