Getting Certified – 3 Reasons I Got Certified (and you should too)

The reason I got my first Oracle Certification (9i OCP), was to give me more credibility. I was still in school, and there was no better time to write the first certification.

I mean my job at the time was to go to school and learn as much as possible, so when I am done, I can find a DBA job. I had no experience, so the certification was a no brainer at the time. And it was easy to write the exams, as I had FREE time to study for them.

Getting the next certifications was a different story. I already had a job, so there was no pressure on getting 10g, 11g certified, and I had a family with kids. Time was more precious than ever. So why I did it anyway? Why do I believe that certifications are important?

Here are my top three reasons:

1. to keep your technical skills up to date
2. to motivate yourself to open the books at 06:00 am
3. to keep your brain engaged in learning

I don’t believe that being certified proves you have great technical skills, or that you get a raise. As a mater of fact, I never heard of someone getting a raise, after an OCP certification. However, more opportunities and options in your carrier could show up, and yes you could have an advantage with your certification.

Follow me next week, to find out how you can make it happen for yourself!