Demand for DBA Exams Oracle/MS

RobertKaucher

Here is my plan for this year and the first half of next:
* MCITP: DBA 2005/2008
* Oracle Certified DBA Associate (1Z0-051 and 1Z0-52)

And maybe throw in the MCTS for BI 2008.

I have been looking on the web and I am not sure of the demand for these certifications. I mean, it's not going to stop me, but I would like to know what people who have DBA credentials think about how they have affected their job searches. I'm also not searching for a job, just curious to know. Not a single hit for MCITP on Dice for my area...

dynamik

I don't think the MCITPs have caught on much regardless of the specialization. I think it would still look good to show that you're certified in a given technology even if you don't match keyword searches. Being able to say, "I'm certified in X" will help you stand apart from those that can't. I have nothing to base that on though, so take that with a grain of salt

bertieb

As you know, experience rules over certs in most things IT, and moreso where DBA work is concerned. HR depts still haven't got past the MCDBA plus experience really is king in Oracle world. We had three excellent Oracle OCP DBA's with 10+ years of experience and the only reason they bothered to get certified was a company requirement to gain Oracle Partnership. (plus for new OCP's you need to complete an Oracle course I think).

None of these certs will do you any harm though (if you're putting the effort into studying you might as well do the cert, right?) and will help distinguish yourself from the rest of the herd. I've started to see a few job adverts requiring MCITP: DBA here in the UK so it is starting to get noticed, plus the OCA resources will give you a structure into breaking into the deep, murky waters of Oracle databases. Good luck

RobertKaucher

Thanks, guys.

bertieb: "plus for new OCP's you need to complete an Oracle course I think"

Yes, that's correct. I am just looking to get the Associate level cert. I think that will signal my intentions as far as my career path goes.

As far as experience is concerned, I have been working with SQL for a few months now (about 6) and I am regularly writing queries and views for users. I have also been writing t-sql based stored procedures and some custom C# applications that build reports with the sprocs. My next step is developing the disaster recovery plan and some sort of replication. After that I am going to start doing some sort of BI working with sales and other departments.

I'm hoping that after two years of this I will have enough experience and certs that larger companies might actually be interested.

aaronchristenson

I am currently working on the Oracle 11G exams. Becareful with these Oracle exams, they are very much different that the MS exams. I took the 11G SQL Exam about 2 months ago and where in a MS exam if you see check boxes you know that there are at least 2 correct answers. With Oracle that is not the case with chech boxes there may only be 1 correct answer. The practice tests that come with the Oracle Press books are not very good. They do not reflect the types of questions that you get on the exam. I am working the Admin 1 exam now and plan to take it near the end of August. I will let you know how it goes.

RobertKaucher

Thanks for the info, Aaron. How about your career. What kind of impact do you think these certs will have for you?

aaronchristenson

Well, I live in the Grand Rapids are of Michigan and as you know the ecomonomic conditions right now are such that most employeers are looking for degrees and certifications. Most of the DBA postitions that I have seen latley are for Oracle with about 3 years experiance. There are not many IT jobs available in the area, I am not sure what the climate is like over there by Cincinati, but I am sure you can relate. Certification will help in the long run, but experiance is what I keep getting passed over for. Hope that helps.