The Art of Being a Successful DBA – Getting the Most Out of Your Oracle Training Dollar

Because of my background in Oracle Education, I am often asked about Oracle training, which classes would be most beneficial and how to prepare for the certification tests. The purpose of this article is to help students better understand Oracle education and the Oracle certification process.

This blog will provide you with some hints and tips that will help you obtain the most benefit when you attend “Old OU” (Oracle University). I’ll also provide some recommendations to help you pass the Oracle Certification Exams.

Introduction
Readers of this blog know that I’ve been involved in some form of Oracle Education for close to twenty years now. I started my career in Oracle Education working as a courseware creator and “instructor to the instructors” for Platinum Technologies. I had the good fortune of working with fellow blogger, Craig Mullins during my stint there. At Platinum, I was responsible for creating their entire Oracle curriculum including classes on general administration, backup/recovery, database tuning and several SQL and PL/SQL courses.

I was also employed as an Oracle Certified Instructor for a number of years. The greatest accomplishment in my career came was when I was awarded the OAEC Quality Achievement Award. These awards are given to the top instructors in the OAEC (Oracle Authorized Education Center) program. That recognition was quickly followed by Oracle allowing me to certify a few of my fellow instructors. Certifying my fellow instructors was a responsibility I took very seriously. One of the folks I certified continues to have a very prosperous career in Oracle Education. It should be interesting if I ever attend one of his classes in the future. “The student becomes the teacher” syndrome would be an interesting dynamic. I’ll try not to critique him in the middle of his class…

Grey Market Training
Gray market training is classroom education provided by any third party other than Oracle or an Oracle Approved Education Center. The course content is created by the gray market provider. Therefore, there is no guarantee that the quality and course content of these classes will provide you with the information necessary to enhance your expertise or successfully pass the Oracle Certification tests.

Students who want to take gray market training classes should carefully evaluate the vendor that provides the training as well as the course’s content. Students should ask the vendor to provide a detailed listing of the course’s curriculum as well as the background of the instructor who will be providing the training.     There are several non-Oracle education providers that you can trust.   One way to find out who the good paroviders are is to ask your fellow Oracle DBAs.    Hop on over to websites like the Oracle Community and the Oracle Technet Discussion forums and you’ll get a lot of responses to your questions on third-party education providers.   Its hard to beat Oracle training if you want to prepare for certification.

Oracle Classroom Education
When is the best time to take the classes? This may sound trite, but it is best to follow Oracle’s recommendations on the sequence of classes. Take the intro classes before taking the more advanced classes. If you have the luxury (meaning you aren’t the only DBA in your shop), gain some day-to-day experience before taking the more advanced classes (SQL or database tuning, backup and recovery, etc.). You shouldn’t be asking questions like “What is an init.ora parameter file, anyway?” in an advanced class. Instructors don’t have the time and your fellow students won’t have the patience to bring you up to speed before continuing on to more advanced topics.

Preparation
Being prepared is the single most important factor to obtain the most benefit from any formal training class. I can’t stress this highly enough – PREPARATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS.

It’s a pretty simple process to prepare for class. Oracle Education’s Website will provide you with all of the information you need to prepare for your upcoming class.

Step one is to read the information provided by the Oracle Corporation that pertains to the class you are attending. Sounds simple enough, right? That’s because it is. Oracle Education’s website provides a detailed description of each class it offers. It will tell you EXACTLY what to prepare for. Go to the Course Curriculum page on Oracle Education’s website, find the course you are attending, navigate to the course description page and then review the course objectives and topics.  You will find a detailed listing of all of the information the course will cover.

If you are a new Oracle DBA and will be attending your first database administration class, read the Oracle Concepts Manual, Administrator’s Guide and review the Reference and SQL Reference books. Follow this same advice for whatever class you are taking. If it’s a new features class, read the new features guide for that release. Tuning and performance – read the Performance Tuning Guide. Same thing for backup and recovery, standby, RAC, etc.. Do yourself a favor and perform some self-education first. You may not know the mechanics, but you’ll be ahead of the game if you know the lingo and the concepts used.  You will pay a lot for these classes, you need to make every effort to take advantage of the information the instructor is going to convey to you.   You do that by preparing for the class.

Showing Enthusiasm and Willingness to Learn
If an instructor sees that you are making an extra effort to overcome your lack of day-to-day experience by coming in early, staying late and being prepared, they will be more prone to help you.

It’s basic human dynamics. If the instructor walks by your work area and sees you continuously reading “NFL Today” when you should be doing labs, they are going to spend less time with you and more time on students who are exhibiting a willingness and enthusiasm to learn.  Except when I was teaching, I would just stop in my tracks and ask you if you wanted to learn your chose profession  (or not).

I personally liked to keep my classes lively.  Every so often I would jump out of my seat and yell “DO YOU UNDERSTAND!”.   By the second day people would be yelling “YES!”.   Of course by Friday some of my students were looking at me like  “If you say the word SGA one more time, I will come up there and jam your head into the projector…”  I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything so breaks were always at a minimum.  I think that is why my classes were nicknamed “Foot Camp” by my students.

Instructors are weird; we like to see people excited about what we are teaching. Seeing someone enthused about learning makes us want to make sure they get the most out of class.

Class Participation
Class participation means more than just answering questions that are asked. You also need to ask questions. If you still don’t understand, ask again. If you are having a hard time understanding a particular concept, ask the instructor during a break to explain the information to you again.

