Database jobs other that D.B.A.

March 2, 2008 9:24 AM

Other than being Database Admin, what other kinds of database jobs are there? Looking to leave tech support and maybe server administration

I'm tired of being in tech support and server administration. I've always enjoyed designing, building, tinkering, etc databases (granted not at an enterprise level, more of a hobbyist). Mostly with MySQL and some SQL Server 2005. But I'm not sure I want to be a DBA. What other areas can I work with databases in?

posted by badger11 to work & money (8 answers total)

At my company, there are basically two database-related roles. One is the DBA. The other is the database developer. They're the one that designs the schema and writes the queries.
posted by mpls2 at 9:28 AM on March 2, 2008

Well, a lot of programming jobs require you to do database stuff. A lot of times you end up being your own DBA.
posted by delmoi at 9:30 AM on March 2, 2008

Yeah, pick up a programming language (something easy like PHP or .Net) and make a career of development. Lots of database design/query skills required for that.
posted by purephase at 9:31 AM on March 2, 2008

Being able to perform both database administration AND development will make you a very valuable resource in your organization(and others!). As a database professional, my greatest asset is understanding exactly how the database works, what features are available to developers, and when to use them.

But, to answer your question, many database roles exist outside of the true administration role. Off the top of my head:
- Stored procedure development is a lot of fun, if your platform supports it.
- A development 'DBA' can be in charge of table definition and maintaing structural changes. This is not administration per se, but a lot of IT shops seem to call this a DBA position.
- SQL and Reports developer
- Database Modeler
- Performance specialist

There are others. As you gain experience working with databases you will see a lot of these roles overlap.

Good luck!
posted by neilkod at 9:39 AM on March 2, 2008

I used to work in a field called Data Warehousing. This is exactly what it sounds, taking gigantic stores of enterprise wide data and putting it into one area (warehouse). From this warehouse, data marts can be formed. The key is making data standardized, easily accessible and quick for an organization.

In my field, there were people with "soft" skills (i.e. business analysis, communication skills, big picture data ideas) and those with "hard" skills (i.e. DBA). It was founded around a system called "ETL" which is basically a visually based programming language. IF you have a lot of good database skills, this would be a cinch.

In any case, it was/is a really varied career, with lots of opportunity to move up, etc. Guys I know with 2 years experience are getting offered almost 6 figures. If you want more details, send me an e-mail.
posted by sandmanwv at 10:13 AM on March 2, 2008

I don't know too much about this, but are you interested in mapping? GIS (Geographical Information Systems) apparently requires a lot of database work, and I've heard this both from a GIS friend, and a db coworker who was thinking about taking GIS classes to change industries slightly.
posted by razdrez at 10:22 AM on March 2, 2008

@purephase .net is not a language it is a framework.

in my experience many developers are proficient, read not all that good, at working with databases. they can write queries that get the task done but often fall flat on writing optimized sql. someone who really understood the database in use and would be able to optimize existing code for performance would be a great asset for many teams.
posted by mailbox125 at 10:55 AM on March 2, 2008

Thanks all, I appreciate the answers.

@razdrez, nice one. I hadn't though about GIS.
posted by badger11 at 7:16 PM on March 2, 2008