About Leigh Ishikawa Expertise I can answer questions about certifications, technical skills, and realistic job opportunities.
Experience My speciality is QA, but I have been involved in development, release engineering, configuration management, technical publication as well as human factors aspects of software development. I've done some offshore management in UK, and recruting non-residents in USA, but I am not expert in off-shore recruting efforts.
NOTE: College/Highschool student are always welcomed to ask questions!
Question hi,
i have diploma in mechanical engineering and after that i did BBA bachelors of business administration in distance learning mode. i want to purse MBA degree from australia i dont have a very good acedamic record i could only score 43% in my degree programme but still i have a desire to pursue MBA. i wanna make career as DBA(database administartor). which MBA specialisation should i choose that could be a support or a strong background for DBA. i have MBA(information systems) in my mind.could u suggest me something else. is it necessary to have a computing background to pursue DBA career? so what should i do now or which course should i take up inorder to become a DBA.
my second question is which course or MBA SPECIALISATION IS REQUIRED TO BECOME A BUSINESS ANALYST. and which career in much better DBA or BUSINESS ANALYST please guide me.
looking at my background please guide me as to how should i plan and go about to pursue DBA career and how to go about to pursue a BUSINESS ANALYST career and which career is better among the two.
Answer First of all, I am in USA so I would recommend talking to someone in your own country as how career progressions work may be different.
I think first and foremost question is is Business Analyst or DBA better?
My philosophy in life has been that you are going to do well in a field that you have a natural talent for, or something you are interested. But I would opt for the interest because you can almost always pick things up if you have a talent for it. So the question goes back to you as to what you are interested.
As for DBA. DBA typically falls into 2 major fields.
Performance analyst, and Data analyst. (These may not be the right names for them, but I think you get the general idea) Most good DBAs can do both, but almost all of them specialize in 1 or the other. Performance analysts are great at tweaking the database system, as well as optimizing queries and stored procedures. The data analysts are great at data mining, and creating queries and designing tables to be optimal. As you can see they sort of bleed into one another, but the clear difference is one is good at system performance, and other is good at data mining. Which one is for you depends on what you like.
As for your MBA degree question. I don't know how it is in Australia, but in US, MBA plays a key role onces you get into managerial roles. That means as a DBA, and Business Analyst, it won't be much of a help. Once you get into managing teams, then departments, and then organizations, then you will see how MBA comes into play. But MBA's key role in USA isn't always about knowledge. It's about networking. Coming out of NYU Business (Stern), there are events that I am invited to that I can join and meet other graduates out of my school. Being that I am in the tech field, I don't really have anything to gain. But as a senior management, I can see how interacting with people from different organizations could make a great impact. As much as you spend your time learning, you should be investing in building relationship with various people and keeping in touch with them.
With that in mind, MBA degree should be looked at in different ways. First, what do you want to do? Second, which schools are within your reach, and what are they known for? Because 70% of classes in MBA are pretty universal. At least in the states, it's about team work and incubating ideas.
The other is about organization. If you are in large companies, they usually have career tracks for you to consider. Find a mentor who will give you guidance and ask what incentive plans (tuition reimbursement) are there and what steps you can use to move up in your career. Each company has different approach.
As for the rest, I still believe that people will be successful at what they enjoy. If you truly enjoy databases, then MBA may not be what you want to do. Perhaps going for MS in Computer Science or Math and focusing on various algorithm patterns may be more in line with what would be beneficial to you.
