The job responsibilities that a database administrator is required to handle are numerous and significant for efficient data management and retrieval in the organization. As a database administrator you have to ensure that the data is secure, authentic and precise. As a database administrator, you hold the ultimate authority to see to the modification of data when required. A database administrator has to ensure the consistency of business and financial data. He should check to the maintenance of data in a uniform format so that it can be easily accessed and interpreted for analysis. He implements proper security control measures on the database. He requires maintaining an account of the permissions and access rights granted to the various users of the database. He tests and executes various data recovery plans. He authenticates the installation of applications exterior to the system.
As far as academic qualifications are concerned, you are entitled to apply for the post of a database administrator, even after being a mere graduate. But a graduate in Software Development and Maintenance, Electronics, Operations Management, and Computer engineering will help you in comprehending your job. A postgraduate degree will always be helpful for future advancements.
Another factor that can really help you, both at the time of entering into the industry as well as in the actual job process of a database administrator is the training you undergo in the domain of working. The training must be highly technical and you have a choice of excelling in the practical experience on many of the major industrial technologies such as those endorsed by Microsoft and Oracle. Even database training on IBM databases such as DB2 are prevalent these days.
The range of the compensations offered to a database administrator is highly industry specific, and differs from one industrial domain to the other. It has been found the at the industrial domain such as banking and retail as well as various financial services offer the most handsome pay scales to a database administrator. This is due to the extensive data management jobs they require of him. The salaries may rise up to as high as thirty to forty thousand US dollars for an efficient and highly trained database administrator.
The role of a database administrator is gaining greater importance and becoming much more crucial in the present day organizations in the wake of the recent era of hacking and susceptibility of the database to frequent crashes. Thus as a database administrator you shall find many takers for your skills and talents.