In the Real World

Only you know what you are expecting from your certification or from the exam process. Only you know what you are trying for, what you hope to prove, if only to yourself. Many people get their certification because they know that many job descriptions cite the need for certification in the requirements for applying for the job. Many people mistakenly think that certification in itself will be the magic silver bullet that allows the candidate to walk in and, day one, single-handedly vanquish all demons from the databases.

Other people certify because their current positions have begun to expect it from them. It is part of the performance evaluation; they are trying to further their career or other personal career motives. Many companies not only reimburse for certifications, they pay bonuses for passing all the tests and getting the certification.

Still others do it for purely personal reasons. This was my initial reason for seeking certification. I didn't like to know that other people had the attitude that they could do it and I hadn't done it yet, so that meant that somehow they were better than I was. After I got my certification, my attitude changed, even though theirs didn't, but by that time I knew I could pass the tests, and their opinion of me no longer mattered to me.

Whatever your reason, it is a fact that you will find the job market far more open to you if you have your certification, particularly if you are certified in one of the more recent releases or are certified on more than one release. Fortunately, Oracle has made it less difficult (I promise you, not easy) to upgrade your certification from one release to the next in a single upgrade test, so you don't have to go through the entire certification processes every time Oracle has a new release of the software. This is primarily because the underlying architecture and structure is similar enough that the concepts don't change, only the bells and whistles have been enhanced and improved, and a few older features have been done away with in favor of the newer way of doing things.

Take a jaunt down Monster.com or one of the other job search sites, and you will find that at least a quarter of the Oracle DBA jobs listed have certification stated as an official requirement of the job. Others suggest that those candidates who have achieved certification are looked on favorably, and still others are looking for it without actually coming out and requesting it.