Category Archives: DBA Career

Should DBAs be Paid Overtime?

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For the past several weeks, I have been running a poll on www.bradmcgehee.com, asking visitors if they thought that DBAs should be paid for off-hours work? With 259 votes, its very clear (see the graph below) that most DBAs think they should be paid overtime. Unfortunately, this is usually not the case.

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Most DBAs work on a salary, and are paid the same no matter how many hours a week they work, whether it’s 40 hours, or 60 hours. In some cases, employers will offer compensation time (paid time off) to make up for working overtime, and some employers reward DBAs with annual bonuses, but this is more the exception than the rule.

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Where Do You Look on the Internet for SQL Server Jobs?

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I recently had a SQL Server DBA write to me that they were going to be laid off, and they asked me if I had any special insight into what are the best websites to look for SQL Server-related jobs. I haven’t looked for a SQL Server job in a long time, so I didn’t have any good suggestions based on personal experience.

So let’s help out this person. Based on your personal experience, what job websites do you recommend when searching for a new SQL Server-related job?

Adventures in Webinar Presentations

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Over the past several years, I have given 2-3 live web presentations a year, and I have always found them to be an adventure. In other words, there always seems to be one problem or another.

Sometimes the meeting software used is not very cooperative, connection speeds vary (or drop), recordings don’t record as expected, and many more. In a webinar I gave today, my laptop froze just seconds before I was to give my presentation, which caused a sudden rise in my blood pressure. In the end, everything worked out, and my session on “How to Become an Exceptional DBA” had just over 700 people during peak attendance.
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Questions About SQL Server Backups

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SQL Server backups are a “funny” topic to talk about. If you are talking with experienced DBAs, the topic of backups rarely surfaces, as this is a fundamental skill most DBAs learn early in their career. On the other hand, there are thousands of part-time, accidental DBAs who are tasked with making backups, and they need a lot of help in learning these basics.

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But We Have Always Done It That Way

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I recently ran across the following scenario. A SQL Server instance had been upgraded from SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2008. At the same time, the older physical hardware had been replaced by newer hardware. The DBA who had set up and configured the older server was no longer at the organization, and a new DBA had performed the upgrade. After the upgrade was completed, I was asked to review its configuration. I started by reviewing the various server and database settings, along with the assorted database maintenance jobs, and then I began to ask questions about them.

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How Do You Handle the Stress of Being a DBA?

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This is a reprint of my editorial at SQLServerCentral.com. There is a lively discussion at the SSC forum on this topic, or feel free to comment here.

While being a DBA has many benefits, it can also be a job with many stressful drawbacks. Some of them that come to mind include:

  • As the organization’s protector of the data, DBAs often have great responsibility. A careless mistake could potentially cost your organization thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars (and your job).
  • Many DBAs don’t work typical 40 hour weeks. Many work weeknights, weekends, and holidays, all without any overtime pay.
  • Getting called at home in the middle of the night or on weekends, and often having to come into the office to fix a problem.
  • While one crisis at a time is enough for anyone, there are often situations where multiple crises occur at the same time, creating a very hectic environment.
  • Getting blamed for problems that are beyond your control, such as the poor performance of a badly-designed, mission-critical application.
  • Being told to do one thing by one manager, but then being told to do something different by another manager.
  • Being assigned a project without the necessary resources and time to complete it successfully.
  • Having developers give you a bad time because you are trying to enforce best practices and to protect the integrity of the organization’s data.
  • As a DBA, you often see a bigger picture of how IT works than others, giving you a great perspective on how to make things better, but only to have your ideas for improvements ignored.
  • And on and on.

While you may not have experience all of these drawbacks, I am sure you have experienced some of them. So my question to you is: What’s the best way to deal with the inevitable stress of being a DBA? Are you the type of individual who thrives on stress, do you just tough it out, do you take action to reduce stress as much as possible, or do you have other ways of relieving stress? Please share with us how you cope with the stress of being a DBA.