Oracle Certifications - OCA / OCP / OCM

Over 60,000 people so far have registered Oracle certifications worldwide and the certifications themselves seem to be in growing demand from employers. Oracle certifications cover 3 distinct career paths; Database Administrator (OCA, OCP, OCM), Application Developer and Web Application Server Administrator. The links and resources that I have are mostly for the Database Administrator path, although you may find some useful information for the other tracks also by exploring the sites listed.

The OCA is the entry-level certification in which you are expected to pass two exams, one of which is a supervised examination, and the other that you can do over the Internet. An OCA is expected to have sufficient knowledge that will allow them to support database administrators or application developers in a somewhat junior role. Even though it’s considered an entry-level certification, having the certification will put you one step ahead of those who don’t have it, so it’s certainly worth the effort and it’s a pre-requisite if you wish to go on to a OCP or OCM.

The OCP is the next step up in a DBA’s path that again requires the passing of two exams as well as having to attend an instructor led course (or an online one). You must have already passed the OCA exams to register for the OCP. There are some exceptions to the requirement to attend a course, but the majority of people will fall under the umbrella of that requirement.

The OCM is the top-tiered level of the DBA track. To be eligible to take the OCM exams you must already have passed the OCP, you need to have attended two instructor-led courses and must also pass the two-day OCM practicum. The OCM is geared towards OCP’s who have been in the industry for a few years and have the work experience to go with their OCP certification.

The number of questions in each exam and the time permitted to complete the exam differ for each one, however it’s worth noting that according to the Oracle web site, not all of the questions that you answer will be scored for your final exam mark. Of course, the time permitted will allow for the total number of questions that you have to answer, but not all correct answers (or incorrect answers) necessarily go toward your final result. Unfortunately there is no way of knowing which questions are scored and which aren’t, so all you can really do is know your stuff and you will be ok.

Anyhow, here are some of the resources that I’ve managed to locate. I hope something here will be of use to you, and if I can help in anyway, please e-mail me. Don't forget to explore Oracle's own site as they have lots of information and downloads to help you with your certification. A good place to start is with this document which outlines all you need to know about the OCA, OCP, and OCM certification paths. And if you can get your boss to pay for a Transcender exam simulation then I highly recommend them (at the very least make sure you download the free practice demo).

 

 

General information:

http://www.oracle.com/education/certification/objectives/index.html?content.html Download Exam information and guides (in pdf format)
http://otn.oracle.com/ Oracle Technology Network
http://www.oaug.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/oaug Oracle Applications Users Group - not really about exams, but industry related.
http://www.certmag.com/issues/dec00/feature_gabelhouse.cfm Salary review for various certifications from CertMag. Interestingly, Oracle certification holders are tops in the salary stakes.
http://oracle.ittoolbox.com/ Oracle news
http://oracle9i.newstrove.com/ News articles relating to 9i

OCA study material:

http://www.newagetraining.com/lessons/nat_lesson_sql_01.htm PL/SQL tutorial
http://www.rocket99.com/oracle/ Oracle 101 guide.
http://www.ucertify.com Use the menu across the top for free OCP study guides
http://www.oracle.com/education/oln/index.html?login_ou_online_home.html Create a free user account and check out the online library.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/oressentials2/chapter/ch01.html Chapter1 of O'Reilly's Oracle Essentials
http://www-db.stanford.edu/~ullman/fcdb.html Some basic Oracle guides
http://www-db.stanford.edu/~ullman/fcdb/oracle.html Some older Oracle stuff
http://www.veritas.com/offer?a_id=3338 Free e-book on Oracle performance tuning - need to register
http://www.dbasupport.com/oracle/ora9i/ Many 9i articles
http://web.archive.org/web/20011218000629/http://www.arsdigita.com/books/sql/ SQL for web nerds
http://d0db.fnal.gov/d0db/oracle8tutorial/ Oracle 8 tutorial
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/tucano32/oracle/tutorial.htm Introduction to Oracle PL/SQL
http://www.oriolecorp.com/firststeps.html First steps with Oracle
http://www.dougwentz.com/IntroToOracle9iSQL.html Introduction to Oracle 9i SQL
http://djm.at/jobs/(ebook%20pdf)%20Teach%20Yourself%20SQL%20in%2021%20Days%20(1).pdf Teach yourself SQL in 21 days (2MB pdf)
http://www.csee.umbc.edu/help/oracle8/ Oracle 8 Documentation
http://djm.at/jobs/Oracle%209i%20Database%20Administrator's%20Guide.pdf Oracle 9i Database Administrators Guide (6MB pdf)

 

OCA Practice questions:

http://www.cert21.com/124&r=1 140 practice questions for the 1Z0-001. Need to register first, but free. Some other stuff there too for the 8i track.
http://www.transcender.com/products/ Very good free Oracle demo questions to try. Buy the full package if you can afford it.
http://www.mcmcse.com/testing/index.php Free Oracle exams - enter the site, then click on the overhead menu - need to register first
http://www.ucertify.com Free OCP practice questions - use the menu across the top
http://selftest.kaplanit.com/generic.asp?page%5Fid=p00433& SelfTest software practice demos
http://www.dbasupport.com/oracle/cert/dba/ Practice questions (but for 8i)
http://xamsrus.com/buyexam.php?action=new 20 free demo questions from 'Exams-r-us'
http://examblasters.com/downloads/1z0-007demo.pdf 10 free Oracle 9i questions to try

Discussion groups:

http://www.oracle.com/forums/index.jsp?cat=48 Oracle Technology discussion
http://www.orafaq.com/faqmessb.htm Many different Oracle discussion groups
http://oracle.ittoolbox.com/groups/ Another bunch of different Oracle discussion groups
http://www.oraclenotes.com/forums/ Some more Oracle discussion
http://www.dbasupport.com/forums/ More Oracle discussion with some certification chat