Re: Increasing certifications on oracle database, could increase reliability on dbas

From: ryan_gaffuri@xxxxxxxxxxx
To: niall.litchfield@xxxxxxxxx, kevinc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 18:09:36 +0000

Communicationa nd writing skills become more important when you move into 
design and architecture role. I do architecture now and I spend most of my time 
writing documents and going to meetings. 

It is far more difficult than most people think to write a document that a 
group of technical, semi-technical, and non-oracle people can understand. I 
find that my first few drafts leave out alot of steps that seem obvious to me. 
Then I have to get it reviewed and have people say "I don't know what you mean" 
and then I have to re-write it yet again(usually several times). 

 Articulation of complex technical concepts to people, particularly to 
management and non-Oracle people is very difficult. It's also hard to take a 
basic idea and turn it into a realistic and practical design that fits into 
your current environment. Plus includes an implementation plan, level of 
effort, and an impact analysis. 

I think the #1 intangible is a willingness to learn new things as necessary and 
on your own time. I am not just talking about Oracle material. If you work in a 
system with a java front end and you are doing database development, you should 
be able to at a minimum read the java code and communicate with the java 
developers, etc... I find a surprisingly small number of people willing to do 
this. I think it's because you get a comfort level and command of your primary 
skill set and it's just plain hard to learn something new. You are back to 
being a novice and have to stumble all over again. 

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Niall Litchfield" <niall.litchfield@xxxxxxxxx> 

> useful here. The "higher" up the scale you go, the more intangible the 
> skills you are looking for. Communication , problem solving , 
> leadership and so-on. technical skills become more of a 'should be 
> evidenced' requirement. 
> 
> On 10/10/06, Kevin Closson wrote: 
> > >>>Knowledge can be learned or refreshed by dipping into a book 
> > >>>or website but all the knowledge in the world about Oracle 
> > >>>isn't going to help you if the problem is on the network, 
> > >>>the OS or the thing connecting the chair to the keyboard. 
> > >>>Good problem solving skills take longer to learn and can be 
> > >>>applied more generally. 
> > 
> > ... to analogize, I draw upon the skill of telling time. Certifications 
> > only prove you know what time it is. 
> > 
> > ... I always look at it this way. I'd rather work with someone 
> > that knows how a clock works, and how to tell time, than someone 
> > who knows what time it is. I have recruited many senior software 
> > engineers over the years and that principle has always paid off. 
> > I also rejected loads of candidates that had certifications and 
> > degrees well beyond anything I can claim. In fact, my personal 
> > experience is that heavily certified/degreed personnel tend 
> > to not deliver in the commercial world. Back to the time telling 
> > analogy, the overly certified/degreed personnel tend to 
> > toil with the metallurgy of the clock, as it were, more than they 
> > should. 
> > 
> > -- 
> > //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Niall Litchfield 
> Oracle DBA 
> http://www.orawin.info 
> -- 
> //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l 
> 
>

Re: Increasing certifications on oracle database, could increase reliability on dbas

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