In any job market on the downturn, the thing that makes the difference between begin employed in your field and being employed in the food-service industry is experience and reputation.
Reputation includes: your employer's, peers' and clients' opinion of your skills; and whatever certfications you hold.
Experience is the four years you have in the trenches. But not all experience is useful. What really matters is how much of your experience applies to the current job market.
If you are thinking about getting that DBA cert and trying to make your way in that new field, you are probably making a mistake to try it right now. I see nothing to indicate right now that the DBA field is any less competetive than general IT. Also, if you are trying to invoke a specialized cert to get a job, you need to keep in mind that only that part of your experience in the specialized field counts toward that specialized field. Sure, the rest of your experience will be taken into consideration, but only as a tie-breaker after specialized experience. And there are folk out there that have been Oracle DBAs longer than you've been in the business in total.
If you are thinking of getting that cert with an eye to diversifying your reputation portfolio, go ahead. Make sure, though, whatever the reason for getting the cert, that you learn the theory behind everything you do, both in your job and while studying for your cert exams. Knowing the theory gives you the ability to cross-reference your knowledge in new ways. This is what will allow you to add new tricks to your repetoir in your current position and better assimilate course materials when studying for a new cert test. ______________________________________________________________________
TANSTAAFL!
