So you’re hearing all the fun that DBAs are having on Twitter and around the intertubez, and you’re wondering how to get in on the fun. Maybe you’re a developer or a network admin, and you’ve been learning about SQL Server from books and from peers, and you’re starting to look around for your first Junior DBA job.
Where Are the Junior DBA Job Ads?
Search for the terms “junior dba” or “senior dba” on national job sites, and the results are dramatically different:
- CareerBuilder – 296 senior, 27 junior
- Dice – 65 senior, 2 junior
- HotJobs – 170 senior, 19 junior
- Monster – 122 senior, 15 junior
To make matters worse, drill into the requirements for some of the so-called junior positions and they ask for:
- “2+ years of hands-on experience administering customer-facing databases”
- “Minimum 2 years of information technology experience is required”
- “2 years of database administrations experience including installation and configuration”
These ads make me chuckle because a DBA with two years of hands-on experience isn’t looking for his next junior DBA job – he’s aiming for his first senior DBA job. People don’t aspire to make lateral moves – they aspire to move up the ladder.
So we’ve started to establish that it’s not just you: there aren’t junior DBA ads sitting around waiting for takers.
Why Aren’t More Companies Hiring Junior DBAs?
Databases are among a company’s most valuable assets. They hold sales data, payroll data, information about customers and competitors, and all kinds of proprietary data. Companies guard this data closely, and they don’t want just anybody stepping up to the server to handle backups, restores, and security configuration.
Companies may be willing to hire junior developers instead – for some reason, they don’t have a problem giving a fresh-out-of-college person access to all the data. But when it comes time to actually managing the data, they want someone experienced.
As a result, even when a small company with a handful of SQL Server instances goes shopping for a DBA, they want someone experienced. They want to hear from the candidate, “Yes, I can do what you need – I’ve already done this for a much larger shop, and I’ve got experience handling this sort of thing.” They sleep better at night knowing their DBA is not stressed out trying to figure out how to automate backups for the first time.
Every now and then, big companies will actually hire junior DBAs. This mostly happens when they’ve already got a crew of senior DBAs, but here’s the odd part: they don’t have anyone internally that wants to get promoted into the DBA team. That’s very peculiar, because in companies large enough to have DBAs already, they often have people in other teams who want to become DBAs.
Know Your Competition: Other Junior DBA Candidates
The few available junior DBA positions attract a few kinds of candidates:
- Developers with a year or more of SQL Server programming experience who’ve decided they want to focus on SQL Server instead of development. They’ve written code that stores data in SQL Server, so they know the basics of T-SQL or LINQ, understand the basics of data models, and maybe they’ve even done a little SQL Server administration on their dev boxes.
- Windows administrators with a year or more of Windows experience who also want to switch their focus. These people know hardware, know the basics of performance tuning, have backup/restore experience, and maybe they’ve even built a cluster or two. They might have even built SQL Servers, but they haven’t been working on SQL Server full time.
- SQL Server DBAs who’ve been let go, and they’re desperate. They might have worked for a company in financial trouble, they might have been drinking on the job, who knows. These are your most dangerous competitors, because at first glance, their resumes kick sand on your resume.
- College grads or training grads with no experience.
If you’re in that last category, I gotta be honest: you’re screwed. Go get a job as a junior developer or a junior Windows admin first, and then work your way into database administration. There is no classroom training that’s going to convince a company to hand over the keys to their data on your first day in the office. You may see ads for certification programs that promise to make you DBA-ready within a week for a few thousand dollars. It won’t get you the job – at least, not when you compare yourself to the competition. After you’ve gotten started in a development or sysadmin position working around SQL Server, come back here and continue reading about how to take it to the next level.
Getting Promoted is Easier than Getting Hired
If you’re a developer or Windows admin, try to get promoted internally rather than switching companies. You’ve already built up a level of trust with your coworkers. Make yourself the natural candidate by actively going after the position before the position even exists: volunteer to spend time with the DBAs, help them during scheduled outages, or just ask if you can sit around and watch during the weekend maintenance windows. Bring coffee, donuts and bacon, and be the most pleasant (but not over-the-top) person in the room.
If you’ve already got a job in close proximity to SQL Server, this is one of the times where getting certified in SQL Server without getting the job first does make sense. I’ve blogged about how certification is the icing on the cake: don’t get certified without at least some vague experience in SQL. Developers and Windows admins will gain knowledge from the certification training process, and it’ll buy them a little bit of credibility in the eyes of the DBA team. Not a lot – but some.
If you dislike the DBA team at your company, I’ve got bad news: you’re probably going to dislike most DBA teams, and switching companies isn’t going to make things better. However, if you’re absolutely determined to jump ship, there’s a few things you can do to make the hiring process easier, and I’ll explain those in my next post.
Part 2: You CAN Get DBA Experience Without a DBA Job
Brent Ozar
Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.
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Do the best, mess the rest.
Keep peace in mind and calm like the wind.
Hot like a fire, power like an ocean.
A thousand miles road will begin with a single step.
Thanks for such precious advices. I feel a passion of doing it.
P.S. Do you know after retired then what a DBAn doing?)
Allen – after retirement, I plan to do a lot of nothing.
hey i am jst out of colg,nd did attend an interview in a MNC for pl/sql programming job role,so im bit in confusion if i shud tak the job or not,since i wanna be a DBA in the future,dats the reason i completed the OCA exam too..pls do guide me.
