Originally posted by jodie
At my last company, as a Jr. DBA, I did some weekend maintenance. During the maintenance window, we had several problems with Production (running on the backup system). Due to craziness, I forgot to analyze one of the tables. It had some nasty performance affects come Monday. My fellow DBA and I found the problem, reported it to management (like you suggested, Hanky), and fixed the problem. My management was clueless and wouldn't have known any different if we didn't tell them what the problem was. I felt terrible, but knew that I did the right thing owning up to my mistake. My boss told me don't worry about it. 3 days later I was called into his office and written up for the "screw-up" - Step 1 of 3 to be fired. I was floored.
Unfortunately, the right thing to do is never the easy thing to do. I know I can sleep at night because I did the right thing during the day. It says more about your management team then your skills if they crucify you for making a single mistake with a demonstrated track record of success. All I can say is get your experience, build your confidence, and jump ship before the axe swings in your direction.