How should I prepare myself for job training?

How to prepare for my first Database Job?

• I have just been hired for the first time to work as a junior database administrator. The job will include a years training but i was wondering how i could best prepare for the job as ...show more

• Answer:

  1) Have at least working knowledge of the main categories of SQL: DDL (Database Definition Language): CREATE, ALTER, DROP DML (Database Manipulation Language): SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE DCL (Database Control Language): GRANT, REVOKE Transactional: BEGIN TRANSACTION, COMMIT 2) Be familiar with whatever scripting language is used by the DBMS(s) you'll be working with. The likely suspects: T-SQL for SQL Server PL/SQL for Oracle 3) At least grasp the idea in advanced concepts: Various types of joins and their differences (INNER, LEFT/RIGHT/FULL OUTER) The two types of unions (UNION, UNION ALL) Subqueries (regular and correlated) and their pros and cons Indexing and when to create temporarily as opposed to retaining indefinitely Triggers, stored procedures and user-defined functions (plus the differences and pros/cons of each) 4) EXPLAIN and any available alternatives (Query Analyzer, etc.) - what they do and how to interpret them 5) Additional applications available (for example, SQL Server's SSIS, SSRS, etc.)