| Author |
How long did you take to finish OCP DBA 8i
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| aneesh_bhatia 2002-02-15, 7:30 am |
| How long did you take to finish OCP DBA 8i? | |
| heloisad 2002-02-15, 12:50 pm |
| 5 months and 10 days
That's how long it took me to prepare for and take the exams. | |
| aneesh_bhatia 2002-02-15, 1:04 pm |
| This is the first POLL I have put up and I think I screwed up on the time frame...an upper limit of 4 months is a bit CRAZY!?!? Is there any way I can change it?
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| tmanpakdee 2002-02-18, 2:33 pm |
| Hi everybody.
In response to your comment about the time it can take to complete OCP cert, I would say 4 months is a perfect time span. Not only you give yourself better chance at acing each exam (likely no one would want to take those $100 exams more than once), but you also give yourself time to really "learn" the material being tested and not just to "cram" for the exams. Cramming just to get it done within an "impressive" time span would only deprive you of the chance to really understand the material and to have the certification be practical knowledge acquired rather than merely a piece of paper. I myself took about 4 months to complete my DBA cert. I do have a job and did have the job while i was preparing for the exams. I would have to say that taking the time to learn the stuff actually helped me on the job more than I imagined it would have had I hastily rushed through the cert process in a month. Good luck to all of you!!! | |
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| aneesh_bhatia 2002-02-18, 10:57 pm |
| laloca,
Thanks for the info, good luck with Networking & Performance Tuning
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| tmanpakdee 2002-02-19, 12:53 am |
| I used study guides from Sybex and Oracle Press. Sybex publishes a really good set of three books for the 5 exams. If you buy them seperately they can cost you up to $150. But you can go to www.addall.com and search for and buy the set for about $70. I went through each of them at least twice before I took each exam. And I also used Oracle8i DBA certification exam guide from oracle press to review and to pick up material that may have been left out in the Sybex books. Not to say that Sybex excluded any material but sometimes different authors have different ways of explaining things and one may appeal to you more than the other...Both Sybex and Oracle Press books come with practice exams both in prints and on the accompanying cd's. I took those practice exams first to gauge my understanding of the material (I feel the practice exams provided with the books were not rigorous enough to prepare you totally for the real thing)...The last thing i do before going to take each exam is to go to a book store and "borrow" a copy of Oracle Press's "Oracle8i DBA Practice Exams" and get a sense of what to expect on the real exam. This book offers three 60 question practice exams for each of the 5 tests and it is the closest you'll ever come to the real thing. I just go to the book store and use it there, writing down answers on a piece of paper. Why buy it when you're only gonna use it once right? After you've tested yourself, look up the answers + explanation at the end of each section and take notes on those questions you missed. Right before I went in to take each exam I looked over the review section at the end of each chapter and make sure I understand the key concepts, and also looked at the notes I took while at the bookstore. After doing all this, if you still don't pass the test, I don't know what else you can do. I have used all kinds of self-test software, and none of them really impressed me at all compared to the books. The questions are nothing like what you will see on the real tests. Especilly ExamNotes stuff. I've found so many flawed and overly simplistic answers to alot of questions. None of the selftest stuff out there will really prepare you for the test. Trust me! practice exams from the study guides and three more from the practice exam book should get you through it with flying colors. Alright, i have spilled my guts. I hope my input will be helpful. Good luck to you all out there!! ORACLE RULES!!!
Toneman | |
| Batman24 2002-02-19, 4:42 pm |
| Laloca...
You say you aren't doing Oracle for professional advancement and more as a hobby. You have quite an expensive hobby and although Oracle is interesting to learn (At least to me it is), i wouldn't classify it a hobby. Something that requires me to sacrifice other more pleasureable things (such as sometimes not having as much time as I would like to have ) so that I can study and juggle work with school, I would not call a hobby. Hobbies are suppose to be fun...not just interesting. | |
| odonata 2002-02-19, 8:02 pm |
| Oracle and programming is fun  Taking certs can be a challenge and very exciting to successfully complete
Also, I've been taking about 2 months for each exam. I take off for about 2-3 weeks after each exam. Two more to go!! | |
| laloca 2002-02-20, 2:23 pm |
| Batman24:
Having fun is something very subjective. Shopping for example is a pain for me ..
