ORACLE NEWBIES BLOG

THIS BLOG IS AIMED AT ORACLE PROFESSIONALS WHO ARE NEW TO THE COMMUNITY

AND LOOKING FOR ADVICE AND GUIDANCE. IT WILL HOPEFULLY SHOW YOU WHERE

AND HOW TO GET HELP BUT WILL NOT TELL YOU HOW TO DO YOUR JOB - THAT BIT

IS UP TO YOU.

TUESDAY, JULY 11, 2006

Studying for the OCA/OCP Exams Hints and Tips

As promised, here are a few hints and tips for studying for the OCP exams. I know
everybody has different ways that suit them, but I just thought Id share how I did it and
what I thought helped.

This is not a 'this is how to do it' guide, rather a 'this is how I did it and I hope it may
help you' guide.

Resources

I used the Oracle Press All-in-one study Guide.

There are other resources available, such as the course books you will receive, the Oracle
concepts Guide etc.
I found it easier to just use the one resource so I didnt get confused and so I didnt have
too much material to get through in a short space of time.
The book covers everything required for the exam so you can do it just using this book.

The book is well organised into short, readable chapters.

Each chapter contains a legend which highlights general tips, specific exam tips (pay
attention to these!) and workable examples.
Each chapter finishes with a questions section and also provides the answers and
explanations.
Study Tips

One thing to point out, without sounding patronising, is that you really have to be
prepared to put the work into this. It did take over my life for a week or so, but it was
worth it to make sure I didnt have to go through it all again for the re-sit!

Dont leave the studying to the last minute, pace yourself to allow things time to sink in.

Dont try and read through too many chapters at once, youll find that youll forget the
earlier stuff.

I worked it so I was doing about 3 chapters per day. That way I was doing a steady
amount over the week, and knew I would get through all 21 chapters, rather than having
to do half the book the day before.

Before starting the book, I did the practice exam from the CD you get with the book.
This gave me an idea of where my knowledge was currently up to.
It also highlights any areas that you need to work on.
For me it was Rman and shared server, mainly because I hadnt used them much before.
The practice exam will also give you an idea of the style of questions to expect, so you
can see what you are aiming for when reading the book.

Attempt the practice exam again once you have read the book, this will show you the
improvement you have made and also highlight any areas that still need work.

Other than those two occasions, I didnt do the practice exam much. Theres plenty of
questions in the book to attempt and the questions given for the practice exam dont
vary. So by default, if you did it enough times youd get them all right, without
necessarily understanding the answers you have given!
I just used it to get a results score to use as a benchmark.

I found the best way to use the book was to read the chapter, work through the
examples, then walk away.
Get a coffee or whatever, then come back and attempt the questions. I found that by
answering the questions straight away, you may get most of them right, but just because
you read that fact 5 mins ago.
Have a break and give the info time to sink in youll get a much better idea of what you
have really understood.

Attempt the questions honestly even though you know the answers are on the next
page! Peeking wont allow you to assess how much you have understood.
If you get a lot of the questions wrong, or find a chapter difficult, mark the chapter and
make a note to go back to it. Re-read the chapter then attempt the questions again.

For some of the chapters where I knew I had more work to do, such as the Rman and
shared server stuff, I made my own notes as I went along. Id read a few paragraphs, or
one of the sections, close the book then try and condense what Id learned into a few
short summary lines that I could refer back to.

The questions in the book, and those in the practice exam, really do reflect the type of
questions you get in the exam. If you get used to answering the questions in the book
and working out the style, then nothing in the exam should come as a surprise.

Exam tips

When doing the practice exam, note the level of detailed knowledge required for some of
the questions.
Its generally not enough to just have a broad understanding or to skim sections as you
think you know what its about.

Youll find that some of the exam questions require you to not only know the different
tools and techniques, but also how and when to use them.

The when to use them bit is particularly important as there are some questions in the
exam that are scenario based.
For example, one of the questions I got was along the lines of:

You have external data stored in flat files. You wish to insert the data into your Oracle
database. You have clustered tables within the database. How would you do this:
A. Use the Export/import utilities
B. Use SQL*Loader direct path load
C. Use the Data Pump utility
D. Use SQL*Loader conventional path load

To answer this, you need to know the advantages/disadvantages/limitations of each of

the methods.
As you have external data in flat files, it has to be done with SQL*Loader.
As there are clustered tables in the database, you cant use the direct path load, so the
answer is D.

The above question also highlights 2 other important points.

1. Read the questions carefully I nearly got caught out a couple of times by skim
reading the question. There is sometimes a tiny little detail (like the reference to
clustered tables) that can make a big difference to the answer you give. Without the
clustered tables, the answer to the above would have been B.
2. Dont panic if you read a question and dont immediately know the answer. Its often
possible to do what I call reverse engineer the answer! In the example above I arrived
at the right answer by eliminating the ones I knew were wrong.

At the end of the exam, you will get the opportunity to go back and either complete
unanswered questions, or review the answers you have given.

If you have time (which Im sure you will as you get ample time to sit the exam) I
strongly suggest you do this. It was reviewing the answers that highlighted where I
hadnt read the question properly and was able to change the answer.
Above all, relax and dont panic!
I found the thought of the exam was actually far more scary than the exam itself.
POSTED BY LISA AT 7/11/2006 09:45:00 PM

21 COMMENTS:

Patrick said...

Thanks Good info

WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 2006 2:45:00 PM

Ian Murphy said...

Good post Lisa and very much along the lines of the techniques I used to pass the
exam I took recently (and the ones before).

Definitely agree about the time - I've finished all three exams in less than half the
time, convinced I've failed because how can you finish something in half the time
you're given ;-)

Good to use the remaining time productively though by going back and making
sure you wouldn't choose another answer.

