I always have been attracted to Oracle and have been keen to build my career in Oracle Database industry.

However, certain situations in my life forced me to take up a career in sales. Now that I am free, I want to build a career in Oracle technology.

Is it too late for me to make a career in this field? Can anyone give me expert suggestions so that I can do what I always wanted to do – be an Oracle expert?

So You Want To Become An Oracle Database Administrator (DBA)

It is not very clear where you want to be in Oracle technology. Is it as a Database Administrator or Developer?

I will go ahead and answer your question by presuming that you want to be a Database Administrator.
Let me start by answering the question

Who Is An Oracle Database Administrator(DBA)?

A Database Administrator is a professional who maintains and oversees database technology in a large organization.

He is expected to maintain and execute actions such as disaster recovery, backups of databases, tests on backup data, analysis of performance of network and systems.

His responsibilities will also include designing databases which is a highly critical role in an organization.

Becoming a DBA is not as easy as you may think.

Every profession requires many years of preparation and likewise becoming a DBA requires hard work.

DBAs have a mission-critical job. If you don’t have the right skills, it will be difficult to get this job because no company wants to entrust their critical data to someone who can’t manage it efficiently and effectively.

Without saying, an Oracle Database Administrator is a professional with expertise in Oracle database technology, who can work on Oracle software tools and maintain Oracle databases.

To be a successful Oracle DBA, you must have the following skills:

• Since the role of a DBA involves constant interaction with users and developers, they must have excellent communication skills in terms of both verbal and writing skills.
• A degree in Business Administration or Computer Science is desired together with good understanding business processes.
• It is important to have one or both of Oracle certifications, namely, OCP and OCM.
• Knowledge of technologies like Java and Oracle Server is very essential to excel in this field.
• You must have very good analytical and problem-solving skills, as a DBA’s day can be encountered with unexpected challenging problems

You can also do the following:

1. Take up courses on Operations Research which helps you learn to develop complex decision rules. Once you have learned this, try and apply them in your practice datasets. Even courses on multivariate analysis can help you prepare for a career in Oracle technology.
2. A computer science degree or degree information systems will also boost your chances. Employers usually prefer candidates with both computer science and MBA degree as it is important to understand business areas such as accounting, finance and marketing.
3. Develop or gain experience in a broad range of database systems such as OLTP, OLAP and batch databases.
4. Gain as much experience as possible by working for free for non-profit organizations.
5. Network with people who are already in the industry, this will give you a real world knowledge of how best you can prepare for this job.

From the information you have shared, it is not very clear what your qualifications are.

I understand that you have considerable experience in sales. Can I presume that you hold a degree in business or an MBA? Do you have also any IT related qualifications?

If you do not,, you may try work on getting an OCM or OCP certification from Oracle.

Try and intern with an organization that is ready to try out someone who is new to databases.

At the end of the day

, it is more about your skills and what you can do than your degrees or even your certifications.

If you are so passionate, start reading a lot of books on Oracle DBA and familiarize yourself with technologies like Java, SQL, MySQL, VB and the like.

I repeat that becoming an Oracle DBA is involves taking on a very critical role and therefore you don’t want to fake it.