There are many types of careers available as a database administrator for students who have solid academic training, problem solving skills and the organizational competencies. Below introduces five common careers for database administrators.
IT Database Administrator
IT database administrators are senior technical specialist with lead responsibilities for supporting applications and reporting databases, according to PayScale. They plan infrastructures, enforce policies and implement recovery procedures. They also engage in performance monitoring and critical mission evaluations. They are technical experts in certain areas, such as ERP databases or CRM systems administration. They usually monitor and adjust the configurations of enterprise applications and server operating systems. They provide high levels of service and support to management and employees who contributes to databases and business intelligence systems. Sometimes, they perform the duties of business analysts as they gather and document information while working with cross-functional teams.
SQL Specialist
SQL specialists and administrators are responsible database systems, enterprise data warehouse and business intelligence collection activities. They manage applications integration and database performance enhancement while documenting activities and producing analytical reports for upper management. Thus, they regularly perform database operational and administrative tasks to gather and support information. Based on business analysis meetings, they set data gathering requirements and translate them into specs that are used to define reporting metrics. These database administrators must have a strong working knowledge of Oracle systems and SQL databases. Additionally, they need to be able to provide technical assistance to end users and cross training support to team members.
Academia and Education
Schools and universities rely on experienced database administrators to design, install and maintain critical systems and data structures. They provide front-line support for academic research, students and faculty through maintaining and troubleshooting database infrastructures. They do everything from server migrations to service pack updates to disaster recovery management. They also perform capacity management, performance tuning and systems monitoring duties. Senior database administrators will analyze user complains and reported errors in order to identify the root causes of performance issues. All database administrators must have excellent teamwork and communication skills because they regularly work with systems engineers, software developers and networking help desk teams.
Health Care
Database administrators in health care organizations analyze and monitor the performance of proprietary health care systems. They work with health care providers and IT professionals to solve problems related to operational problems, database performances and system backups. They are responsible for keeping the databases up-to-date and running smoothly through daily care and maintenance. This includes upgrades, migrations, installations and temporary patching. It also includes security monitoring, performance tuning, backup and recovery and script creation. Most of these database administrators will have at least an associate’s degree in computer science, business administration or health care technology.
Related Resource: Application Support Technician
In order to be successful, database administrators need strong problem solving skills and technical knowledge regarding complex problems. They should be able to provide excellent troubleshooting support while leveraging their knowledge of SQL databases and networking configurations. There are also careers available as a database administrator in finance, manufacturing and consulting organizations.
