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Becoming an Oracle Certified Professional
Whether you’re an Oracle newbie or a self-proclaimed guru, getting the Oracle Certification seal of approval may still be your key to staying afloat in a tough economy, according to some IT educators. So why not begin your journey today? This fast guide is designed to give you expert technical advice on where to begin your Oracle certification studies, passing the final exam and putting your certification into effect in the workplace.What official Oracle Certification?tracks are available?
About Oracle Certification?exams
Oracle is a leading provider of Relational Database Management (RDBMS) solutions to organizations worldwide. Oracle has introduced a wide range of certification programs for entry level to experienced professionals and for domains ranging from database administration, database management to programming, web development and other advanced technologies. These programs ensure whether or not information technology professionals have the necessary skills to successfully implement business solutions using Oracle Technology.
Job Roles for Oracle Certified Professionals
Oracle Certification prepare you for different job roles in database management, administration and development fields. Some of the job roles that are suitable for Oracle Certified Professionals are:

??? * For Database Management and Administration: Database Administrator, Database Analyst, and Database Developer. Related certification are OCA 9i DBA, OCP 9i DBA, OCA DBA10g and OCP 10g DBA.
??? * For Programming and Web Development: Database Developer, Applications Developer, Web Developer and Database Analyst. Related certification is OCA PL/SQL Developer.

Training for Oracle certifications
Oracle Certification program offers entry level to advanced certification on the Oracle products and technologies. Oracle certification exam consist of multiple-choice questions related to the specific technology. You should choose a training resource that helps you practice on the actual format of the Oracle Certification exam. Practice is the key to success and you should take plenty of practice exams for your preparations. You should also read study guides and technical articles to get a thorough understanding of the Oracle products and technologies. Your success depends on how efficiently you have prepared for these exams.

Oracle Corporation Offers the following Oracle Certification Tracks:

??? * Oracle Certified Associate (OCA)

Enables one to act as a junior team member working with database administrators or application developers.

??? * Oracle Certified Professional (OCP)

OCP candidates have proven skills for managing a large scale database or developing robust applications that are deployed enterprise-wide.

??? * Oracle Certified Master (OCM)

The highest level credential you can earn in the Oracle Certification Program. These people are senior level members of IT departments and are responsible for handling mission critical database systems and applications.

??? * Internet Application Developer (Release 6 or 6i)

Oracle developers using Oracle iDS (Internet Developer Suite) Forms and Reports.

??? * Oracle Java Developer (JDEV)

Developers using the Java platform. Oracle participates in the multi-vendor jCert Initiative.

PS: The Oracle Database Operator (DBO) track was discontinued on March 31, 2002.
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How hard are the exams?

That depends. If you know your stuff, they are quite easy. If you don’t, well, they are quite hard. The exams test stuff you really need to know. However, they do add some trick questions as well. Nevertheless, these should not scare you off as they don’t count that much anyway.
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What training is required before one can take an exam?

From Oracle 9i Oracle changed the requirements for some certification tracks to include training classes:

OCP - You need to attend one hands-on training class at Oracle Certification . See Oracle’s web site for a list of courses.

OCM - You need to attend two advanced training classes at Oracle University. See Oracle’s website for a list of courses.

All other tracks - Generally no courses required. It might be a good idea to attend some relevant courses before taking an exam, but poor people like me must often do without it.

See section: info about training events/opportunities.
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How do I prepare for the exams?

First step is to go to Oracle Certification and read the list of objectives per exam. There aren’t any questions that don’t fit one of those objectives. Make sure you know what’s on those objectives.

Note that all the questions are compiled from the official Oracle training guides one gets when attending an Oracle class (Instructor Led Course). It is advisable to get these guides by attending the Oracle training classes before taking any of the exams.

Lastly, use the software and practice. Don’t just read about a topic - implement it; break it; then fix it. There’s no better way to learn stuff than to fix something you broke yourself.
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Where can one take these exams?

Testing for the Oracle exams is conducted at authorized Prometric testing centers worldwide. Use their on-line Test Center Locator to find the test center closest to you.
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What is the format of the Oracle Certification exams?

All exams are closed book exams. No written materials or notebook computers will be allowed in the testing area. All questions are either multiple choice, fill in the missing word or match these against those.

Testing is conducted by Thompson Prometric.

When an English test is delivered in a non-English speaking country, the test time might vary from what you see on this site.
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How are exams scored?

It’s not like school where you have to get 60% or whatever. Previously all exam were scored on a 200-800 scale, with 620 as the passing score for all exams. With this scaling system, the number of points each question was worth varied between exams, and candidates could not compare their scores across exams.

Oracle Certification? has decided to abandon the scaled scores and instead report only the candidates’ raw scores.
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Can one (during an exam) skip questions and answer them later in the exam?

Yes, you may mark certain question that you feel are difficult and review them at the end of the exam. After you clicked the submit button, the tool will tell you that you have marked questions and allow you to jump to them. Both marked and unmarked questions will be scored when finally submitting the exam.
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Is it OK to guess answers or are these tests marked negatively?

The Oracle Certification exams are not scored negatively. This means that you can safely guess answers as no points will be deducted for incorrect answers.

It is best to check if you have actually answered ALL questions before completing the exam. If you are running short on time, just click any answer and move on. This way you will at least have a chance to get some of them right.
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Do I have to pass one exam before I can write the next one?

No. You can write any exam in any order. You could even write Admin II, Admin I, SQL in that order if you wanted. They don’t follow on one after another, and you get your certificate when you pass all required exams.
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What happens when one fails an exam?

If you fail a test you can re-write it after a minimum of 14 days, provided you do not write a particular test more than three times in a twelve-month period.

After each exam you will receive some diagnostic feedback with the test score report indicating the areas that need further study.

Failing one exam doesn’t affect any other exams though. If you fail SQL you can still write Admin I any time you want for example.

There is no discount price for re-taking an exam. The fee is the same as for the initial exam.
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Where can one get sample questions for the Oracle exams?

??? * Oracle offers a FREE downloadable assessment test on their Web site at http://www.oracle.com/education/certification.

??? * Buy practice tests from Self Test Software

??? * A sample test is provided as part of the book Advanced ORACLE Tuning & Administration chapter 15. The book is published by Oracle Press (ISBN 0-07-882241-6). Authors: Aronoff, Loney, and Sonawalla.

??? * Get the book: Oracle DBA Exam Cram: Proven Techniques to Pass the Oracle Certified Professional Exam by Michael R. Ault (ISBN: 1576102629)

??? * Oracle FAQ On-line Quizzes - Questions are not directly related to OCP but can be used to test your proficiency in a certain area.