So reading the posts from Brandie about the job got me thinking (that was that smoke you were smelling...)
My Oracle counterpart here, yesterday, mentioned that she'd basically had a mentor when she was first moving into Oracle, and she was quite surprised that I didn't have a mentor (beyond initially Google and eventually here.) So, how many of you had what you would consider a mentor when you started moving into SQL? Or, like me, did you start out as an accidental DBA and go from there?
And, lastly, what would you estimate the median DBA salary in your area is (in whatever monetary units are applicable, I can handle converting on Google...)
I first started with desktop applications development. When I moved to databases full-time, I started in Oracle development and did have a mentor. She gave me to a developer who taught me a lot. When I reached his level, she took me back and she went nuts. She had been a DBA forever (loads of experience) and taught me so much about design and how things work; there was a lot but I loved it.
As for median salary, I don't know what it is, but since we're in the same metro area, I'm sure you do. If you know it, would you post it along with the source?