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I agree quickie certifications is a racket. I can code better than any DBA even in the biggest corporations i worked in simply because i own the requirements to be delivered and the issues that need to be solved everyday.
I know coders who can too but starting in today's job market with no previous work record, the degree says that you can accomplish your goals. You have paid some dues. One Oracle certified member of my family is the database architect for a very prestigious US retailer. He has a double major in computer science and math and is several levels of Oracle certifications. If you want to get paid well and have security now, both certification showing you didn't buy your degree, and a degree mean a lot during a job interview. I know. I interview lots of people picked over those without both.
Thanks a lot for helpful tips guys. I'm putting together a plan; I'm after I finish the courses (from Udacity, Coursera, and Udemy) I'm going to volunteer and develop some iOS and Android apps. I already have a server up, hopefully I'll finish it at the end of next week. Would this be good beginner experience?
Last edited by DevonHardy; 08-10-2013 at 02:46 PM..
Oracle and Microsoft certifications are hardly "quickie" certifications or a "racket". They're consistently found on lists of the best certifications an IT job seeker can have. Also note that I wasn't saying one WOULD get a job with certifications and no degree, just that it was POSSIBLE. I do know IT managers who hire without the person having a degree, if their experience is right, but as I said, it's not common to run into a manager like this.
Regarding web applications, there are two tracks: Linux/Unix, and Windows. You'll need knowledge in HTML (HTML 5 highly recommended), CSS, JavaScript, JavaScript frameworks (especially jQuery), AJAX for both tracks. For Linux/Unix you also need knowledge of PHP, Linux/Unix, MySQL, and MVC programming for PHP. For Windows you need ASP.NET, PowerShell and C# knowledge. I've concentrated on the Linux/Unix track, though in my 9 to 5 I do front end work with SharePoint. Which track you choose will determine which jobs will be open to you; I personally don't know anyone who's really proficient in both..
The other option is to specialize in a CMS. I work on WordPress sites as a consultant; there's also Joomla and Drupal. There's quite a few Drupal jobs out there ... developing for a CMS requires the skills listed in the previous paragraph. I personally would think volunteering for a large open source project like Drupal would be more beneficial to your resume than iOS or Android.
I agree quickie certifications is a racket. I can code better than any DBA even in the biggest corporations i worked in simply because i own the requirements to be delivered and the issues that need to be solved everyday.
The best DBAs might do a little manipulation of "code" but that is becuase their knowledge of things that no developer really should care about is a whole other discipline.
Just like an anesthesiologist might occiasionally stitch up a patient in surgery but their real skills are in keeping the patient ALIVE will others operate on them skilled DBA reorganize the how the data is organized to improve the health of the DB itself, speed up the application by optimizing queries and in the best cases help the company get more value out of the data they store.
Earning a certificate from Oracle or MSFT does little more than show you have the capability to study the syntaxt / terminology and routine procedures outlined in the manuals.
Top paid DBAs apply their experince to help firms get maximum value out of their investment in DB software and the often very costly hardware it runs on. The entry level is often more concerned with doing routine oversight of backups and space management. By using deeper knowledge of how the business uses data they make themselves more valuable to important "business intelligence" systems that provide high level direction to a firm's marketing, production and financial departments...
Oracle and Microsoft certifications are hardly "quickie" certifications or a "racket". They're consistently found on lists of the best certifications an IT job seeker can have. Also note that I wasn't saying one WOULD get a job with certifications and no degree, just that it was POSSIBLE. I do know IT managers who hire without the person having a degree, if their experience is right, but as I said, it's not common to run into a manager like this.
