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Home > Archive > Oracle certifications > July 2001 > Suggested order for 8i DBA track
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Suggested order for 8i DBA track
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| ramlax 2001-07-14, 9:37 pm |
| I will be starting at a consulting company this fall, my first job out of college. I have self-studied during my internships for CCNA, CCDA, and MCSE and want to do the same for Oracle and save my company some training dollars and look good in the process. What track should I take the exams in and what books (exam cram, sybex, oracle press) should I have for each test. When it is a MUST that I have the software to work with. I don't start for another month and want to get into it now. I graduated with a CS degree with one class in database and know a little SQL. | |
| deeznuttz 2001-07-15, 12:27 am |
| omg... what a fruity-pie....
"I want to save my company some money... and be a kiss XXX too..."
Dude... corporations don't care about training budgets... if they don't feel like it.. they just WON'T pay for your training if they don't have the budget and give you a BOOK. Besides in the real world consultants are paid a lot of money to look like they know what they are doing... but in actuality are learning it along with the rest of us...
But seriously...Don't worry.... here's some advice coming from a Mid-Level Oracle DBA...
In my experience, OCP classes are kinda worthless... They are expensive, filled with students that have never touched a database but change career tracks from pumping gas because they want to get paid....
I think if you were to take 1 class out of the 8i DBA track... to get the most bang for the buck... take the 2nd one... The Database Administration/Architecture... you will learn enough about Oracle to get you familiar with the interface, architecture and to be able to B.S. your way through an interview.
Next... the best study guide that I've found with minimum errata, easy to follow, and is rated pretty decent is the Sybex 3 Book Kit....OCP: Oracle 8i Study Guide by Dawes, Johnson, etc...
With those books comes Oracle 8i enterprise edition... a full version. You can install it on Windows 2000 Server and Windows NT Workstation at the least. If you can't swing that... go download Oracle 8i: Personal Edition for free from Oracle.com...
Next... score some Self Test Software for 8i... and get the Oracle DBA practice exams book by Jason Couchman... Then you should be ok... you can practice everything you need to know short of Backup Recovery and Network Admin on the copies of Oracle you get...
(OPTIONAL)... if you want an extra advantage... get the Troy Tech Exam Cheat Sheet.... and Cheat Sheets with the actual answers...
Finally, DO NOT PAY $99 for 1 Self-Test exam... that's a rip-off... at those prices they are begging for bootleging... Score yourself some free stuff with GnuTella, Morpehus, LimeWire, iMesh...
for Educational Purposes....
Good luck!
sincerely
Deez N. | |
| Nicole 2001-07-15, 11:05 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by deeznuttz
omg... what a fruity-pie....
But seriously...Don't worry.... here's some advice coming from a Mid-Level Oracle DBA...
Bold words from someone who has spammed this board repeatedly this week looking for cram sheets to pass their OCP DBA.
quote:
Finally, DO NOT PAY $99 for 1 Self-Test exam... that's a rip-off... at those prices they are begging for bootleging... Score yourself some free stuff with GnuTella, Morpehus, LimeWire, iMesh...
for Educational Purposes....
The STS is a fine exam prep tool, and unlike braindumps and many of the other practice exams, the answers are actually all correct. You get what you pay for.
But then again, I'm not a software pirate.
Ramlax: I wouldn't worry about your OCP right now. Use you consulting gig to get a little Oracle experience under your belt and then go for your exam later. Your company may already have licenses for Oracle test prep materials, so use theirs and save your own cash. You aren't going to pass the whole OCP in a month. Maybe the first exam, if you have few other distractions.
However, you should probably familiarize yourself with Oracle. The Jason Couchman books are good. You don't need to buy a book to get a copy of Oracle Enterprise -- it's downloadable from Oracle's web site. Unless you have a fast connection, though, it might simply be easier to buy a book with the software on CD. BIG file 
Depending on your anticipated functions with the consulting company, you may want to study up on DB design as well. If you go out to troubleshoot a DB system, you need to be able to understand if the design is inheritantly flawed. This knowledge isn't specific to Oracle, so you can take it to SQL Server, DB2, Sybex or any other RDBMS that you run across.
Good luck! It sounds like you are well prepped for your new job and will do well.
