Excellent question! The last company/boss I worked for struggled with this question. I hired in as a Jr. DBA despite the fact I had 10 years of DBA experience. The money was “decent” and I had other reasons for accepting the position. In addition to myself, there were 4 other DBAs; 2 senior and 2 junior. Within a few months, one of the other Jrs quit and I was given more responsibility with no promotion or pay increase. The next year, one of the Srs and the other Jr were reassigned to another department and I was given more responsibility with no promotion or pay increase. A year after that, they fired the remaining Sr DBA leaving me with ALL of the responsibility and no promotion or pay increase. I was told they’d like to promote me, but that they’d expect more out of me. When I asked what more they would expect, my boss said, “Well, I don’t know but I’d expect more out of you.”
So, the answer to your question depends on who is asking. A DBA expects a reasonable, logical, quantifiable answer. A greedy, slave driving boss expects as much as he can legally coerce for the least amount of money.
Take care,
Bert
"Speculations? I know nothing about speculations. I'm resting on certainties. I know that my Redeemer lives, and because He lives, I shall live also." - Michael Faraday