How good is a career as a Database Administrator?

Best certifications and online courses for a new database administrator?

• Best certifications and online courses for a new database administrator? I know this was asked back in 2008, but I figured it was so long ago that it might be worth asking for more current opinions. I love databases. I use them at work all day, every day, for high-level searching, and now I want to try administering them. Where to start? What are the best certifications to get my foot in the door with an internship? Are thee any online classes you'd recommend? My local community college is pretty much a bust. I'm considering the O'Reilly Technology School database cert or Oracle certifications, but are either of these worth the time/money? And, further on, where to go from there to gain some experience? Does volunteering myself as free labor to get se experience (the good old-fashioned way) apply here? If it matters, I'm not a student, and I work full-time at present. I would like for this to be a career transition, if the fit is good. Any help would really be appreciated.

• Answer:

  What are the best certifications to get my foot in the door with an internship? Depends on what they're running, but you usually can't go wrong with a MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) cert (especially since MSSQL has so much in common with Sybase that you'll get more bang-for-yer-buck). Oracle is overpriced dogshit. Once you've got your MCTS you can take the MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional) in database admin or programming (depending on what interests you more). That's a ways down the line, but it's a solid upgrade path to work towards. Good DBAs make crap-tons of money and are worth every penny. My creds: head of software development at a financial services company.