I have a AAS in Computer Information Systems & BS in Business Information Management, but no certifications. I have a lot of gaps in my resume for various reasons, and the only real job I've had lasted 4.5 months. It was barely IT related. I've done some smaller internships and at-home projects for people, but they didn't feel like real jobs and don't seem to be worth much on my resume. I'm disabled so dealing with those issues is on going. I've turned 30 and would really like to move out on my own so I've decided to just pick a specific career and hope for the best. I've decided to be a database administrator. I've taken a few classes in db design so I don't think I'm starting from scratch, but I know I still have a lot to learn. The db jobs in my area seem to generally require sql, java, crystal reports and coldfusion. Of those I'm really only familiar with sql though. What certifications do you recommend? How should I prepare for them? Even with certifications I doubt I'll be able to just jump into a db job, so what kind of jobs should I try to get in the interim?
What Certifications should I get?
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DistraughtSysop
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CompTIA has a wide variety of certifications. The A+ is the one that deals with hardware. As far as I know, there are no CompTIA database certs.
Database certs tend to be vendor specific so you'll probably want to pick a company that has products you will be working with. The big names that I know are Microsoft and Oracle; I'm not too familiar with database vendors but I am sure that there are others. I'm not sure but I think Oracle requires you to take a class, meaning that you can't just pick up a book and study yourself. I'm not certain, though. Anything above entry level won't be of much use to someone who is starting out.
A bachelor's degree would probably make a bigger difference than certification when trying to find employment at the entry level. Practical experience trumps everything, of course.
Help desk is pretty much the standard entry level job when trying to break into IT; if you can get some kind of junior database analyst position, go for that. If you can't get an actual database position then the idea is that any kind of IT experience would help when you apply for a position in the future.
Database certs tend to be vendor specific so you'll probably want to pick a company that has products you will be working with. The big names that I know are Microsoft and Oracle; I'm not too familiar with database vendors but I am sure that there are others. I'm not sure but I think Oracle requires you to take a class, meaning that you can't just pick up a book and study yourself. I'm not certain, though. Anything above entry level won't be of much use to someone who is starting out.
A bachelor's degree would probably make a bigger difference than certification when trying to find employment at the entry level. Practical experience trumps everything, of course.
Help desk is pretty much the standard entry level job when trying to break into IT; if you can get some kind of junior database analyst position, go for that. If you can't get an actual database position then the idea is that any kind of IT experience would help when you apply for a position in the future.
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