Nicole | |
| ramlax 2001-07-15, 8:59 pm |
| Nicole, thank you very much for your advice. I will definitely not purchase any material until I see what my first project will be and ofcourse what material they can offer in house. I don't want to mention the name of my company but they are one of the big 5 so I should have plenty of material for free. I would ask your advice for the order of the tests I should take and what books for each test. You have been helpful so far if you don't mind keep it up.
Thanks again. | |
| Nicole 2001-07-16, 10:12 am |
| I'm not sure, I'm on the Developer track. But if you go to
http://www.oracle.com/education/cer...?ocptracks.html
then you can select the track you want to work on. From there you can download the official Candidate Guide, which has the tests, the order, and some info about what you need to know for each of the exams.
Good luck, and BTW congratulations on your job. Beware the "up or out" policies at most consulting firms. If you haven't already, you might check out www.vault.com for the dirt on your (future) company. Don't fret, a lot of it is just whiners and complainers on the message boards, but there is some solid info on the various consulting companies, too. | |
| ramlax 2001-07-18, 6:58 am |
| Nicole,
what does that mean. Be on a billable project or you are gone. Don't be on the beach. | |
| Nicole 2001-07-18, 10:02 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by ramlax
Nicole,
what does that mean. Be on a billable project or you are gone. Don't be on the beach.
I assume you are talking about "Up or out?"
Your comment is partially right -- but a lot of consulting firms periodically chop the bottom percentage. For example, once yearly they might do employee evaluations, then they rank everyone. In a department of 20, you'd have #1, #2, #3... etc. If they decide to fire the bottom 20%, you'd better be ranked #15 or above, or you're gone.
There's often a grace period for new college grads, to give them a chance to get oriented. Just be aware of what the policies are and stay on top of the game. It's not just about being there and ready to work -- If you aren't getting tough assignments, your "ranking" will suffer.
The consulting lifestyle can be tough -- people either love it or hate it. I think it's probably and excellent place to start your career, because you will exposed to a lot of different companies and situations. Lots of opportunity to learn! | |
| ramlax 2001-07-18, 10:29 am |
| Nicole,
Thanks for the info. I get better stuff here then at Vault.com. That place is full of new hires who just complain and make up lies about other companies because they aren't happy with their's and are bitter about not working for a different company. I don't think too many college hires will be able to produce like I will. CCNA/DA, CCNP/DP and MCSE with intern experience where I actually got hands on should put me above my fellow graduates. I got hired by an almunus from my school for a specific project in order to utilize my skills so I should be set. I start in August which not alot of big five college hires can say right now. | |
| AndyC 2001-07-18, 12:01 pm |
| Hey Nicole, can you please populate the rest of the forums? I like your style and I think that you are the kind of person that doesn't take any crap!!!!
I know where I will turn to when I start learning Oracle!!! | |
| Nicole 2001-07-18, 1:13 pm |
| LOL!
Thanks for the compliment... I think | |
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| Yep, don't mess with Nicole, lol! | |
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| It was a compliment....:-) | |
| deeznuttz 2001-07-27, 11:01 pm |
| quote:
Bold words from someone who has spammed this board repeatedly this week looking for cram sheets to pass their OCP DBA.
I'll admit it, I'm have no qualms about asking for dumps/notes/etc. If I'm not mistaken, I believe this website is called www.examnotes.com
(Hmmm, I wonder who is the corporate sponsor????)
(SPONSORED by cheet sheets 'exact questions from the exam') Gee, I wonder if they are spamming too? Nah. they are legit because they are paying to spam right?
Please, let's get off our high horse shall we? If there wasn't a demand for it, there wouldn't be people posting for cheats. And there clearly is a demand.
It's called 'being resourceful' Why pay for something that I can get for free?
As I was saying, The SelfTestSoftware is a good resource because it acclimates you to the testing environment of the actual exam. It has almost the same interface as the actual OCP exam you will be taking. It's also a great way of learning because you can go through it and just learn what it's saying.
Again I would recommend buying a study guide because you it's a 4 in 1 deal. 1) you get a study guide 2) you get the oracle cd 3) it has testing software on it 4) most people don't want to sit there to download a fat oracle installer.