Trust me, your instructor will be glad to help. Instructors don’t choose training as a profession because they like living out of a suitcase; education is a passion for them. I knew it was time for me to retire when I woke up one morning in a hotel room, looked out the window and couldn’t remember what city I was in. After I cleared my head (and looked at the local phone book), I found out where I was and started contemplating that it may be time for a career change. Coming in my front door that very same weekend and having my German Shepherd attack me because he forgot who I was pretty much confirmed my decision.

If you are experienced DBA and you have a lab partner that isn’t as well versed in Oracle as you are, take the time and help them. Don’t take control of the keyboard and blast through the labs. Be patient with them, show them the little tricks of the trade you picked up and help them along. You’ll probably have their undying gratitude and you’ll be contributing to the health and welfare of our profession.  You also learn by teaching.

If you are an Oracle expert taking one of the more advanced classes, don’t let your ego get in the way of you obtaining the utmost benefit from the class you are taking – ask questions and get involved!

Over the years, I found that the discussions that were held during class breaks were often just as illuminating as the instructor led training. One DBA would ask a question about a problem that occurred or the challenges they were facing. Their fellow DBAs would immediately provide recommendations to help them. Don’t be afraid to ask your fellow DBAs and instructor for advice. If you have a problem, an Oracle class is the perfect forum to obtain the information you need to get it resolved.

Familiarize Yourself with the Next Day’s Material
I know this can be hard to do. Especially if you are attending class in a place you’ve never been to before. It’s a tough decision between sightseeing in San Francisco or planting your nose in an Oracle Admin I class guide. You’ll need to make some compromises here. Go out for a few hours, come in early and prepare for the next day’s class.

The Importance of Becoming Certified
Becoming certified is an essential ingredient for all Oracle technicians who want to prosper in their chosen profession. Certifications are especially important to those seeking employment in a field that often has many candidates competing for a single position. An Oracle certification shows the potential employer that the candidate has made the commitment to “learn their trade” and has the background and education to quickly become a productive member of the their staff.

The Oracle Certification also gives a distinct advantage to DBAs looking to advance in their careers. Being an Oracle Certified Professional raises their visibility in the organization, which is a requirement for career advancement in most shops.

Preparing for the Oracle Certified Professional Exams
The best time to take the exam is a week or two after taking the Oracle class that the exam pertains to. Passing the OCP test is much easier when the information is fresh. The class workbook should be used as the primary study guide. I have passed every exam I have taken by studying only the information contained in the class workbooks.

Practice tests will provide you with a firm understanding of the areas you are strong in as well as the areas where you need to shore up your knowledge. Oracle University has chosen two partners (Self Test Software and Transcender) to provide authorized Oracle Certified Practice Exams.

I am fully aware that there are many competing websites that offer Oracle Certification practice tests. If you want to prepare for an Oracle Exam by purchasing a practice test, why not purchase the test from the vendors that Oracle has chosen to partner with?

Self Test Software and Transcender practice tests provide a thorough coverage of the Oracle certification requirements and use the same test question technology as the real exams including simulations, scenarios, hot spots and case studies. This makes the choice clear – go with the Oracle partner practice exams.

Oracle exams consist of single response (Y/N or T/F), multiple choice and for some exams, Interactive Items.    The person taking the test hits the START button and is then presented with a live simulation of an Oracle database environment.  They must then take the appropriate course of action in the simulation enviornment to earn a correct answer for that simulation.    If you aren’t happy with your previous response, you can always hit the START button again and record a new one.

If you are unsure of a question, you can always mark the question for review and at the end of the test you will be prompted to go back and review all questions that you marked.    Remember, you need to answer all of them.

The Day of Your Test
Oracle used to partner with Prometric Testing Centers to provide testing centers throughout the United States.    That will change on September  2009.    Oracle has recently chosen Pearson VUE as their new testing provider.  All future Oracle certification exams will be provided  through the Pearson VUE Authorized Test Center Network.   Pearson VUE states that it has over 5,000 sites in 165 countries.   Here’s more information on the new relationship between Pearson VUE and Oracle.

The following hints and tips will prepare you for the day you take your certification tests:

• You must have two forms of identification, both containing your signature. One must be a government issued photo identification.
• Try to show up early (at least 15 minutes) before your scheduled exam. If you show up late, the testing center coordinator has the option of canceling your exam and asking you to reschedule your test.
• You cannot bring any notes or scratch paper to the testing center. Paper will be provided by the testing center and will be destroyed when you leave.
• Testing center personnel will provide you with a brief overview of the testing process. The computer will have a demo that will show you how to answer and review test questions.
• Don’t leave any questions unanswered. All test questions left unanswered will be marked as incorrect.
• Your exam score is provided to you immediately and the exam results are forwarded to Oracle Certification Program management. Make sure you keep a copy of your test results for your records.
• If you fail a test, you must wait at least 14 days before retaking a proctored test.  There is no retake waiting time for non-proctored tests.  A proctored test means you show up at the testing center and a person watches you take it.   So don’t write the answers on your sleeve!
• Don’t let your ego prevent you from studying. I have seen numerous experienced DBAs receive “less than stellar” test scores because they thought they knew the material they were being tested on.  STUDY – The more prepared you feel you are for anthing, the less anxious you will be.   Hey, how hard can they be?  I passed every one I took!  I’m probably average on the intelligence scale (no cracks please).   Studying the classroom guides did it for me.

Wrapup
I hope you enjoyed this blog on Oracle Education.   If you have any questions on Oracle Education or the certification exams let me know.

Thanks for Reading,

Chris Foot
Oracle Ace
Director of Operations