Starting an Oracle DBA internship soon and I feel completely lost — what should I learn ASAP?
Posted by Jazzlike_Ship_816@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 23 comments
Hello everyone,
Next month (July) I may start an internship as an Oracle DBA, but honestly I feel pretty clueless about database administration beyond what I learned as an IT student.
My current knowledge is mainly:
- SQL language
- Designing normalized relational schemas
- Programming inside a database server
- Some experience with Microsoft SQL Server and T-SQL
From what I understand, Oracle uses PL/SQL instead of T-SQL, but I assume many database concepts are still similar across systems.
The problem is that I genuinely do not know what companies usually expect from a DBA intern. I don’t want to show up looking completely unprepared or like I have no idea what I’m doing.
Whenever I search for Oracle DBA learning resources, I hit a dead end. Most free content I find feels incomplete or superficial. Oracle University seems like the best option, but it’s unfortunately too expensive for me right now.
Since I only have about a month left before the internship starts, I want to use my remaining time as efficiently as possible.
So I wanted to ask people here:
- What are the most important things I should learn before starting an Oracle DBA internship?
- Which topics are considered essential for beginners?
- Are there any good free resources, books, YouTube channels, labs, or courses you would recommend?
- If you had only one month to prepare someone for a junior Oracle DBA internship, what would you prioritize?
I’m very willing to put in the effort and study seriously — I just need some direction because right now I feel overwhelmed and unsure where to start.
Any advice would really help. Thanks a lot.
_unknown4@reddit
They actually want you to not know everything so they can teach you but you still need to show some level of competence to what your doing most things period is just learning as you go
Jazzlike_Ship_816@reddit (OP)
You’re right, and I know they’re not expecting me to know everything from day one.
I just want to avoid looking completely incompetent by at least grasping some fundamentals in advance. What I’m trying to avoid is a situation where my supervisor asks me to do something and I’m just standing there completely clueless about where to even start.
I know managers and senior employees are usually busy and under pressure, so I don’t want to feel like a heavy burden that constantly needs hand-holding for every small thing. That’s mainly why I’m trying to prepare as much as I can beforehand.
A-Millford-Man@reddit
The greatest thing any intern can do when they don’t know how to accomplish an assigned task is ASK to have the knowledge gap filled in. That’s why you’re there and it is why they hired you. Don’t be afraid to say “I’m not sure I am familiar with all of the process on that. Can you help me make sure I’ve got it right?” Or “I know how to do X but not Y. Can you help me with that part?” Do NOT say “I don’t know how to do that.” And definitely do not just not say anything and try to fumble your way through it.
derango@reddit
You are massively overthinking this. If they didn't have time to deal with an intern, then they wouldn't be bringing in an intern.
heisenbugtastic@reddit
Check out Jonathan, https://jonathanlewis.wordpress.com/all-postings/
He is the guru of Oracle performance. Books or blog, he is the best.
jdanton14@reddit
did you write this from 1998? My recommendation with be to install an Oracle XE instance in a Linux VM, as that's probably similar to what you'll be using. Figure out how to login, know what a tnsnames file is, and how to do a backup/restore.
jdanton14@reddit
also, have you worked on a database before? Understand the concepts of how that works.
Jazzlike_Ship_816@reddit (OP)
If you mean understanding how the database works internally under the hood, then no, I’m pretty clueless about that for now.
As I mentioned in the post, my background is more development-oriented, so most of my database knowledge comes from the dev side: designing normalized schemas, writing stored procedures/functions and transactions, and optimizing queries using indexes.
But when it comes to the administration/infrastructure side of databases, I still know very little, which is exactly why I’m trying to learn before starting the internship.
jdanton14@reddit
This is pretty solid view of how Oracle works:
https://www.oracle.com/webfolder/technetwork/tutorials/architecture-diagrams/19/pdf/db-19c-architecture.pdf
Jazzlike_Ship_816@reddit (OP)
Thanks a lot for the advice, this is actually the kind of practical direction I was looking for.
Would it be okay if I sent you a friend request or DM’d you to ask a few more detailed questions about the topic whenever you’re free? Only if you don’t mind of course.
Since you already went through the Oracle DBA intern path yourself, I feel like your guidance could really help me avoid wasting time on the wrong things.
Thanks again.
jdanton14@reddit
yeah, NP.
TerrificVixen5693@reddit
You’re not giving yourself enough credit, you have of good base understanding of databases already.
If you’re really nervous about it, why don’t you do a Udemy or LinkedIn Learning class on a particular database stack that you may be interacting with?
Jazzlike_Ship_816@reddit (OP)
Thanks, I think I’m probably underestimating myself a bit because this would be my first real exposure to DBA work in a professional environment.
And yeah, that’s actually what I’m trying to do right now — find a structured course or learning path instead of jumping randomly between resources. I’ll probably look into Udemy or LinkedIn Learning and focus specifically on Oracle fundamentals to build some confidence before starting.
jmeador42@reddit
Gumption. Technical skills can be taught, gumption cannot.
Jazzlike_Ship_816@reddit (OP)
Yeah, you’re right. I guess the fact that I’m already trying to prepare beforehand and actively looking for resources probably reflects that mindset already.
I may not know much yet, but at least I genuinely want to learn and improve instead of just showing up empty-minded.
jonnydopemsr@reddit
Remember you are an intern. This title is to give you a real world feel of what it is like vs what school teaches you. As u/Soggy-Attempt said they expect you to know nothing and want you to have the desire to learn. They will train you on their infrastructure most likely. Also don't hesitate to ask questions. If they do something a certain way, ask.
Depending on the company as well this could lead to a job offer at the end of it too. They picked you out of others who applied. They obliviously saw something with you. Congrats on your internship! Just remember to relax and breath, you got this.
Soggy-Attempt@reddit
your intern. They expect you to know nothing. They want you to have a desire learn and work.
Jazzlike_Ship_816@reddit (OP)
I hope the environment I’ll be in is exactly as you describe.
I know they don’t expect me to know everything as an intern, but I still want to learn some fundamentals beforehand so I don’t end up completely lost when asked to do something. I just want to be useful and learn as efficiently as possible instead of feeling like a burden to people who are already busy.
derango@reddit
You're an intern. They don't expect you to know anything other than some basic concepts of DB-ing. I presume they already talked to you prior to the internship. They are aware of what you know and don't know. Don't overthink this.
What you say you have experience with sounds just fine. You can pick up the oracle specific stuff as you go.
Jazzlike_Ship_816@reddit (OP)
Okay, thanks. That actually makes me feel a bit better about the situation.
Attack-Chihuahua-85@reddit
Pl/sql is a good pace to start, familiarize yourself with syntax. Also you can install oracle dbms for free with an oracle account, so you can play around on your home machine with an oracle db. It won’t have all the enterprise features, but you can get practice doing things in the oracle dbms that way, and can mess up all you want and no one will know except you! You’ve got this!
Jazzlike_Ship_816@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the encouragement!
Iconically_Lost@reddit
Alcohol is a solution. It will help.