Re: for those who don't read my blog (tsk tsk!)

From: David Fitzjarrell <oratune_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:38:21 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <1315957101.1088.YahooMailNeo_at_web65411.mail.ac4.yahoo.com>



I certified way back when the first requirement was to have at least 5 years of  progressive experience in the field and the goal was to validate the knowledge gained by experience, hence the title 'Oracle Certified Professional'.  I stopped when it became a cash-cow for Oracle and anyone, experienced or not, could acquire and proudly display the Oracle Certified Professional  logo.  Not that it hasn't helped my career, but the process has gone from useful to useless;  Oracle has tried to salvage the program by instituting the Oracle Certified Master designation requiring hands-on experience (and, gee, isn't that how this whole program began, requiring hands-on experience?)
 

I have interviewed many DBA candidates and regularly dismiss the experience-less OCPs primarily because they lack in knowledge outside of the OCP study materials.  To be fair I also tend to dismiss any DBA who can't code a command in SQL*Plus to add a datafile to a tablespace or perform any of a number  of other management tasks absent a GUI.
 

I agree that the time taken to study for these exams is worthwhile as it can, and often will, reveal holes in the fabric of one's Oracle knowledge gained through experience.  What I do disagree with is the notion that passing the exams, absent real-world  Oracle experience, creates a knowledgeable and reliable DBA as I haven't found that to be true.  David Fitzjarrell
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Received on Tue Sep 13 2011 - 18:38:21 CDT

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