Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Database designer to database administrator

A database designer already meets 47% of what the database administrator role asks for. The move turns on 16 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From database designer
47 % overlap
Partial match
To database administrator
34 You already bring
16 Still to learn
67 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

64.1/ 100

1 How much of what a database administrator is expected to do is already part of a database designer’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 database administrator role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A database administrator role treats 12 of its required skills as things a database designer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • data models
  • database development tools
  • database management systems
  • define database physical structure
  • design database backup specifications
  • design database scheme

What stands in the way is 16 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 34 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A database administrator role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a database designer background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held define database physical structure working with computers
  • already held design database backup specifications communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held operate relational database management system working with computers
  • already held MarkLogic information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held TripleStore information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held Oracle Relational Database information and communication technologies (icts)

All 34 carried skills, including the 12 the database administrator role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 33 missing skills fall into 6 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 working with computers 8 required, 8 supplementary
  • still to learn administer ICT system required
  • still to learn balance database resources required
  • still to learn maintain database performance required
  • still to learn maintain database security required
  • still to learn perform backups required
  • still to learn use an application-specific interface required
  • still to learn use scripting programming required
  • still to learn perform ICT troubleshooting required
  • optional, not held implement ICT security policies optional
  • optional, not held implement a firewall optional
  • optional, not held implement anti-virus software optional
  • optional, not held use automatic programming optional
  • optional, not held provide ICT support optional
  • optional, not held remove computer virus or malware from a computer optional
  • optional, not held use back-up and recovery tools optional
  • optional, not held use spreadsheets software optional
02 information and communication technologies (icts) 4 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn data storage required
  • still to learn distributed computing required
  • still to learn domain name service required
  • still to learn system backup best practice required
  • optional, not held online analytical processing optional
03 information skills 2 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn create data models required
  • still to learn interpret technical texts required
  • optional, not held execute ICT audits optional
  • optional, not held estimate duration of work optional
04 business, administration and law 1 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn data quality assessment required
  • optional, not held business intelligence optional
  • optional, not held quality assurance methodologies optional
05 assisting and caring 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn apply company policies required
  • optional, not held protect personal data and privacy optional
06 communication, collaboration and creativity 3 supplementary
  • optional, not held support ICT system users optional
  • optional, not held provide technical training optional
  • optional, not held use different communication channels optional
Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a database administrator 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 34 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held data models knowledge
  • already held database development tools knowledge
  • already held database management systems knowledge
  • already held define database physical structure skill
  • already held design database backup specifications skill
  • already held design database scheme skill
  • already held information structure knowledge
  • already held manage database skill
  • already held operate relational database management system skill
  • already held query languages knowledge
  • already held resource description framework query language knowledge
  • already held use databases skill
  • 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 MarkLogic 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 TripleStore knowledge
  • already held XQuery knowledge
  • already held data engineering knowledge
  • already held design database in the cloud skill
  • already held manage cloud data and storage skill
17 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held execute ICT audits optional
  • optional, not held implement ICT security policies optional
  • optional, not held implement a firewall optional
  • optional, not held implement anti-virus software optional
  • optional, not held online analytical processing optional
  • optional, not held support ICT system users optional
  • optional, not held use automatic programming optional
  • optional, not held business intelligence optional
  • optional, not held estimate duration of work optional
  • optional, not held protect personal data and privacy optional
  • optional, not held provide ICT support optional
  • optional, not held provide technical training optional
  • optional, not held quality assurance methodologies optional
  • optional, not held remove computer virus or malware from a computer optional
  • optional, not held use back-up and recovery tools optional
  • optional, not held use different communication channels optional
  • optional, not held use spreadsheets software optional
69 held skills the database administrator role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role ABAP knowledge
  • not needed by the target role AJAX knowledge
  • not needed by the target role APL knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ASP.NET knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Agile project management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Assembly (computer programming) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role C# knowledge
  • not needed by the target role C++ knowledge
  • not needed by the target role CA Datacom/DB knowledge
  • not needed by the target role COBOL knowledge
  • not needed by the target role CoffeeScript knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Common Lisp knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Erlang knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Groovy knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Haskell knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT project management methodologies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT security legislation knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Java (computer programming) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role JavaScript knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Lisp knowledge
  • not needed by the target role MATLAB knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ML (computer programming) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Microsoft Visual C++ knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Objective-C knowledge
  • not needed by the target role OpenEdge Advanced Business Language knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Oracle WebLogic knowledge
  • not needed by the target role PHP knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Pascal (computer programming) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Perl knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Process-based management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Prolog (computer programming) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Python (computer programming) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role R knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Ruby (computer programming) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role SAP R3 knowledge
  • not needed by the target role SAS language knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Scala knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Scratch (computer programming) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Smalltalk (computer programming) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Swift (computer programming) knowledge

29 further entries not listed here

8 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 quality assessment required
  • still to learn data storage required
  • still to learn distributed computing required
  • still to learn domain name service required
  • still to learn system backup best practice required
  • optional, not held online analytical processing optional
  • optional, not held business intelligence optional
  • optional, not held quality assurance methodologies optional
Index

Other moves recorded from database designer

Full index of moves from database designer

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a database designer become a database administrator?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A database designer already covers 47% of what a database administrator is expected to do: 34 skills carry over, 12 of which the database administrator role treats as required.

What skills does a database designer need to become a database administrator?

16 required skills are missing, plus 17 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by working with computers. The single most important is administer ICT system.

How hard is the move from database designer to database administrator?

Its learning distance is 64.1 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.