Regarding web applications, there are two tracks: Linux/Unix, and Windows. You'll need knowledge in HTML (HTML 5 highly recommended), CSS, JavaScript, JavaScript frameworks (especially jQuery), AJAX for both tracks. For Linux/Unix you also need knowledge of PHP, Linux/Unix, MySQL, and MVC programming for PHP. For Windows you need ASP.NET, PowerShell and C# knowledge. I've concentrated on the Linux/Unix track, though in my 9 to 5 I do front end work with SharePoint. Which track you choose will determine which jobs will be open to you; I personally don't know anyone who's really proficient in both..
The other option is to specialize in a CMS. I work on WordPress sites as a consultant; there's also Joomla and Drupal. There's quite a few Drupal jobs out there ... developing for a CMS requires the skills listed in the previous paragraph. I personally would think volunteering for a large open source project like Drupal would be more beneficial to your resume than iOS or Android.
I never heard Joomla or Drupal before, but just checked them out. It looks awesome, thanks for the heads up.
I never heard Joomla or Drupal before, but just checked them out. It looks awesome, thanks for the heads up.
You'll find more Drupal jobs out there than Joomla in my experience ... If you get a membership in Lynda.com for a couple of months ($25/month) you can watch the Drupal and Joomla videos and see if it looks like something you'd like doing.
There's also SharePoint on the Windows side ... Lynda has SharePoint videos, too and there's a lot of demand for SharePoint developers. I personally prefer working in a CMS like Drupal, but SharePoint brings in the bacon for me.
The best DBAs might do a little manipulation of "code" but that is becuase their knowledge of things that no developer really should care about...
Top paid DBAs apply their experince to help firms get maximum value out of their investment in DB software and the often very costly hardware it runs on. The entry level is often more concerned with doing routine oversight of backups and space management. By using deeper knowledge of how the business uses data they make themselves more valuable to important "business intelligence" systems that provide high level direction to a firm's marketing, production and financial departments...
The average salary for a DBA here in Chicago is $111000 ... Not too shabby. One thing the future coder needs to consider is: the real money's usually not in sitting in a cubicle hacking code to a system designer's specification, it's in architecting the system.
The average salary for a DBA here in Chicago is $111000 ... Not too shabby. One thing the future coder needs to consider is: the real money's usually not in sitting in a cubicle hacking code to a system designer's specification, it's in architecting the system.
There are folks cranking on code that executes high frequency trades for FPLGA based systems making out like bandits and there are folks "architecting" the consumer facing banking sites of nationwide banks that don't get paid any more the avg DBA...
The difference is those HFT systems can generate hundreds of million in profit per year while most banks barely break even on their consumer banking ...
The best DBAs might do a little manipulation of "code" but that is becuase their knowledge of things that no developer really should care about is a whole other discipline.
Just like an anesthesiologist might occiasionally stitch up a patient in surgery but their real skills are in keeping the patient ALIVE will others operate on them skilled DBA reorganize the how the data is organized to improve the health of the DB itself, speed up the application by optimizing queries and in the best cases help the company get more value out of the data they store.
Earning a certificate from Oracle or MSFT does little more than show you have the capability to study the syntaxt / terminology and routine procedures outlined in the manuals.
Top paid DBAs apply their experince to help firms get maximum value out of their investment in DB software and the often very costly hardware it runs on. The entry level is often more concerned with doing routine oversight of backups and space management. By using deeper knowledge of how the business uses data they make themselves more valuable to important "business intelligence" systems that provide high level direction to a firm's marketing, production and financial departments...
Moderator cut: snip Obvious i was talking about having enough practice and exposure to real business issues and requirements.. so i have more practice thatn a dba when it comes to sql. Performance tuning maybe because they have the tools. I have my own too. Try to show a dba a procedure that hangs he can help you. Maybe. Many times all he can tell you is you need to write it another way that dont hang lol
Last edited by 7G9C4J2; 08-11-2013 at 05:06 PM..
Reason: Deleted sexist comment
Come on. Big oil i worked at got their dbas fron the outsourced hr and accounting dept. Even their businessobjects, spotfire and datawarehouse folks
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Clearly not a clue as to what DBAs do...
