Someone wrote in recently and asked me how they could become a DBA. I'm sure many of you had seen similar posts, but what stood out about this one was that this person said they'd been a junior DBA and learning about SQL Server. They wondered what they needed to do to be ready to be the DBA for a company.
That seemed like a hard question to me. How do you know when someone is ready to be a DBA? There's no test to take, no definite measure. As many people have pointed out, we aren't even likely to agree on what a DBA is, much less what skills they need to have. Let me say that I'm talking about being a DBA in skill, not title. Plenty of people get stuck with the title and have no idea what they're doing.
It had me thinking about my kids. I have a teenager, and he started driving last year. As we encounter new situations, new adventures he wants to have, especially driving, my wife and I have to make decisions about whether or not he's ready for things. Can he drive to a remote city by himself or with friends? Can he go to another city for a concert and stay with friends? How do we handle requests to go out with friends late at night?
The answer we come to quite often is that we don't know if he's ready, but we have to give him the chance to try and succeed, or fail, on his own. And that's what it comes down to, the chance to succeed or fail.
When my kids were learning to walk we never knew when they were ready. We let them try and fall, try and fall, and all of a sudden they were walking. I think a DBA is kind of like that, someone does more and more work, takes on more responsibility, and all of a sudden they're a DBA.
I've heard people say they give tests, or they have some measure of time as a junior DBA, but I think it's like many other hiring or promotional decisions we make. You just have to judge for yourself if that individual merits the title. I know that's not a great answer, but it's the best one I've got. I'd love to know if anyone has a better one.
Steve Jones
The Voice of the DBA Podcasts
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