Re: help-story of passing OCP in a cheap way

Ahhh...the Chauncey Certification exam. I would like to see the library of the person that passed that exam by only reading books...

I have to agree with you on the ease of the OCP exam. It is a revenue generator for Oracle like the MS certifications are (what kind of profit margin is that...oh I failed? well, I'll just take it again tomorrow...). They tend to use some panic methods in marketing it (it's a big deal...you probably need to take these $2000 courses to pass the course, and of course, the tests are based on a lot of the actual course material from these classes). I took and passed the Chauncey and 7.3 OCP exams in the same week mostly to just take up space on a resume (it creates a little more negative space in that area where my Bachelor's Degree will be next year). If you're a good DBA, people are gonna know it. If you are a new or junior DBA and you just want some way of getting a position to become really good, the certifications help. No flames for OraSaurus here, but in response to the minimal skillset comment--it may be so, but it does have the fortunate affect of allowing my company to charge more for my services as a consultant. It gives the client site a little bit better frame of reference for selecting a hire (when I get to interview someone with one of those certifications listed, I throw out most of my basic Oracle questions and start throwing the experienced-based questions at them--the people that just read the books really stand out then...).

Jeff S

OraSaurus <granaman_at_not_home.com> wrote in message news:SAdf3.1580$4p2.1572_at_news.rdc1.ne.home.com...
> In article <377c71d6.0_at_145.227.194.253>, "Mark G"
<mgumbs_at_nospam.hotmail.com> wrote:
> >Manuals may be enough if you are dedicated enough but if you really want
to
> >suceed as a DBA, real experience is vital and these exams are based on
> >experience.
>
> Unfortunately, I don't think I buy that anymore. I have seen several
postings
> from people who got the OCP DBA certification from reading alone. At
least
> two of them even said they had *NEVER* actually connected to Oracle!
> Another had only used Personal Oracle for Windows 95! (Search DejaNews)
> I have also worked with a couple of people who had the certification, but
> weren't really that good. For example, one OCP DBA repeatedly asked very
> simple questions like how to find duplicate column values in a table, how
to
> identify broken (undeclared) foreign key relationships, what an outer join
is
> for and how it works, how to disable a constraint, etc. He also paraded
> around in front of senior management waving the OCP and pounded his chest
> saying he is, at least, one of the top ten DBAs in town! Jeezz... And, of
> course, the dummies actually believed it!
>
> I am beginning to think that the OCP certification really has only two
uses:
>
> 1) Generate revenue for Oracle Corp.
> -- The Oracle Press exam guide is full of significant errors and lists
@$99!
> -- Remember the previous (expensive, but now obsolete) Chauncey exam?
> -- How about the Oracle Developers Programme?
>
> 2) Provide some assurance of at least a minimal skill set (aka GED)
> -- Yes, I'm sure that majority of OCP DBAs are very good or exceptional.
> -- I'm also certain that I wouldn't hire anyone based on that alone.
> -- I definitely would NEVER hire ANYONE who waved it around like a
> -- Nobel Prize or certificate of godhood. It ain't. Not even close...
> -- Its more like a learner's permit! (Let the flames begin!)
>
> One great word of mouth recommendation is worth a thousand certificates...
> Of course, this is just my opinion...
>
> -- OraSaurus
> --
> -- Remove "not_" to reply...
> --
Received on Mon Jul 05 1999 - 02:09:15 CDT