Data Base Administrator: Job Profile and Role

Nowadays, hardly any company or business functions without virtual data. To store all data in one place – which also, in an ideal world, happens to be the safest option – companies rely on clouds. These, in turn, are being managed by a database administrator who is also responsible for maintenance work, installation, recoveries, and backups.

In this blog, we take a close look at what else the job of a data base administrator in the UK involves. We explore what it takes to work in this profession when it comes to qualifications and skills. We also take a look at the likely annual salaries and employers. Besides, you get exciting insights into your future working day and some fantastic tips for thriving as a data base administrator in the UK.

Short Summary

• As a data base administrator, you take on the task of database monitoring, maintenance, modelling, and design.
• As a data base administrator, you will be in charge of troubleshooting which includes drafting disaster recovery plans that you put into action if and when needed.
• As a data base administrator, you not only have recovery plans, but you also know how to do regular backups that are being reinstalled after a recovery session.

Job description

As a data base administrator, you are the go-to person when it comes to an organisation’s data base and collection. While you are responsible for the administration of said data, you are also responsible for installing and managing them and for doing maintenance work. This can range from data monitoring to data extraction and transformation to data modelling and design. Whatever your data base-based job: it must always meet your client’s needs and expectations. This, naturally, also applies to your so-called disaster recovery planning where you design emergency plans in case of crashes, leaks, and data breaches.

Responsibilities

• Database Monitoring and Maintenance
• Data Extraction/Transformation
• Disaster Recovery Planning
• Data Modelling and Design
• Specialised Data Handling
• Database Management
• Backup and Recovery
• Performance Tuning
• Database Security
• Capacity Planning

Different types of Data Base Administrators

• Traditional Database Administrator (DBA)
• SQL Server Database Administrator
• NoSQL Database Administrator
• Cloud Database Administrator
• Database Developer

Salary

When you start working in database administration, you can expect an annual salary of around ￡25,000. To get to the currently highest possible annual wages of around ￡48,000, you need to gain work experience. Here, it also helps if you regularly take part in training and gain important/relevant qualifications. Please keep in mind that your annual salary as a data base administrator also depends on who you work for and where – in short, your employer (company size) and your location.

Working Hours

Your typical working hours in data administration range from 37 to 39 hours. Although most of that time, you will be working in an office Monday through Friday, you may be asked to work evenings and weekends. This depends on whether your employer has an on-call policy, meaning that you have to reply to emergency jobs. Note that on-call will likely involve travelling to a job. Since database administration is an IT-related job, you should also inquire about the possibility of remote work. This will not lower your weekly workload but can give you some flexibility due to working from home.

Employers

As a future data base administrator, you can find employment in any organisation that handles data in a computerised way. This means that job openings can be posted by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as by large corporations – and they can be found in the private and public sectors. Depending on your interests and specialisations, you can look for a job in the financial, technical, healthcare, and educational sectors as well as with government agencies and non-profit organisations.

Qualifications

There are two common educational approaches to becoming a data base administrator in the UK: earning an undergraduate degree in an appropriate subject or completing an apprenticeship. We will take a closer look at some of the course options later on.

To enrol at university or apply for an apprenticeship, you first need GCSEs. Typically, you will be asked for pass grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), and in total, you will need four to five GCSEs. Keep in mind that English, maths, and ICT are among the necessary subjects. Note that universities may ask for two to three A levels instead of your GCSEs. Again, these should have focused on IT-related subjects.

Besides your education, you should look into the most relevant software. And do not worry – this will also be a part of your university studies or your apprenticeship. Here are some of the systems and software you will use daily in your future job as a data base administrator: IBM Data Studio, MySQL Workbench, Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM), and Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

Skills

It goes without saying that very strong IT skills are mandatory if you want to work as a database administrator. Before we take a look at three more skills that will benefit you and make your professional life easier, we have an important piece of advice. Always closely and carefully check which competencies your future employer values the most. Also, ensure that you actually have these skills. We definitely do not recommend fibbing and going into a job interview with skills you do not have. That said, here are the promised three beneficial competencies you, as a future database administrator, should have.

Analytical Thinking Skills

It is a given that any job in IT is very rational and more or less lacks any emotion (unless you count on your client’s needs, expectations, and worries). Therefore, an analytical mind is what is needed when you want to excel in database administration. This is especially important when faced with issues and problems. By applying your analytical thinking skills, you can get to the bottom of an issue quickly and efficiently. This competency also helps you to come up with solutions that both fix an issue and contribute to preventing it in the future.

Verbal Communication Skills

It is a prejudice to think that IT experts hardly ever talk to humans but spend most of their time conversing with computers and IT-related aspects. That said, excellent verbal communication skills are needed if you want to work as a data base administrator. How else are you successfully going to communicate your ideas, ways to protect data collection, and ensure that your client actually knows how to take care of database admin when you are not around? Knowing how to talk to people – including hitting the right conversational note – will furthermore be mandatory when dealing with your colleagues, be they from your own department or another associated department in your company.

Complex Problem-Solving Skills

Let’s say your working day is occupied by a series of (random) problems and issues. Someone managed to hack into your client’s cloud, and now there is a real danger of important and sensitive data making the rounds to God knows where. It is vitally important to do damage control ASAP. This typically involves complex scenarios which, in turn, require excellent complex problem-solving skills. By getting your head and mind around even the most difficult problem, you can come up with a solution that may be astounding in its simplicity. 

How to Figure Out and Define Your Skills

We always recommend that you check which skills are actually required when you apply for a job. It will always hurt your reputation and your future endeavours if you fib on an application and pretend to have skills you actually have not a got a Scooby about. So, instead of getting yourself into trouble, strive to use so-called skills assessments. You can find these tools online, for example, on the career website of the UK government. This way, and within a few minutes, you find out which skills you have and also which jobs actually suit you down to a T.

