Both DBA's and DB-Developers are often decidedly methodical and orderly people, who have a superb interest in detail, & appreciate performing within small teams, or by themselves. Effective communication-skills certainly are a benefit, as there will be frequent inter-action with senior managers. Security is an increasing issue as a large amount of highly sensitive data is recorded and held - making database employment highly responsible. Managers demand professionals with some integrity that they are able to rely on implicitly, and some institutions will in fact require you to have security-clearance before offering you a position. Accountancy & business-process specialists prosper in this environment, and quite a few progress on to more senior manager's assignments, as a robust understanding of the detail that underpins a company can result in greater opportunity for promotion.

Consider the points below carefully if you're inclined to think the marketing blurb about an 'Exam Guarantee' sounds great value:

We all know that we're still being charged for it - obviously it has already been included in the overall figure from the training company. It's definitely not free (it's just marketing companies think we'll fall for anything they say!) Evidence shows that when trainees fund their relevant examinations, at the time of taking them, they'll be in a better position to pass first time - as they'll think of their payment and therefore will put more effort into their preparation.

Do your exams at a local pro-metric testing centre and hold on to your money and pay for the exam when you take it. Paying in advance for exams (and interest charges if you're borrowing money) is insane. Resist being talked into filling the training company's account with extra money of yours just to give them more interest! Some will be pinning their hopes on the fact that you won't get to do them all - so they get to keep the extra funds. You should fully understand that re-takes through companies who offer an 'Exam Guarantee' are always heavily controlled. They will insist that you take pre-tests first to make sure they think you're going to pass.

Exams taken at VUE and Prometric centres are approximately 112 pounds in this country. Students should be very wary of forking out hundreds of pounds extra in 'Exam Guarantee' fees (most often hidden in the package) - when a quality course, support and exam preparation systems and a dose of commitment and effort are what's required.

We have established that Databases really are a key feature of our lives, so what careers can be found in this industry? There are really two essential careers if we view Databases from the IT mind-set. The former involves the formation & building of the actual software that 'databases' run on, & the 2nd consists of the management work needed to utilise the information filed on them. The term DBA, or Database Administrator, is a well known acronym used through-out the I.T. industry. Generally its the medium to large enterprises which have a need to hire 'DBA's', as they require them to oversee their operations on a daily basis. They'll control the processes which have an impact on the information, such as 'security' & backing up, & talk with often senior management to produce reports - to ensure that the company can make use of that intelligence to function better. They will also understand the database 'language' of 'SQL' (Structured Query Language) - pronounced as 'see-quel' - which offers a standardised method of interrogating a database for the intelligence required.

Trainees hopeful to begin an IT career usually don't know which path they should take, or what sector to get qualified in. Since without any previous experience in IT, in what way could we be expected to know what any job actually involves? Achieving a well-informed decision only comes via a careful study across many altering key points:

- What nature of person you reckon you are - the tasks that you enjoy, and on the other side of the coin - what makes you unhappy.

- What time-frame are you looking at for the retraining?

- What priority do you place on job satisfaction vs salary?

- Because there are so many areas to train for in computing - there's a need to pick up some key facts on what differentiates them.

- Taking a proper look into the effort, commitment and time you'll make available.

The bottom line is, the most intelligent way of understanding everything necessary is from an in-depth discussion with someone that understands the market well enough to give you the information required.

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