Is DBA a good career?

[gamepad]

I have no idea what to do. I'm thinking of CS degree leaning towards databases. Is there a good job outlook on this type of thing?

I did a lot of research before posting and I'm still not sure.

 

[halik]

I think you'd top out in low low 6 figured...

 

[Kwaipie]

Very good Oracle DBAs make 125-175k in Portland, OR.

 

[brandonb]

I see alot of jobs related to DBA... Do they pay 6 figures? My guess its possible. However, I'd say typically it would range from $60-80k...

 

[Drakkon]

If you can get REALLY good at Oracle you can see the 6 figures sorta income. The only jobs I've seen from a buddy of mine (who was a DBA - or at least considered himself one) were ones where theres a was a TON to do in Java which worked on the DB and it was mostly spitting out data from massive tables. Pretty boring stuff unless your into the whole numbers thing. He made good money at 3 diff companies before giving it up cause it was mindnumingly dull.

 

[chusteczka]

The DBA position becomes more interesting when the hardware and system administration aspect is involved. The ability to troubleshoot problems is also very helpful.

It all depends on your interests. System administration, specific hardware architectures, Java programing, script writing, relational database theory, data storage, data recovery, troubleshooting, and team management are all aspects to a database administrator position. All these wide aspects are reasons why the position can be highly paid. The more of these aspects that are known, the higher the individual's pay.

EDIT:
The job outlook is excellent. It is not easy to find a good DBA and this is one position that cannot be easily outsourced.

 

[gamepad]

Thanks, good replies. :thumbsup:
DBA sounds too good to be true. Hopefully there isn't a huge wave of new DBA students.

 

[FoBoT]

yes, i recommend it

 

[JS80]

we have DBAs in six figs in santa monica.

 

[JasonCoder]

The answer to this question will largely vary by region and its cost of living.

DBA's on the avg. do make very good money and since Oracle is a system that you could say really needs "closely managed", the DBAs are in greater demand. Most DBA's I've known have been stone cold bored to tears with their job and are looking to get into actual app development. IMO there's also greater stress involved. It's your ass on the line in many situations. A lot of other roles - if you're smart learn your way into the role. With database admin stuff you could possible tank a company's data if you're doing amateur night.

 

[Chaotic42]

Get ready to get paged at 2am. Bwahahahahaha

<--Former Datacenter worker.

 

[EvilYoda]

Varies...my dad's been a DBA for EDS for a long time now, but he doesn't want a management position so he's happy with a salary that's roughly 80-85K...that said, he lives an easy life, comes and goes as he pleases and he just has the laptop on while he's at home, checking up on emails and various processes.

 

[torpid]

A good, qualified DBA can make good money. But it's more "IT" than "CS" to me, because CS usually focuses more on programming and abstract stuff. Also, a "CS degree with focus in DBA" is worthless as far as DBA qualifications. The types of things you need to know to be a good DBA are significantly more advanced and technical than they teach you in the generalized CS courses. A certified Oracle DBA has to pass numerous exams that each are very in-depth.