This is actually a key insight - you need to actually do a little bit of experimenting when you get into software performance. Politically, you can run into we

This is actually a key insight - you need to actually do a little bit of experimenting when you get into software performance. Politically, you can run into weird "ownership" issues (eg, the DBA team handles system performance) and fighting the chain is soul-deadening. One of the reasons I considered actually getting one of the myriad DBA certifications is to add the heft of being able to say I had it to the PHBs when this type of thing comes up. Thankfully, I held off and I think for the most part these certifications (although valuable when paired with demonstrable applied skills in real projects) have fallen out of favor lately. Certs are a particularly strange form of resume fodder - a few years ago they were pretty key in making it past the HR gauntlet. I imagine that for some techs (I'm looking at you, Oracle) they are still a defacto requirement.