I always tried to "turn my hobby to profession" - that's why I'm in IT. Data analysis and data modelling is a challenge for me - Oracle is only a professional tool I wish to understand thoroughly.  I really like Oracle stuff: yesterday I visited an Oracle presentation about mobile solutions. GREAT NEW "TOYS"!
But I also realized that you additionally need a good knowledge of Java to master Oracle developement in future. So there is a lot to do ....
I have in mind to work as freelance Oracle trainer or datawarehouse consultant somewhen (in 1-2 years), so I guess a cert could be a good basis.
I feel sorry for those who need to get certified in a short period of time. Then I agree - it isn't fun to spend all spare time with Oracle materials to get/retain a job. It's only pressure then - my deep respect to anybody juggling job, certs, family/friends... | |
| aneesh_bhatia 2002-02-20, 3:22 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by laloca
But I also realized that you additionally need a good knowledge of Java to master Oracle developement in future. So there is a lot to do ....
I have in mind to work as freelance Oracle trainer or datawarehouse consultant somewhen (in 1-2 years), so I guess a cert could be a good basis.
LaLoca,
Are you working with Oracle Data Warehousing? I am currently working on the DBA certification, do you think the DBA certification is a step in the right direction if I want to expand in the data warehousing area. Or do you think that the DBA certification is totally irrelavent towards Datawarehousing.
Also interested in Data Modeling, any good resources you can think of for novices?
Thanks!
AB | |
| laloca 2002-02-20, 4:35 pm |
| Hi aneesh_bhatia,
I did database design and project management for database development for 8 years before I got IT manager. Good database knowlegde and at least one programing language are essential in this job. Data modeling is just one more tool in your tool-box. Unfortunately I only have german resources for data modeling - maybe someone else can recommend a good book? 
Additionally networking skills, security, project management and economy/industry basics are important. Database design is the "heart" of a development project. You need to analyze business needs and bring them in line with available data and resources, you're the middle tier between management, users/customers with (sometimes) completely different objectives, techs and developers. The more "tongues" you speak the better you can do your job.
But this demands shouldn't scare you - most of them can be obtained by training on the job. Nobody wants you to be an expert in all these fields, but they expect at least an understanding of their business. So listen thoroughly and ask as much as you can with "open" questions - almost everybody is pleased to tell about his/her problems and "importance" in a project.
Datawarehousing is a quite "new" business - the challenge is to deliver the right amount of information for the right target group with minimal user effort. I hope to proceed in this business, because it sounds very interesting .. | |
| dhcpserver 2002-02-20, 5:10 pm |
| How long did you take to finish OCP DBA 8i?
1 exam per month | |
| aneesh_bhatia 2002-02-21, 12:10 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by dhcpserver
How long did you take to finish OCP DBA 8i?
1 exam per month
I have not finished the DBA course, but from what I gather from the conversations on this message board and my experience finishing the Developer track, it seems that it just depends on you! You can cram your way and finish one exam in one or two weeks or you can take a month or more to throughly understand the material.
It just depends on you and also the level of experience you have with Oracle. I personally am looking at finishing the DBA track at an easy pace so I can undestand everything and not simply worry about the exam. The main objective should be to an expert at Oracle. coz' you can pass the exam just by reading the braindumps and STS or so I have heard from people.
I hope this helps!
Cheers! | |
| aneesh_bhatia 2002-02-21, 12:15 am |
| laloca,
So basically what I gather from your suggestion is that if I want to make databases my career, I should first pick one OS, Database and a programming language and master them, example: Unix, Oracle and Java.
Then I should think about moving into other areas like Modeling, Warehousing etc.
Where does Forms/Reports fit into all this? What kind of businesses use it nowadays? Are they moving to other things?
Thanks!
AB | |
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| laloca 2002-02-22, 7:03 am |
| Congrats to you Developer exam!
If you find good Java resources please tell me! | |
| aneesh_bhatia 2002-02-22, 8:13 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by laloca
Congrats to you Developer exam!
If you find good Java resources please tell me!
I was pretty much learning from a book. But if i come across any resources/site I will be sure to pass them along...
Cheers |
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