Does taking on mysql after 10 years of Oracle make sense?

September 18, 2007 1:24 PM

Career-wise, is it a smart move to take a mysql position after building up ten years of Oracle experience?

A promising local startup is offering me a job to manage and develop their mysql databases. They may or may not move to Oracle. I have over fifteen years experience working exclusively with databases, ten of those years on Oracle. This company fully understands that I have no experience whatsoever with mysql but they are interested in training me. They want to hire me on the merits of my overall experience with databases and my ability to troubleshoot and solve problems. They assured me that I will receive all relevant training. Other job functions are not necessarily platform dependent-BI, report writing, data modeling - I'm comfortable with those aspects; it's the administrative side of things that makes me a little nervous. For example I would figure that scaling a mysql database is much different than scaling an Oracle database. I've spent a long time learning Oracle's nuances; I would be starting at ground zero with mysql.

My link to this company is a coworker from many years ago - he was impressed enough with my abilities and my professionalism to recommend me to this company. I'm not concerned about my ability to learn the platform-it is more along the lines of setting myself up to fail. I would be coming in with high expectations and would be expected to get up to speed quickly. They assure me that they understand all of this and have utmost faith in my abilities and my aptitude.

This is not an Oracle vs mysql thing, its a career-move thing. I have a LOT of respect for the mysql platform and what's being done on it. I would imagine that Oracle jobs generally pay better than mysql positions. A quick dice search across multiple regions indicates more demand and better pay for Oracle than mysql. I wouldn't normally be in a situation like this but this company seems special. I believe in this company's direction, its management, and potential. I would be getting in early enough to receive options. Their product is very, very impressive and with the right execution, things could go quite well.

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posted by anonymous to computers & internet (6 comments total)

Well, it's not like your Oracle experience disappears when you take this MySql job. It sounds like an interesting opportunity, and a change of pace from doing Oracle work might be nice. If your hours aren't too hectic, you could probably do Oracle consulting work on the side.
posted by chunking express at 1:32 PM on September 18, 2007

Take the job.

The upsides are many as you yourself have noted.

The downsides are that you will learn mysql, an entirely different platform, which will enhance, not detract from your Oracle experience in my opinion. Its not like mysql is some subset of Oracle. Instead, some things are just done differently.

Should you choose to leave this job in a couple years, your Oracle experience will still be valid and even enhanced by a broader view. Not to mention that homogenous large shops are rare. Any big company that has Oracle will also have mysql and sqlserver installations all around too. And understanding how to integrate them all together is a key asset.
posted by vacapinta at 1:37 PM on September 18, 2007

abstractly, knowing how two different tools apply to a significantly overlapping problem domain will likely improve your understanding of both the tools and problem domain relative to people who only have experience with one of the tools.

More concretely, from a career perspective, you will gain experience that will be valuable for new projects evaluating which RDBMS to choose, oracle projects considering mySQL to save on licensing, mySQL projects looking to oracle migration to solve a problem they have with mySQL or a company going through an acqusition that needs to integrate between systems. I'd expect there to be steady or growing demand for all of these.
posted by Good Brain at 2:24 PM on September 18, 2007

they are interested in training me

This would be the selling point for me. You know the high-level concepts, you just need to sludge through the technical implementation details.

I think what's more important is a company that appreciates you and encourages you to learn new skills, along with a really positive work environment. It seems like this job may fit the bill, so I say go for it. These opportunities are rare.
posted by spiderskull at 3:19 PM on September 18, 2007

"May or may not move to Oracle" is a fairly worthless plan because the criteria for that choice are so disparate. I'm not a DBA, but I work in part of an Oracle company that is implementing MySQL in selected parts. You will probably find MySQL a bit featureless compared to Oracle but shouldn't have trouble.

I'm more concerned about your comment about options, frankly. Startup options are gravy and should not be considered to be a part of any compensation package. Also, the fact that it's a startup and the risk you're taking should be factored into your desired compensation. Don't fall for the "poor startup" story, if they don't have the extra $40k/yr (or whatever) to be competitive, their financial situation is to be worried about. You have to pay people what they're worth to get good execution.
posted by rhizome at 9:41 PM on September 18, 2007

the platform conversation is a distraction. Meaningful work at an ethical company you believe in, that's also willing to invest in you, is the only kind of work you should do. Bonus points for working with friends and the potential for valuable equity.
posted by anildash at 1:49 PM on September 19, 2007