Career Path

Education and training are the first steps you take on your career ladder in database administration. After “completing” your entry-level position, you either stay in database administration or think about branching out/promotion to different roles. In database administration, this can include the following jobs: systems analyst, web developer, IT project manager, and/or network manager. Besides, you can further educate yourself in consultancy work and offer both your services and your expertise as a self-employed data base administrator.

Educational Background

Besides applying directly for a job as a database administrator, you can look into earning an undergraduate degree or completing an apprenticeship. These two approaches have one important advantage over the direct application approach: you start your career equipped with all the theoretical and practical knowledge needed for the job of a data base administrator. Let’s look at some of the options when it comes to a Bachelor’s degree or an apprenticeship.

University/Bachelor’s Degree

An undergraduate degree shows that you have a high willingness to learn and are able to gain the needed information from various sources. It also sets you up for a postgrad degree, such as a Master’s degree. Here are some options that enable you to later work as a data base administrator:

• Maths
• Computer science
• Software engineering
• Business information systems
• Information technology management

Apprenticeship

An apprenticeship does not only teach you the theoretical side of things, it also focuses on practical approaches. If this is a better fit for you, the following are some interesting and appropriate options for you:

• Data Engineer Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship
• Digital and Technology Solutions Specialist Degree Apprenticeship
• Digital and Technology Solutions Professional Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship
• IT, Software, Web and Telecoms Professionals Advanced/Higher Apprenticeship

Entry Level

Starting at the entry level, your job can have different “job titles”, so to speak. You may work as a junior database administrator, a database assistant, or a database support analyst. Equally, your first job may be that of a database technician or a database coordinator. Whatever your job title, these are some of the tasks you will be asked to perform: assisting more senior colleagues in database installation and maintenance, being responsible for data entry, and performing basic SQL querying. After about a year, you can think about promotion to a more senior role. This not only comes with more responsibilities, it also comes with a higher annual salary.

Continuous Learning

Typically, most of the needed and required training will be provided by your future employer. This means that your continuous learning will take place during your working hours. Nevertheless, you can show even more ambition, drive, motivation, and enthusiasm for your job if you look into valuable qualifications in database administration. A perfect first port of call is the Chartered Institute for IT (BCS). It offers a variety of interesting choices, some of which are short modules. How about looking into the following?

• Certifications for IT Professionals
• An Introduction to Information Security
• The Principles of Information Security Architecture
• BCS Level 3 Certificate in IT User Skills (ICDL Advanced) (ITQ)

Besides, you will benefit from these qualifications and certifications:

• Oracle Database Certification
• IBM Certified System Administrator
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate

A Day in the Life of a Data Base Administrator

Most of your working days will be spent in front of a computer and behind the virtual scenes. Here, you take on tasks like database monitoring and maintenance and come up with recovery plans to be applied in case of a database emergency. These are only some of your daily and regular responsibilities in this profession. What else waits for you in data base administration is what we look at in this section.

Check Notifications and Alerts

While most working days nowadays start with checking various inboxes, your working day in database administration will start with checking notifications and alerts. The database you are responsible for is equipped with so-called monitoring systems. They will notify you if all systems are “go” or if any issues and problems have cropped up. These need swift dealing to ensure that your company will not suffer from disruptions during the day.

Security Checks and Audits

Identifying issues and disruptions is one part of your working day. Besides, you also need to do security checks and audits. For these, you need to be on top of the existing safety and security policies adhering to database administration. One of the most important frameworks you must know inside and out is the UK GDPR, the UK General Data Protection Regulation. All your security checks and audits must comply with it. The same applies to any access controls, audit logs, and database permissions that form a part of this particular database administrator’s task.

Performance of Routine Maintenance

Notifications, alerts, security checks, and audits are all “check”? Then you can continue with our third task of your working day: conducting routine maintenance. After you have ensured that any issues have been eliminated and/or fixed, you control if all backups are in place and running. Routine maintenance furthermore involves so-called index maintenance and database consistency checks. After you have completed this task, you will likely perform various other jobs – but how about a quick break for a bite to eat and a well-deserved cuppa?

Tips for Thriving as a Data Base Administrator

Whether you are highly ambitious or happy to just tag along: investing effort and time into training is vital for both career approaches. We have already given you a few tips to continuously learn and improve. This, we will “complement” with the following three tips for thriving as a data base administrator in the UK: 

• Master SQL
• Master performance tuning
• Work-life balance

Master SQL

As a future data base administrator, you will use so-called SQL (structured query language) daily. Needless to say, you have already learned the basics both during your education and on the job. As with any competency, it never hurts to further improve and become the uber expert in a respective skill. If you want to perform well and thrive, you must master SQL. To achieve this, you can start by practising writing where you employ the various SQL dialects. This, naturally, also includes being on top of all the latest developments and innovations in SQL.

Master Performance Tuning

Only a smooth and efficient-running database is a good database everyone is happy with. Being a data base admin, you, of course, know that. Therefore, you should regularly invest time and effort into researching the latest hacks in performance tuning. This way, you contribute to optimising database performance. This tip for thriving goes hand in hand with monitoring database performance. Here, you should check metrics regularly and ensure that there are no issues that cause a hindrance to database performance.

Work-Life Balance

Our third tip for thriving does not focus on your professional development. Instead, for this, we recommend that you invest time into your work-life balance. After all, your working day is not only long, it is also quite intense. Looking at a screen, writing SQL, monitoring database performance, and being called in for troubleshooting can and will take their toll on you. Therefore, make a concerted effort to actually switch off after you have switched off your computer and equipment. Whatever it is that helps you relax – make time for your favourite hobby and spend some much-needed quality time with your loved ones.

Frequently Asked Questions