Re: Please Help

Hi again Debashish!

Most qualified DBAs don't have any certification. There are some employers who don't realize this fact and thus demand certification. I think they're being very silly, but what can you do? Sometimes pointy-haired bosses make the hiring decisions. I earned an OCP this summer, but I know many DBAs better than me who have never bothered, and smart employers don't worry about it.

If you go browsing job boards, you notice that virtually everybody demands 2 or 3 or even 5 or 8 years of experience. This is very depressing for people trying to break into the field! You can try to use a certificate in place of some job experience, but I'm not sure how well that works. As far as I know, the best way to get started is to "sneak" in - get a job doing anything, anywhere Oracle is being used, and then look for an opportunity while you're there to work with Oracle yourself. That's what I did, anyway - I started as a secretary who helped my company's DBA out of the kindness of my heart. That way I got 2 years of Oracle experience before the first time I ever officially looked for an Oracle job.

You don't need a special evaluation version - Oracle will let you download the real, unlimited thing at otn.oracle.com! I guess they understand that no company is going to try to run its production database "on the sly" without buying a license.

Anyway, I suggest browsing the job boards in the area you hope to work, and maybe placing these same questions to recruiters there.

And thanks for the flattering comment... good luck! - Catherine
http://profiles.yahoo.com/arcticturtle Received on Fri Oct 29 2004 - 13:47:39 CDT