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What companies provide Oracle Certification?

Oracle Corporation

Oracle Corporations Certification is well known and recognized of all available certifications. These questions will mainly concentrate on Oracle's Certification tracks.

Brainbench Inc. (formerly Tekmetrics)


A new type Oracle E-certifications. However these are not officially recognized by Oracle Corporation.

Test.com Inc.

On-line Testing Center with some Oracle exams. However, their certifications are not officially recommended by Oracle Corporation.

Chauncey Group International


Chauncey's DBA certification was rejected by Oracle's certification program. Chauncey does not offer any Oracle certifications now.



* What are official tracks available for Oracle certification?

Oracle Corporation recommend these 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 was however not continued after 31 March, 2002.

* How hard are the exams?

It depends. If you are familiar with your stuff, this is very easy. If you don't, well, they are quite hard. Tests or Certifications stuff you actually need to know. However, they do add some tips or questions also. Nevertheless, these should not scare you off as they don't count that

* What preparation is needed before one can appear in an exam?

Starting from Oracle 9i Oracle changed the needs for some certification tracks to include training classes:

OCP - You have to attend one hands-on training class at Oracle University. See Oracle's web site for a list of courses.
OCM - You have to attend two advanced training classes at Oracle University. See Oracle's website for a list of courses.

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

* How to prepare for the oracle exams?

Please go here Untitled Document and read the list of objectives per test. There aren't any questions that don't fit one of those objectives. Be 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 these certifications.

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.

* Where you can take these exams?

Oracle exams are conducted at Pearson VUE testing centers authorized worldwide. Use their on-line Test Center Locator to find the test center closest to you.

Important: Oracle switched from Prometric to Pearson VUE in September 2009.

* What is the format of the oracle certification tests?

All tests are like closed book exams. No written materials or notebook computers is premitted in the testing center. All questions could be multiple choice, fill in the blanks or match these against those.

Exams are conducted by Pearson VUE.

When an English exam is delivered in a non-English speaking country, the test time may vary from what you're watching.

* How are tests scored?

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

Oracle has planned to abandon the scaled scores and instead report only the candidates' raw ratings.

* What if someone fails in an exam?

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

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

Failing in one exam will not 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-appearing in an exam. The fee will be the same as for the first time exam.

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