Re: Oracle DBA Contracting/Consulting/Career Discussion
- From: Dba DBA <oracledbaquestions@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 18 May 2012 10:31:47 -0400
IBM is hardcore offsohring jobs and staffing down in the US. Google them in
the last 5 years they have grown world wide and staffed down by atleast 30%
in the US (maybe more. its on the web) Most work is body shop work. I have
met people who work there. Your just a temp. Accenture is the same way.
Just a big body shop. I know people who worked there. It is a big body
shop. "Service" companies are just big contract companies. You are a
contract employee. As long as the contract is there you have a job. They
staff up and staff down all the time. They don't carry people between
contracts. There is not anything special about these companies. I have been
called by IBM recruiters. They sounded just like body shop recruiters.
Oracle is usually 100% travel and long hours.My understanding is that if
you live in a low cost area you will make the same as someone in a high
cost area, since everyone travels. So it could be a good deal pay wise if
you are in a lower cost area and are willing to travel all the time.
Tek Systems is a sub-contractor body shop. It is just temp work. I used
them once when I was contracting. They paid on time. Didn't lie to me.
Didn't try to get me to push for more people on the team. So they are
better than a lot of contracting companies. It is still just temp work. If
you are going to temp and you are choosing between temp companies I would
go with them. One note is they are annoying if you want to go the core to
core route. They make you carry business insurance.
I can't speak for Pythian. They might be different or parts of them may be
different. I contracted for several years. I did the whole corp to corp
route. It can be pretty good when the economy is strong, but I wouldn't do
it in this economy unless I just needed a job. When you are a
sub-contractor, you are just a temp. You have no idea how long the contract
will last.
On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 9:04 AM, Taylor, Chris David <
ChrisDavid.Taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Guys/Gals (specifically in the U.S.),
>
> I've been with my current company for almost 6 years and I have identified
> a trend in my own career that at about 5 years I'm ready to move on to
> something new. So, I need some advice/thoughts/etc from people in
> consulting and/or contracting positions - specifically as Oracle DBAs.
>
> I haven't pursued anything yet and it seems to me that the paths before me
> are similar, yet lead to very different conclusions.
>
> I *think* what I really desire is a company that has an Oracle practice
> group of accomplished technologists that collaborate and get assigned
> consulting projects as a team to go to client sites, but allow their
> employees a 'break' in between projects for training, time off, conferences
> and the like. What companies would fit that type of idea? Accenture? IBM?
> Oracle Consulting?
>
> These are things I enjoy and give me a sense of job satisfaction:
> - the feeling of 'moving forward' instead of standing still
> - collaborating with other SKILLED Oracle technologists (developers and
> DBAs)
> - working with people who DO seek to be the best, and provide excellent
> quality solutions/ideas
> - solving problems
> - performance tuning (SQL queries, database architecture, server setups
> and configuration)
> - working with new technology
> - meeting new people
> - traveling
> - working with other people who achieve at a high level and are enjoyable
> to work with
> - having time (a week, maybe 2, maybe a month) between projects to relax,
> take time off, recharge before jumping right into the next one
>
>
> Things I don't enjoy:
> - routine maintenance
> - working in the same building day after day for years on end
> - dealing with the ramifications of internal/departmental power struggles
> - No longer solving real problems
> - dealing with people who do NOT seek to be the best, or provide excellent
> quality solutions
> - 'falling behind' - having perceived gaps in my abilities as an Oracle
> technologist such as Exadata, RAC, ASM
>
> These are the thoughts I'm working through:
> - Do I pursue a position with an Oracle practice group within a larger
> corporation? Think IBM or Oracle Consulting or BIAS or any number of other
> consulting companies that (I think) have specific practice groups that
> focus on delivering solutions from the ground up)
>
> - Would I rather pursue a smaller specialized consulting/services group
> such as Pythian or other similar services provider? (Being intentionally
> simplistic here and I'm aware I'm minimizing the services of Pythian here a
> bit, but it's an example I needed)
>
> - Would I rather pursue a contracting job through a group like TEK Systems
> (or similar) and work mostly solo as contracts expire?
>
>
> Chris Taylor
>
> "Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent
> effort."
> -- John Ruskin (English Writer 1819-1900)
>
> Any views and/or opinions expressed herein are my own and do not
> necessarily reflect the views of Ingram Industries, its affiliates, its
> subsidiaries or its employees.
>
> --
> //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l
>
>
>
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