In my experience I've found that people are too lazy or stupid to install Oracle unless it's handed to them on a nice cd. (not everyone but I have seen it a lot with Oracle Students) It's a lot easier to pop in a CD and have the AUTORUN come up and say "INSTALL"
I think if Ramlax wants to be a DBA that he's in the wrong field. If you start out as a consultant you will be doing the b.itch work for the senior consultants and managers.
They will promise you that you will be doing what you want, but you will be coding for your first year guaranteed. Unless it's D&T, I hear they don't do that. But Andersen/Accenture is famous for that with their fresh meat.
I don't think being OCP benefit this guy. The big 5 Consulting firms start off with the employee doing programming, then being an analyst, then being a manager, senior manager (think project lead/manager) gearing you to become a partner.
I agree with Nicole that you should study up on DB design, etc because the consultants are usually brought in to do the design, analysis and then manage the system integrators who actually do the hands-on work. | |
| Nicole 2001-07-28, 11:29 am |
| quote:
It's called 'being resourceful' Why pay for something that I can get for free?
Since you feel that way, please give me your home address so I can come to your house and take your TV, computer, and anything else that looks useful to me.
"Honest, officer, I wasn't stealing. I was being resourceful!" | |
| ocpguy 2001-07-28, 1:25 pm |
| quote:
Since you feel that way, please give me your home address so I can come to your house and take your TV, computer, and anything else that looks useful to me.
Nicole, my home address is:
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
(ask for 'GW', and make threatening pointing motions)
quote:
"Honest, officer, I wasn't stealing. I was being resourceful!"
Which brings up the question?
quote:
Can you steal something that's already been stolen?
where the stolen item is the test questions and answers that are copyrighted by prometric/microsoft/vue/etc.
That's like someone stealing my car... then they get upset when someone steals it from them.
If you know where advance actual exam questions are? and they are right in front of you... slapping you in the face ...and you are going to take the test in a few days...
Does that make you a putz if you fail? When you could have studied what the questions are in addition to your normal studying? | |
| ocpguy 2001-07-28, 1:32 pm |
| This reminds me of the following OLD joke:
quote:
One day there was this preacher and he was having his usual sermon when all of a sudden it started raining, really, really, hard!!!! After about 1 full hour of complete non-stop rain, they started making evacuations because the whole church was flooding, but the preacher just stood there in the ankle-deep water.
A guy in a car came up to him and said. "Preacher,Preacher you better get in here before you drown!"
But the preacher just replied "Don't worry God will save me."
The man then said "Whatever!" and drove away.
The water was now knee-deep and a guy in a raft came over to the Preacher and said "Preacher, Preacher you better get in here before you drown!"
Despite the second warning the Preacher just stood there and replied "Don't worry God will save me."
The man then said "Whatever!!" and rowed away in the orange raft.
The water was now waist-deep and a guy in a power boat came to the Preacher and said "Preacher,Preacher you better get in here before you drown!"
Despite the third warning the Preacher just stood there and replied "Don't worry God will save me."
With that the man said "Whatever!" and jetted away in the power boat.
The water was now neck-deep and a guy in a helicopter came and said "Preacher, Preacher you better get your butt in here before you drown!!"
The man still just stood there and replied "Don't worry God will save me." And with that the man said "Whatever" and flew away.
The water then got so deep that the Preacher was sucked under and died. When he opened his eyes he noticed that he was in heaven. He then saw God and asked "God! Why didn't you
save me from that horrible flood?!?"
God then replied, " I sent you a car,a raft,a power boat, and a helicopter!!! What else do you want from me?"
To me that's like having access to the exact questions that are going to be on the exam. | |
| Nicole 2001-07-28, 5:24 pm |
| quote:
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
(ask for 'GW', and make threatening pointing motions)
LOL!
Ocpguy, I think it'd probably be better to agree to disagree
I don't have anything against dumps per se used responsibly, but as a developer I have a BIG problem with piracy. If I developed a database for a client, and then found out they violated my contract agreement and resold it or a gave a copy to someone else, I'd have their butt in court faster than a Mexican tourist who drank the local water.
Not to mention getting *really* tired of the umpteen private messages asking me for free stuff.
As for whether or not the questions are stolen from Oracle or whomever, I think Oracle is big enough to worry about that battle themselves. |
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