Navigating the landscape of a DBA job search can certainly pose its challenges. However, what often amplifies the difficulty is the absence of a standout resume. Over my career as both a DBA and a DBA manager, I’ve overseen the hiring of numerous DBAs, sifting through a multitude of resumes, each seemingly a duplicate of the last.
Typically, they begin with an entire page summarizing themselves and listing their top skills. Often, this is a laundry list of SQL Server skill the candidate has had experience with or even heard of. This is then repeated throughout their job history section, as well, under every job. This approach invariably yields lengthy resumes spanning 6-7 pages, lacking the crucial narrative that sets one candidate apart from the rest. If there are details to set them apart, they are often hard to find. A few examples of the skills I most often see listed are..
- Performed database backups
- Performed integrity checks
- Configured Availability Groups
- Configured Log Shipping
- Tuned SQL Queries
- Installed SQL Server
- Configured SQL Server
- Managed SQL Logins
- Configured SQL Agent jobs
- etc….
News flash – if you have more than a few years of experience as a DBA, I already expect you to have experience with most, if not all, all these skills. Consequently, during interviews, I will be sure to delve into these competencies.
What I truly appreciate is when a candidate provides a very short summary about why they are the best DBA I’m likely to meet throughout this process, and then share 6-12 high skills that make them great employee. Notice I used “great employee” in that last sentence, not “great DBA”. First and foremost, you must demonstrate yourself as a great employee. More specifically, someone that tis able think beyond the single DBA task in front of them, and what the broader impact is to the business. Being a great DBA is secondary to any job you will ever hold. You cannot be a great DBA if you’re continuously working towards objectives and goals that are not aligned with the business. That is not to say there will not be times where you need to be able to sell the business on why you believe a particular goal or objective is the right path forward for the organization.
Below are a few goods skills to considering showcasing in your resume. However, to be prepared to talk about any skills you list. If you say you’re great at “Incident Avoidance” or “Automation”, You’re going to be asked for details. If you can’t provide them, that’s typically a red flag to the interviewer.
- Business Acumen
- Application Availability
- Critical Thinking
- Detail Oriented
- Root Cause Analysis
- Incident Avoidance
- Mean Time to Recovery
- Punctual
- Security Best Practices
- Time Management
- Collaboration
- ITIL
- Automation
- Active Listener
Subsequently, when articulating your professional experience, emphasize the transformative impact you’ve had on your teams and organizations. Highlight instances where you spearheaded initiatives or achieved feats that set you apart from the average DBA. Try to tie these back to your top skills.
Lastly, keep your resume short. As a manager, my calendar is often filled with meetings, there are constant fires to address with other individuals or teams, and numerous other things pulling on my attention. During a typical day, I may only find a 30 minute window to review a backlog of resumes. I need to be able to review them quickly and easily be able identify a select few that should be considered for a first round interview. Make yours standout as quickly as possible. Ideally within 30 seconds I’m making up my mind as to whether I will move an application forward to the next round or reject it.
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Brendan McCaffrey 