I have seen lot of folks are crazy about becoming DBA..I think in countries like India there are beter scope for DBA's as due to offshoring and customer being very particular about word "DBA" - there are some advantages in term of being a DBA..so it might help.Not too sure about what is the position in USA..I have been there for 7 yrs and came back to India.one thing I have observed in USA..you can be a dba even in lates 50's but in india (sorry to take names ) it is just not possible..if you have more than 10-12 yrs of experience in IT.then hey you have to be a manager..there might be exceptions ,i am not generalizing but , this is a strange thing.

what would you do after 12 yrs...not technical work for sure. pre-sales possible.sales..all the way.pepeole managemet - best.

so tough question - really. but in USA i think if you are looking for longivity in your job - dba role might be the trick ,of course without intrest you will not be able to leran, will you be happy ( question arise ,if there is option to be not happy :))...

environment in companies - well if you are in a services company -just forget about it ....good or bad -i think it will be same everywhere , be flexible, do what they assign and enjoy.as they are parasites..how can you ask for something which you like...they will give you what they get..

honestly -every company, workplace has its own problem and learning is slow everywhere for majority of folks in IT..but then there are exceptions here as well..few pepole do learn quite few things.

best thing is change the job frequently - that will help speed up your learning process for sure..at once place.doing the same thing you get bored..learn less..analytical skill also go for a Toss..

enough of my experience..

I changed careers about 10 years ago into IT, and studying (local community college) about 1 year towards my Oracle 8 DBA cert got me into my first job (analyst).

But later I noticed not many so called senior developers doing a lot of work in Oracle didn't know much about what was happening behind the scenes in Oracle, some didn't even truly know what is laid out in the Concepts guide. They became senior based on time spent behind the desk, not in their proficiency in Oracle. Amazing to me really.

So, if you love data as I do, and want to become more than another run of the mill developer (or DBA), you really should go through the effort to get certified, you'll learn so much that you can apply moving forward, whether as a DBA or developer (and more than just learning a new language, you're learning proficiency in the top database in the world, you'll always be wanted somewhere).

Finally, like a previous poster commented, get into a job with a medium to large company first, and start out as a data analyst (imo). More chances for varying experiences and more mentors. Just have the drive to be better than your mentors ;)

Tom