Get to know some of our talented authors featured in our author spotlights. You can see interviews, detailed biographies, and book summaries of some of the best in the industry.
ROBERT: I am a mid-westerner born, raised, and educated. I have been in the IT industry for 17 years and have been working with Oracle for 8 years. I have 2 kids in various stages of adolescence. We have 5 cats and 1 dog. The best parts of my job involve learning new things, and then educating others.
ROBERT: I have always been interested in discussions about how to evaluate the knowledge and experience of DBAs. It is not enough to say that a DBA has been trained. It is important to provide some type of evaluation mechanism to see if the training has stuck. I was attracted by the Reviewnet approach because it attempts to balance both testing and training. The questions require thought. They also provide explanations of why a particular answer is better than another answer.
ROBERT: I haven't written books, but I have had articles published, and have written white papers and presentations for user conferences. I have always been interested in sharing information with other DBAs in my company. The articles and presentations to external groups seemed to be a natural progression of that interest.
ROBERT: I feel best about the activities that I have done within my company to educate and mentor DBAs, fostering an environment of helpfulness and knowledge sharing. Externally, I have given presentations at the International Oracle User's Group conference (IOUG-A Live!) for the last 4 years, and have placed in the top 25 presentors each year ( although the results from this year's conference have not been published yet).
ROBERT: I read a lot. I spend time browsing through the on-line documentation sets. I then set up test cases to try out the new technology.
ROBERT: Don't discount the usefulness of the documentation provided by the vendor. Read it all, at least at a high level to get an idea of the capabilities of the product. Don't stop at just reading. Get into Oracle and use the commands and information that you have read about, even if it is only in a play database that you throw away. Get involved with other DBAs who are willing to share their experience with you. Be willing to share your own experiences, even if you don't feel confident. The process of sharing, either through a presentation or a paper, will force you to focus your thoughts. You will find that you understand the topic better yourself.
ROBERT: I think that it is very important for recruiters have have tools that allow them to go beyond the information on an applicant's resume. These tests help evaluate the skills that you expect a new hire to have.
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