What is it like working database?

JapFreak786

Just thinking about my future in I.T,what is it like working in database field,with qualification's in SQL or Oracle?
I'm trying to plan out the certification path that i should follow,gained 70-270 earlier this week,and was thinking of going to MCITP instead of MCSA which i was originally enrolled onto.

Also thought of doing exchange 07,could someone share some more thoughts on that aswell please? I am reading threads here,but there's alot to go through!

Currently have no experience in the field,though i am trying by applying for first line support/desktop roles,99% of vacancies want someone with experience so it's proving to be quite difficult!!

I know somone that works for AT&T in the UK as a NOC engineer,and he keeps telling me to go down the Cisco route,i'm more of a hands on person that would rather be out in the field doing stuff than sitting behind a desk? to many choices in I.T which is good,but hard to focus on a particular area

earweed

First off don't go chasing a bunch of certs when you don't even know what you want to do yet. If you're more hands on then either the Cisco or MS path may be ok for you. For Cisco a lot of your work would be NOC work sitting in a cubicle just like if you were a Sys Admin.
Get a good resume together and start distributing it. You can start a thread here in the Jobs section and post a depersonalized version of it and let us help you on it. Entry level jobs aren't easy to come by. When you start out ALL jobs are contract to hire or temp to hire.

RobertKaucher

Working with databases is highly rewarding and very interesting. I get to do tons of things and I never get bored. I manage around 8 production servers and a few development servers. I work with VMware, storage administration, and I do programming. I do sit at my desk all day, but my day flies by so quickly that my coworkers actually have to remind me that it's time to go home. I really love what I do and my salary nearly doubled once I got out of end user support. Working with databases is great. But it requires a lot of knowledge in many areas (netwroking, storage, server administration, programming, etc) and a lot of very detailed knowledge about databases and how they work. It is not a job for someone who does not like to study a lot.

What I suggest you do is really focus on the fundamentals of what you are getting into currently. Finish your MCITP or MCSA and then begin to look at what the next step might be. Maybe doing the CCENT as your first Cisco cert might be a good idea to get your feet wet in the networking side. Then consider some enterprise application cert like Exchange, SHarePoint or SQL Server. But before you start looking into higher level certs you really need to know the basics well. Systems (MCSA or MCITP: Server Admin) and Networking (CCENT) are really the foundation of knowledge that will be required to be good at any of the higher level stuff like SQL Server, Oracel, etc. So fo now don't get overly excited adn stick to learning the basics. You can explore a little, but keep your studies focused.

JapFreak786

thank you for the replies ,i'm just thinking of what to do for my elective to complete my MCSA,i need to talk to my trainer about possibily going down the MCITP route instead,but since the new server/exchange stuff is based on '03,i may aswell learn that first and then go onto the newer cert's eventually

i'll be going to the local agency on monday,and also be calling up a few places and seeing if they will let me go and work there for free,just to build up the experience,got alot more reading to do on what line i want to go down on,guess experiencing them all is the best thing to do