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

Nuno Souto <nsouto_at_optushome.com.au.nospam> wrote in message news:<3e0bdae7$0$7813$afc38c87_at_news.optusnet.com.au>...
> 26 Dec 2002 06:39:15 -0800, michael ngong said (and I quote):
>

> > But the bottom line is you know at least
> > on a theoretical bases ( assuming
> > you read books exclusively in preparation for the tests )some very
> > useful information about Oracle.
>
>
> No you don't. The OCP is an exam with multiple choice answers, mostly
> unrelated to any real life situations. Many of the questions are more
> related to you knowing the marketing flavour of the month (release)
> rather than you knowing anything about databases. You know jack about
> running a real installation after completing it. The whole thing is
> bogus, always was, always will be.

While I certainly agree with most of this, I have to say I have learned some useful stuff. I say that as one who spent years figuring things out for myself and delving into the concepts, etc. manuals. When you figure things out yourself, it is very easy to miss the obvious and develop some strange superstitious behaviors. Certainly usenet et al is not immune to that!

And of course, I spent a lot of time learning useless stuff. At least I have some exposure to it when I have to throw it out when someone wants to pay me to make something work!

>
>
> > "Worthless" therefore is not the proper word
>
> It is an appropriate word. The only organisation for which it is not
> worthless is Oracle and the multiple "examiners" who have made a motza
> out of something that is fundamentally flawed and was never asked for by
> the user community.

Oracle is a pretty large and influential provider of OCP services...

Was so asked for by the user community. I recall being in usenet discussions about it. Companies wanted some way to distinguish those who are trained, and dba's wanted to be able to show they were trained. I was a bit cantankerous about the details, arguing that the tests seemed to be skewed against the more experienced, and am still a bit surprised that the process turned out so much worse than I predicted.

jg, OCP, whoopie

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