Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Database administrator to chief data officer

A database administrator already meets 36% of what the chief data officer role asks for. The move turns on 14 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From database administrator
36 % overlap
Distant match
To chief data officer
29 You already bring
14 Still to learn
61 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

69.8/ 100

1 How much of what a chief data officer is expected to do is already part of a database administrator’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the chief data officer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A chief data officer role treats 2 of its required skills as things a database administrator already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • data storage
  • information structure

What stands in the way is 14 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 29 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A chief data officer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a database administrator background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held Oracle Relational Database information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held online analytical processing information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held Filemaker (database management systems) information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held IBM Informix information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held MySQL information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held ObjectStore information and communication technologies (icts)

All 29 carried skills, including the 2 the chief data officer role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 32 missing skills fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 information and communication technologies (icts) 3 required, 9 supplementary
  • still to learn data mining required
  • still to learn decision support systems required
  • still to learn data science required
  • optional, not held CA Datacom/DB optional
  • optional, not held cloud technologies optional
  • optional, not held information architecture optional
  • optional, not held information confidentiality optional
  • optional, not held information extraction optional
  • optional, not held information security strategy optional
  • optional, not held unstructured data optional
  • optional, not held database optional
  • optional, not held image recognition optional
02 management skills 2 required, 3 supplementary
  • still to learn define data quality criteria required
  • still to learn define technology strategy required
  • optional, not held coordinate technological activities optional
  • optional, not held apply change management optional
  • optional, not held manage business knowledge optional
03 information skills 2 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn manage data required
  • still to learn make data-driven decisions required
  • optional, not held implement ICT risk management optional
  • optional, not held report analysis results optional
04 working with computers 2 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn manage ICT data classification required
  • still to learn utilise decision support system required
  • optional, not held integrate ICT data optional
05 arts and humanities 2 required
  • still to learn visual presentation techniques required
  • still to learn data ethics required
06 assisting and caring 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn apply information security policies required
  • optional, not held develop information security strategy optional

3 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a chief data officer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 29 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held data storage knowledge
  • already held information structure knowledge
  • already held DB2 knowledge
  • already held Filemaker (database management systems) knowledge
  • already held IBM Informix knowledge
  • already held LDAP knowledge
  • already held LINQ knowledge
  • already held MDX knowledge
  • already held Microsoft Access knowledge
  • already held MySQL knowledge
  • already held N1QL knowledge
  • already held ObjectStore knowledge
  • already held OpenEdge Database knowledge
  • already held Oracle Relational Database knowledge
  • already held PostgreSQL knowledge
  • already held SPARQL knowledge
  • already held SQL Server knowledge
  • already held Teradata Database knowledge
  • already held XQuery knowledge
  • already held business intelligence knowledge
  • already held data engineering knowledge
  • already held data models knowledge
  • already held data quality assessment knowledge
  • already held database development tools knowledge
  • already held database management systems knowledge
  • already held online analytical processing knowledge
  • already held query languages knowledge
  • already held resource description framework query language knowledge
  • already held use databases skill
The 3 learning areas not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 communication, collaboration and creativity 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn manage ICT data architecture required
  • optional, not held deliver visual presentation of data optional
08 business, administration and law 1 required
  • still to learn business processes required
09 social sciences, journalism and information 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held information categorisation optional
18 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held CA Datacom/DB optional
  • optional, not held cloud technologies optional
  • optional, not held coordinate technological activities optional
  • optional, not held develop information security strategy optional
  • optional, not held implement ICT risk management optional
  • optional, not held information architecture optional
  • optional, not held information categorisation optional
  • optional, not held information confidentiality optional
  • optional, not held information extraction optional
  • optional, not held information security strategy optional
  • optional, not held integrate ICT data optional
  • optional, not held unstructured data optional
  • optional, not held apply change management optional
  • optional, not held database optional
  • optional, not held deliver visual presentation of data optional
  • optional, not held image recognition optional
  • optional, not held manage business knowledge optional
  • optional, not held report analysis results optional
38 held skills the chief data officer role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role MarkLogic knowledge
  • not needed by the target role TripleStore knowledge
  • not needed by the target role administer ICT system skill
  • not needed by the target role apply company policies skill
  • not needed by the target role balance database resources skill
  • not needed by the target role create data models skill
  • not needed by the target role define database physical structure skill
  • not needed by the target role design database backup specifications skill
  • not needed by the target role design database in the cloud skill
  • not needed by the target role design database scheme skill
  • not needed by the target role distributed computing knowledge
  • not needed by the target role domain name service knowledge
  • not needed by the target role estimate duration of work skill
  • not needed by the target role execute ICT audits skill
  • not needed by the target role implement ICT security policies skill
  • not needed by the target role implement a firewall skill
  • not needed by the target role implement anti-virus software skill
  • not needed by the target role interpret technical texts skill
  • not needed by the target role maintain database performance skill
  • not needed by the target role maintain database security skill
  • not needed by the target role manage cloud data and storage skill
  • not needed by the target role manage database skill
  • not needed by the target role operate relational database management system skill
  • not needed by the target role perform ICT troubleshooting skill
  • not needed by the target role perform backups skill
  • not needed by the target role protect personal data and privacy skill
  • not needed by the target role provide ICT support skill
  • not needed by the target role provide technical training skill
  • not needed by the target role quality assurance methodologies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role remove computer virus or malware from a computer skill
  • not needed by the target role support ICT system users skill
  • not needed by the target role system backup best practice knowledge
  • not needed by the target role use an application-specific interface skill
  • not needed by the target role use automatic programming skill
  • not needed by the target role use back-up and recovery tools skill
  • not needed by the target role use different communication channels skill
  • not needed by the target role use scripting programming skill
  • not needed by the target role use spreadsheets software skill
16 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn data mining required
  • still to learn decision support systems required
  • still to learn visual presentation techniques required
  • still to learn business processes required
  • still to learn data ethics required
  • still to learn data science required
  • optional, not held CA Datacom/DB optional
  • optional, not held cloud technologies optional
  • optional, not held information architecture optional
  • optional, not held information categorisation optional
  • optional, not held information confidentiality optional
  • optional, not held information extraction optional
  • optional, not held information security strategy optional
  • optional, not held unstructured data optional
  • optional, not held database optional
  • optional, not held image recognition optional
Index

Other moves recorded from database administrator

Full index of moves from database administrator

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a database administrator become a chief data officer?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A database administrator already covers 36% of what a chief data officer is expected to do: 29 skills carry over, 2 of which the chief data officer role treats as required.

What skills does a database administrator need to become a chief data officer?

14 required skills are missing, plus 18 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information and communication technologies (icts). The single most important is apply information security policies.

How hard is the move from database administrator to chief data officer?

Its learning distance is 69.8 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.