Are there jobs for someone who only develops in Access?

[pleasehelpalot]

I've developed over forty applications in Access. I'm good at it and my users are very satisfied. I know some basic VB and get help from a programmer when needed.
I work for a government office and have other primary duties. Are there jobs in private industry defined as an 'Access Programmer'? What other skills are usually required? Where do I begin looking?

 

[tcsbiz]

I think that there are short term jobs for Access in small organizations. I used to consult on Access, QuickBooks, and VB. All of my customers were under 1,000 employees with most of them under 200. Most larger organizations will be using something like Oracle or SQl Server.

I don't think there are any long term jobs for Access. I think most jobs developing Access will be doing that part time with other duties like you have now.

 

[pleasehelpalot]

You verified what I suspected.
Thanks,I guess I'll stay put.

 

[genomon]

I don't think there are any long term jobs for Access.

I've had one for over 15 years with the same cooperative - around 6,000 members. Our database is SQL Server, but all our frontend apps and reporting is done in Access. You will need more than "basic" VBA skills, and knowledge of RDBMS architecture/schemas. Googling "ms access programming jobs" yields close to 3 million hits. Be willing to travel, though.
It's a niche, but it can pay quite well. Good luck!

Cogito eggo sum – I think, therefore I am a waffle.

 

[RiverGuy]

You should learn more skills. Most jobs require you to utilize more than one toolset. That being said, if you enjoy making reports in Access, consider learning Crystal Reports and/or SQL Server Reporting Services. If you enjoy creating forms and VBA code or macros, learn a .Net language (VB or C#). If you enjoy creating database schemas, learn SQL Server and/or MySQL. Of course, you can also go down a non-Microsoft path, but the technologies I listed above are routinely used in conjunction with other Microsoft products and you already have one foot in the Microsoft knowledge-base.

 

[genomon]

RiverGuy is exactly right - I was only addressing your Access question. It is very important to have as many tools in your box as you can (I do much more than just Access myself, but Access is my primary responsibility), and plan on continuing education to stay current, and pick up new ones. Access is a great place to start if that is what interests you now, and you have to start somewhere!

Cogito eggo sum – I think, therefore I am a waffle.

 

[SQLSister]

I started as an Access programmer (There are full time jobs but mostly with small companies or small groups inside larger companies, I worked for Lockheed Martin for instance but we only had 30 people in the location) and was lucky enough to move to a position where the Access back end moved to SQL Server and thus was able to learn SQL Server and now that is my professional specialty.

Suggest that you can start that way as well if you want to progress beyond Access. SQL Server express is free and can be used as the backend for many of your Access programs. From there you can learn stored procedures and t-SQL which will allow you to move to a data analyst postion supporting SQl server. Your Access experience would also help in moving to using SSRS (SQL Server Reporting Services) because a lot of the concepts of building reports are very similar (although you can get much more complex with SSRS) to Access reports.

Consulting to small companies using Access is another path. There is plenty of work out there if you are a good salesperson and are will to really look for it. However, consulting carries it's own risks. It can pay well but genreally you get no benefits (including health insurance) so it's not something everyone is willing to do. If you are your own consulting firm, you may not be able to plan on a set amount of income per month especially when you are just getting started and you are trying to build up a client base.

"NOTHING is more important in a database than integrity." ESquared

 

[pleasehelpalot]

Lots of valuable info, thanks

 

[Ray1127]

My primary Job Duties are as a Data Analyst. My primary responsibility is to analyze the Health care Data our company stores in various Large Databases (Primarily SQL Server and Oracle) My primary Tool is MS Access I use that as a front end to various Databases and create queries and Reports that allow me to do the Analysis my job requires. My time is spent about 50-50. 50% in Access developing the Queries, Reports, Macros, VBA whatever is needed to get to the Data so I can do the Analysis that is my primary job.

 

[smedvid]

As SQLSister mentioned, perhaps you can select a single area to concentrate your skills which is presently required in the industry. I started with dBase, FoxPro and MS Access. Now, I am skilled in Oracle, SQL Server and ETL Tools (i.e. Data Stage). The more tools (skills) you have in your tool box the more value you can add to a client/organization.

There are tons of free tutorials for almost anything... I would recommend SQL Server as a next logical step. T-SQL is not overly difficult to learn; and SSIS/DTS is not too bad either.

Good luck...

Steve Medvid
IT Consultant & Web Master

http://www.saveourfarm.com

Chester County, PA Residents
Please Show Your Support...

 

[SQLSister]

Steve
dBase, now there's a blast from the past. I'll never forget opening that up for the first time and seeing

.

No menus, no clue what to type at the dot prompt, just a screen with a period on it.

"NOTHING is more important in a database than integrity." ESquared

 

[smedvid]

LoL -- Yep the good old days with dBase II and dBase III... FoxPro DOS was a big step up in the mid-late 1980's.

And, also you note that "SQL Server Express is Free" is very good.... My*SQL may also be worth looking into as another RDBMS.

Steve Medvid
IT Consultant & Web Master

http://www.saveourfarm.com

Chester County, PA Residents
Please Show Your Support...

 

[msplants]

Access has always been a good small database and companies will continue to use it and hire folks to develop them.

I was an Access guru until the early 2000s with an emphasis on reporting and conversions. I would convert the old DOS based DBase, RBase, Paradox, etc. to MS Access.

So yes, to answer your question, there will be work with MS Access.