Re: Outrage that OCP exams are now unproctored - Comments?

Joe wrote:

> I just passed the oracle 9i exam.
>
> I think the process is very worthwhile. At least I got a feeling what
> Oracle 9i will provide other than 8i. My coworkers who did not try to study
> for the OCP does not even have the clue what else Oracle 9i can offer, and
> how it will improve our work, not because they cann't read English, because
> they do not have to. Your boss will not blame you for not using something
> he himself does not even know that exists.
>
> One of my friend is working with a middle size company which has three DBAs.
> Every time they do a upgrade, they will take an outrage, I asked them why
> not using standby database, none of them even know such thing exists.
>
> Another case, everytime they found that one or a few SQLs is not using the
> right path, they have to call their software company to send them an
> application patch, which of course means downtime and extra cost. I asked
> them why not using Outline Stabilty, they said they never heard of it.
>
> "Don Burleson" <don_at_burleson.cc> wrote in message
> news:998d28f7.0212250820.5cc2fb6_at_posting.google.com...
> > Greetings,
> >
> > I have heard a rumor that the Oracle9i OCP SQL exam is unproctored:
> >
> > "The new exam is un-proctored, meaning that you can take the exam
> > unsupervised at your own location. If you do not have good internet
> > access, proctored exams are delivered in a secure testing environment,
> > at an Oracle University Training Center or Authorized Prometric
> > Testing Center."
> >
> > Because there is no guarantee that the person taking the exam is the
> > same person who registered for the exam, many DBAs feel that this
> > practice degrades the value of Oracle certification, and makes it even
> > more worthless than before.
> >
> > Comments?

There is no excuse for someone in our industry not staying current any more than you'd want to go to hospital and have them send in a surgeon that hadn't studied more since graduating 32 years ago.

But I have been on both sides of the interview table. Both being interviewed and more often conducting interview. And to be perfectly honest I have never been asked if I have an OCP, never asked someone if they did, and if they did I would have been more suspicious of their credentials than someone that did not.

The reason I'd be more suspicious would be that I would know that they might have book knowedge without practical knowledge. Here are a few sample questions I routinely ask those I interview. If you think an OCP will help you through them let me know.

1. You have just been given a CD for the latest release of an Oracle product. What steps do you go through to install it?
2. You have two tables, A and B. Identical columns in both name and data type. Some percentage of the records in table A are also in table B. In a single SQL statement give me an answer set that contains the records that are only in table A (not in B) and identify them as coming from table A and those records in table B (not in A) and identify them as coming from table B.
3. You have a call from a user that says "the database is running slower today than it was last week". What things are definitely not the problem and can be ignored?

Daniel Morgan Received on Thu Dec 26 2002 - 22:24:55 CST