OCP Certification track

[Radhika Gokhale]

Hi All,

I am planning to give OCA and OCP certifications.
But I am a bit confused in which track to choose. i mean the DBA or the Developer. I have 2+ yrs of work ex in programming. I have recently cleared my SCJP also. My major part of the work involves programming using Java, Jsp, Struts and some backend stored procs, functions also.
At the same time I am involved in database design, table structure design and such related matters. So far I have not done anything related to hard core dba stuff like performance tuning, memory management etc etc...


so i am not able to decide which track to choose? which track holds more value in the industry..

Guys pls send in your suggestions.

Also I want to know about books, online notes, study material and free mock tests available for these exams.

thanks in advance.

Rads

[Jeremy Wilson]

With your background I would go with the developer. I have been working with oracle db about 50/50 developer and administrator and they are radically different topics. Takes all my extra time keeping up

[Mike Wessler]

Hi. I'm more from the administration side so I can't speak about the developer tracks. A couple of things I'd mention is that some OCP tracks require you to attend at least 1 Oracle class which can be expensive. If you already are an OCP, you are exempt. If your company is paying the bill this may not be an issue, but if you are are your own you need to consider that. As for study materials, I will say the tests seem to be out of the offical Oracle course/class manuals. So if you can get copies of those manuals and know them well you should do well. If you can't get those manuals, I'd fall back on the free online documentation since that is the basis for some of the course materials. Be sure to review the requirements of the OCP/OCA track before you start so you don't accidentally take the wrong test version or miss a requirement. I know that sounds obvious but it happens.

Thanks,
Mike

[Nicholas Cheung]

However, the exam will be very difficult if we dont have ILT.

I used lots of time to read the online documents when I took OCA 10g, which I feel it is very difficult to prepare when we are lack of materials.

When I took OCP 9i OCA, I found it is a bit easier, as I have attended Summer course offered by Oracle University.

Nick

[Raj Puri]

If you are looking to gain some leverage in your job search - make no mistake none of these tests matters. My experience has been whether you have certs or not industry does not care .. as anyway they get outdated in couple of years and far from real world. Not only applies to OCP but JAVA, MCSD etc too. The place I work they really care of experience or CS/EE/Math degree. With technology changing so fast they look for more people who have sound theortical background taught in schools or good work experience as with shifting gear they can navigate easier.

So one needs to be realistic in investing time/money in these certs. For vendors it is a cash cow.

[Nicholas Cheung]

It really depends whether degree or cert is more important. Obviously, if someone got a degree, and another one dont, that's make the difference.

But how about, if the 2 persons, both got a degree in Maths, CS, or Engineering, and seek for the same job, while one got a related cert and the other dont?

Personally, a degree is a must nowadays, or even, a master degree is a must as more and more people got the degree. Experiences also important as well. Certs/Degree solely give no advantages at all.

So one needs to be realistic in investing time/money in these certs

Luckily, this is not my case.

Nick