Many years ago, I started at a smaller-sized company. About 150 employees; it was a SaaS company that provided survey software.  It was growing quickly, and I was the primary DBA. I was hired not only to be a DBA, but to build a DB team to handle many of the issues the company faced moving forward.  I hired one other person, and I thought we were managing OK. We had 2 DBA’s for about 30 engineers, and I thought we were humming along.  My boss at the time completely disagreed and said you need 2-3 more people and you need a Jr DBA.  I didn’t understand why he felt that way when we seemed to be handling the incoming requests.  

What he understood and saw was the future. He knew that we were going to hire another 20-30 engineers and add 3-4 more products into the system. This would greatly expand the servers we managed and the requests we handled.  It was one of those life lessons that I needed at the time. 

What was really important was the need for a Jr. DBA. He mentioned that you should always mentor and bring on new people to keep growing the talent pool and plan for the future. Since then, as I've managed many more teams, I try to hire someone new as soon as I can.  I often need a few senior people first to address problems in the system, but as soon as I can, I bring on someone with very little experience.  

I’m curious if others follow this idea as well. I firmly believe in all the disciplines, whether it’s engineering, product, marketing, or some other area of the corporation. We need to be building new talent in the company. That talent also brings fresh ideas and viewpoints that more senior people may struggle to see. 

Even with the modern AI we have, and how much it can provide, I still think hiring someone early in their career is a good idea. They need to learn experience and wisdom to work with AI in the future, and that’s a critical skill to teach them now.

Let me know in the comments if you share this practice and focus on it as you work with others.