Cheers,

Ian

WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 2006 3:42:00 PM

Anonymous said...

Great post. An accuracy description of what the exam is all about. If you know the
subject matters, there shouldn't be any problem during the exam. As pointed out,
there is enough time to go through and think about each of the questions if
necessary.

THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2 006 3:08:00 AM

mattypenny said...

Good stuff.

Only thing I'd add from my experience is that once I've gone through all the exam
questions I go through them all again backwards .

Two reasons for this:

- I sometimes notice mistakes I've made on questions that I hadn't actually

marked as being unsure of

- occasionally questions later in the exam actually contain the answers to earlier
questions - particularly syntactical stuff.

THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2 006 12:03:00 PM

Anonymous said...

I would recommend NOT wasting money on OCP or certification of any kind.

All the questions and answers word for word are available for $99 at
www.actualtests.com. Last I saw you could buy one test for $3.50 off ebay.

If you want to use it to learn fine, but spending the money for the tests is money
you are throwing away.

To reiterate, these questions and answers are WORD FOR WORD. It's not just
Oracle. It includes every vendor I could think of.

What I think they do is they buy the 'sample tests' from the vendors which are
probably the real tests and put them together.

Certification is an industry scam especially at the prices they charge. If you are
employer is paying for the exams go for it.
 I am certified as both a developer and a DBA. I am not going to upgrade. It has no
value. I learned quite a bit when I certified in 8i. It wasn't everything. The
performance parts of the exam were terrible and full of fallacies. The rest was ok.
I thought the 9i upgrade was really silly. Part of the problem was that the 9i
upgrade book from Oracle press was terrible and did not cover anything.

I found that alot of the Oracle press OCP books include copy and pastes from the
documentation you can get for free.

I stumbled on these when I was looking for cheaper practice tests on ebay. I got
my practice tests all right... It was the real test and let me restate again, it was
WORD FOR WORD.

THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2006 4:00:00 PM

Lisa said...

Well, one thing I've discovered from my last few posts, is that when you mention
the OCP exams, you get a mixed bag of responses!

I've deliberately tried to keep away from saying whether I think they are right or
wrong.

I've done the exams for my own reasons.

Everyone else is perfectly entitled to either 'do or not do' as they see fit.
I just wanted to be able to share some thoughts so that I may be able to help
anybody that decides that they do want to do them.

As a kid growing up, my Dad always taught me to never discuss politics or

religion in public.
I guess I should add OCP exams to that list!!

FRIDAY, JULY 14, 2006 4:47:00 PM

Connor McDonald said...

E) Use an external table

:-)

SUNDAY, JULY 16, 2006 1:39:00 PM

Padraig O'Sullivan said...

Hi Lisa, I just stumbled accross your blog recently. I'm from Ireland and have just
started working as an Oracle DBA in the last 4 weeks in Chicago.

Just wanted to let you know that I find your blog very informative and helpful.

I totally agree with your reasons for pursueing certification. I'm pretty much in
the same boat myself!

Padraig

THURSDAY, JULY 20, 2006 2:30:00 PM

Ravi Prakash said...

I am working around to know more in-Depth of what i am doing! And in search i

found your Blog - About OCA/OCP & your Hints & Tips!

Really helps - the one who plans to give - OCP!

Cheers :-)
Ravi Prakash Pichika

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 08 , 2006 4:32:00 AM

Anonymous said...
 I agree on the word for word assesment. What Oracle should do is what Cisco
does. Put some simulations in the tests.

For example, it could say, you need to shutdown the database. You need to
change this parameter and make it persistent (spfile).

Alter system set some_parameter = TRUE scope = spfile;

Something along those lines. Or Create a Table and name the columns blah and
blech. Blah needs to have a datatype of varchar2 with up to 20 characters of data.
Blech is a number column that needs to have a precisions of 10 and scale of 2.
There are no constraints on the table.

Create a user matt and give him a password. Grant him the basic permissions he
needs just to connect to the database. Not create or access any objects. Have him
use the default tablespace of users and the temporary tablespace of temp.

Add external tables. Add Enterprise Grid. There are so many simulations they
could add to reduce the likelyhood of someone cheating on the exam.

These are some things Oracle could do to improve the quality of the exam.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2006 5:08:00 PM

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 02, 2 007 9:35:00 AM

Anonymous said...

Oracle Certification (Newbie)

http://career-assessments.blogspot.com/2008/01/oracle-certifications-
newbies.html

Oracle 11g DBA OCA, OCP, DBA OCM Certification Aspirants

 http://career-assessments.blogspot.com/2008/01/oracle-certifications-
aspirants.html

MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2008 10:33:00 AM

Dllatas said...

Hi, i just have started a blog that covers the topics of the OCA exam, it is in
spanish but soon it will be in english, too.

http://caminoaloca.blogspot.com/

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2009 3:08:00 AM

Anonymous said...

you have a nice site. thanks for sharing this valuable resources. keep it up.
anyway, various kinds of ebooks are available here

http://feboook.blogspot.com

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2009 4:36:00 PM

IT certification exam said...

Hi Friend, I also planning to do this oracle exam, too informative. It's better for
you.

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2 011 6:26:00 AM

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TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2013 2:58:00 AM

Ahmed said...

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THURSDAY, MAY 23, 20 13 6:20:00 AM

ExamCertfiy Test Preparation Material said...

 hi Lisa,

Great great post Lisa. I really appreciate what you just posted and shared. It was a
very useful information and I wanna thank you for the efforts of sharing these
tips. I agree with you that take time to go read it again to have the best answer.

SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013 5:58:00 AM

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ABOUT ME

LISA

NEWCASTLE, UNITED KINGDOM

I've been working with Oracle products since 1997, beginning as a Financials end-user
before progressing to support analyst and then a DBA.

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