Ash – if you’ve got an offer for a job, and you don’t currently have a job, you should probably take the job. This is a rough time to come out of college as a computer science person.
but vud nt it be a prob later ven i wanna apply for dba job?? since i wont be havin any experience in dat field??
Ash – do you have any DBA experience today? If you don’t, then you’re not going to be any worse off later than you are now, right?
Also, just a side note – your bigger problem is spelling and grammar.
Keep in mind that people will Google for your name and email address, and if they run across comments like this, some managers will have a hard time taking your work seriously. They’re going to think your T-SQL is as bad as your spelling and capitalization. I know, it sucks, but that’s the reality of looking for jobs.
Sorry Sir, will keep that in mind. Thank-you.
hey i am jst out of colg,nd did attend an interview in a MNC for pl/sql programming job role,so im bit in confusion if i shud tak the job or not,since i wanna be a DBA in the future,dats the reason i completed the OCA exam too..pls do guide me regarding dis.
Programmers work with data and DBAs. Some DBAs I worked with came from programming background. In this economy it seems wise to get a programmer position and learn from it.
okay,but will I be able to move to the DBA field later ??
Ash – you can move to any field you want, but you have to make a plan. Build a plan to get from point A to point B, and then work the plan. You can definitely move from programming to DBA positions. I’ve been there myself.
It depends on the job openings in the company you are going to work or other companies and how much you learn . Not long ago I asked my manager (DBA team of 6) who she was going to hire to replace a DBA who is going to retire. She told me she prefers to hire a programmer in our organization.
Programmers closely work with DBAs and some of their skill sets are same as DBA’s such as languages but not all.
I am not an Oracle DBA. But Oracle DBAs use PL/SQL and so do the developers.
Hi
i am looking for a job as a junior Oracle DBA can any one please advice me on how to get an Oracle DBA job. i have beeen looking for where to startup my career but everywhere i go to they are asking for 3 or more years real-time experience how can i get a experience without a job. i have a 2.6 experience BPO. its been preety tough but i wont give up. any advice will be appreciated
Jana – that’s what this post is about. Please read the series and then ask questions. Thanks.
Hi,
I got 2+ years experience in .Net Programming. I am intersted in SQL. Now i am thinking to switch over my career to SQL Developer. But I don’t know whether this is a good move or not. Pleae advice.
Bala – well, it depends. What specifically interests you about being a SQL developer more than a .NET programmer?
SQL Server database administration really attracted me because i am person who loves to take responsibilities and challenges, Also i am very organized in my work.
you know it isn’t easy to get a job straight as a Jr.DBA. So i found that the transition from SQL developer to DBA is quiet easy when comparing from .Net developer. Also i am quite confident in my T-SQL programming and performance tuning.
OK, sounds like you want to make the move, and it sounds like a good fit. Good luck!
Hi, Brent.
I just wanted to thank you for such an awesome article. I’m sure it’ll help a lot of people who want to become a DBA someday.
I’m a software dev and I really think there are not much places to go when one needs references and some guidance towards the starting point. This articles helps us to achieve that.
Someday when I get there where I want to be, I’ll look back and thank people like you, Grant Fritchey, Steve Jones, Jeff Moden and many others who spare no effort to help everyone from the novice to the professional.
I appreciate it.
Best regards,
Andre Guerreiro Neto (codebyo)
http://twitter.com/#!/andre_byo
gud aftn sir, i’m final year IT student. I finished oracle 10G in NIIT. i like to become a DBA. wt i have 2 do. how can i apply for job. pls give me an idea about this field. wt other exam i have 2 write for this and wt other course i have 2 go.
RamKarthik – the first thing you have to do is start reading posts before you comment on them. The answer is above.
[...] go in to too much detail but instead refer you to Brent Ozar’s excellent blog post series linked here. Suffice to say, you need to be able to speak SQL and make it sound like Shakespeare before you can [...]
Hi,
I am changing my career, I studied Oracle 8i and upgraded to 11gr2 and now I finished my OCA and heading looking for a job. I wanted to get a entry level DBA jobs or similar to that. How can I do that. Please and thankyou!
Chandra
Chandry – the information you’re looking for is in the article above.
Sounds like Brent has studied my Biography, I could not agree more with this post
Hi, once again great article you’ve got, I’ll be getting BSc Degree in Computer Science next year and since I have no working experience even though I wanted to be a DBA, does having Web development experience later on in life can help me to transit back to a DBA in future? Or in your or anyone’s experience have you seen or heard someone from web development experience moved to DBA career…
Edwin – yep, that’s exactly what I did.
That’s Awesome, Thanks Brent…
It is nice one, thank you for sharing
Tanks sir.my issue is im very confident of myself.so pls i need a junior dba job thou im stil hopin to write d certificatn.im a nigerian.
Im realy very grateful 4 ur write up.put i have tried to find a junoir dba job wit no sucess.im very confident of my ability as a dba, i just need an opprtunity.im a nigerian.
Thank you for sharing Sir..I’m now working as junior developer and have OCA..I’m very passion to get a position as DBA..this article very helpful and guide me to the what I want. I hope I can achieved it someday. Thanks again.