Sure do

 

Middleware Engg. and Support here....I do the plumbing for the data to move around from one application to another.

 

How much does a decent Microsoft SQL DBA cost these days? Looking for one up Frederick, MD way.

 

I don't know if its the same for DBA's, but "decent" is an increasingly relative term these days.

I've been put in charge of hiring a team for a project and I gotta tell ya the crop of strong talent (I'm talking solid seniors) is REALLY dry, at least in the MS .Net sector :/

I've been totally unimpressed with almost every candidate that I've sat down with (and that doesn't even include the resumes I trash before even doing a phone tech, let alone bringing them in for an interview).

 

LOL that is what I was afraid of. I'm not really expecting top tier but I want to change the scope of a position I was authorized to fill so I can unload some of my DBA tasks on someone else and don't know that I can get into a high enough salary range to get someone who has actually seen a SQL server.
SQL is taking more and more of my time with 5 DB Servers in this office, some at a hosted location, branch locations, being dragged into the corporate SQL boxes and several hundred client servers I can't get any of my other tasks done without working 80-100 hours a week

Personally, I would love to be able throw 6 figures at somebody but I don't see that happening at this point.

 

I hear ya. I'm really not sure what the market is for SQL DBA's at the moment. I know good developers cost a mint due to the "drought" I mention above.

I'd normally suggest trying to snap some kid up right out of college (or hell still in college), but I doubt there are a lot of kids in college focusing on DBA skillsets. That's not to say DBA's aren't extremely important, I just mean that I don't think a lot of people decide to do DBA work until their out in the field for a while. I get the impression that most college students in the IT field focus on either systems or development work. I could be wrong though

Still you're right on that really good talent is expensive these days! Even more so if you throw in a deire to communicate effectively!!! (sad but true)

 

We could use a few good developers too, my not so good developers cost a fortune. I may just abandon hope, become the DBA andlet them figure out how to do the rest of my stuff

 

yup REALLY GOOD .net developers are hard to come by.
But thats the case with any other platforms..

and you're not gonna find a SQL DBA in college.
Most college kids, even those in the right majors, (CS or MIS or EE or what not), don't know how to write a moderately complex sql query, let alone be a DBA.

At least programming can be learned in school somewhat, but being a DBA can only be learned on the job, IMO. Not talking about how to create schemas in oracle or sql server and etc. Those can be learned from books of course. But being a real DBA can be only learned from experience I think. More so if you're looking for someone to do both DB developer and a DB admin duties.

 

especially about the doodie part

 

I agree, except for the programming being learned in school

I think that they're both very similar in that you can learn the building blocks from school or book reading, but that you only really gain the power perform DBA duties with skill or architect elegent software solutions through experience (and continual learning and research).

I look at it much like learning a written language. You can go to school and learn the syntax and how to form a sentence so that other can understand you. This doesn't mean you can craft a beautifly written and entertaining novel. That takes research, experience, and the ability to be creative.

In the same vein, just knowing T-SQL or how to set up tables and triggers isn't enough to make you a SQL Server DBA just as knowing C# doesn't mean you're capable of being an .Net Application Architect. Those roles both require you to be creative, have a good deal of experience, and to continually research new techniques and technologies.

Just my personal $0.02, but I'll get off the soap box