Re: for those who don't read my blog (tsk tsk!)
- From: Dba DBA <oracledbaquestions@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:01:40 -0400
I don't think the OCP has any value in the marketplace in the US. The only
companies that want OCPs are low paying sub-contractors looking for
buzzwords. The same seems to be true for the Certified Master. The only time
I see a company looking for an OCM it is a sub-contractor that googled
buzzwords. To make matters worse Oracle sells the word for word questions
and answers. The practice tests are the real questions. Virtually all
vendors do this. There is atleast one company out there where you can sign
up for $100 to get a life time membership. It gives you word for word
questions and answers to all questions on virtually all certification tests.
As long as vendors sell the word for word questions and answers
certification will be completely useless. However, why would they stop? They
make money selling the tests.
The OCP is also very expensive if you have to get it now. I got certified
back on Oracle 8i, however, today you have to take a $3000 class. To make
matters worse, the books from Oracle press for the upgrade exams are loaded
with errors and are missing information from the actual test. I stopped
upgrading after 9i. It is not worth the hassle. If the OCP becomes
entrenched that is a major expense for people to make. Most companies in the
US do not pay for any training at all. This is especially true in the slow
economy. Plus you would have to use your vacation time or (if you are a
contractor), go without being paid for a week to attend the class. Then buy
the books, memorize alot of information that is not important and that you
will forget later on just to get or keep your job. The company I work for
now strongly encourages us to certified (it is part of our evaluations for
raises), but they do not provide any money for expenses. None of the DBAs
are working on certifications. The company argues that it helps them make
sales since they can go "look at all of our certified people". I got this
position a few months ago. I was inteviewed by the DBA team. Certification
was not mentioned in the job ad and no one even mentioned it during the
interview. This push is strictly from corporate.
To make matters worse, you have alot of for profit training companies taking
advantage of desperate people. They offer technical certifications to people
who have no technical background whatsoever. These people don't even get
interviews. The classes are very expensive, and the people who take them
often do not have alot of money and many are desperate for work. These
companies do not do any market research and throw out big numbers using
words like "DBAs can make up to" so much money. How often are their
advertisements for entry level oracle DBAs? It is very rare. You may have
one at your company, but overall it is very rare. Most DBAs started out as
programmers or something else technical and moved over or have been DBAs for
20 years and got into it early on.
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