What Makes The Perfect DBA Role?

What is it that makes the perfect role for a Database Administrator?

Well I can’t tell you that because you and I may not be looking for the same things in a role. What I can tell you though is what I look for, what it is that makes my ideal DBA role.

Last week in my post New Year New Job? I talked about why now is precisely the right time for you to be looking for a new opportunity and today I want to continue the career theme and share with you my thoughts on what it is that I look for in a DBA role.

This is by no means an exhaustive list and simply covers just a few of things I personally look for. I may add to this over time as more things come to mind. In no particular order then…..

Culture and Philosophy

The Freedom to Innovate
Responsibility
Challenging projects
Flexible working practices
Colleagues with passion and character
An environment where challenging the status quo is encouraged

Technology

The opportunity to work with the full SQL Server product stack (DB Engine, SSAS, SSRS, SSIS)
To work with the latest technology (SQL Server Version, hardware)
Design, Deploy & Administrate enterprise scale environments
Work with a wide variety of SQL Server product features (Clustering/Mirroring/Log Shipping/Replication, Partitioning, Compression……)

DBA Education

Understanding the importance of Professional Development for a DBA
Encourages and supports training
Encourages and supports sql community involvement
A knowledge sharing culture

Did I Mention That We’re Currently Hiring?

So there you have it, those are just some of things that I look for in a DBA role. All of which I’m pleased are present in my current role with Expedia.

If this sounds like the sort of company that you would like to work for then why not come and join us! We’re looking for Senior DBAs to join our team in London right now. To find out more visit the Expedia Jobs site or you can contact me for details.

What does your dream DBA job look like?

That’s enough about what I think, what do you think? What is it that you look for in the ideal DBA role? What is it that is important to you?

Paul Brewer

Easy commuting distance is another feature of the perfect job :-)
Best wishes
Paul
Mike Fal

John, I like your list and can think of only one thing to add to it: The ability to focus on SQL Server and not be required to support other RDBMS systems. Some of my previous jobs (not current) have required me to be the full-time DBA not only for SQL Server, and it makes for a very difficult environment. Having to switch between different platforms, while beneficial in giving me exposure to those systems, doesn’t let me really get deep on a particular stack. My current job only expects me to work on SQL Server, and it’s a great joy for me because I can really focus in and learn the things I want and need to in order to allow me to further my own career.
- Mike Fal
  
  I think there’s a distinct difference between being exposed and being required to support. The tools and processes required to provide deep support of a platform can really vary, so it makes it tough. However, my ability to understand Oracle from a high level and talk intelligently about it’s capabilities compared to SQL Server is invaluable. It’s a fact of the world we live in that only very few companies will have just one database platform. We need to be able to help SQL Server work with other technologies as well as be able to talk intelligently about how the SQL Server stack compares with Oracle, MySQL, or any of the NoSQL Solutions.
  
  I feel much the same way about Hadoop. I want to understand its capabilities and how it can fit in to the overall architecture. Like many are saying, NoSQL is not a replacement of RDBMS systems, but the two technologies complement each other. All the same, though, I want to be focus on being an expert in SQL Server. In my perfect job, I want to talk with the Hadoop administrator about how the two solutions can work together, but I don’t want my company to expect me to suddenly manage and performance tune Hadoop.

Culture and Philosophy

Technology

DBA Education

Did I Mention That We’re Currently Hiring?

What does your dream DBA job look like?

About John Sansom