Using brain dumps for Oracle certifications is really dumb
The job market for the past few years has been bad in the United States and around the world. One of the few job markets that has never really stopped hiring (although it certainly slowed down for a while) has been information technology. In the last year or two, I have seen the number of open positions start to grow rapidly once again. There is almost always a shortage of qualified IT professionals. It comes as no surprise then that a large number of people are interested in entering the IT field, or that they see Oracle certifications as a means to do so. I completely agree. I have been in the position of looking to fill entry level slots for Oracle professionals and candidates with Oracle certifications are certainly something I look for.
However, what disturbs me is what I see on forums, blogs and certification sites. It seems that a growing number of people, mainly candidates with little experience, are looking for shortcuts to Oracle certification. Specifically, I’m seeing a marked increase in candidates openly seeking “brain dumps” to try to pass a given test. Brain dumps are sets of ‘supposedly’ real test questions and answers from Oracle certification tests. If you have used or considered using brain dumps, please take a few minutes to reflect on the concept. Since no paper is allowed in or out of the test centers, these questions and answers come from the memories of previous test takers. Whether the dumps are actually real questions and answers depends on the memory of the test takers. However, for this article, I’ll simply assume that the dumps contain real questions with correct answers. After all, any candidate using these dumps is making the same assumption.
Some of the candidates who use brain dumps argue that they are not cheating, but that the dumps are just another valid method of studying for the exam. This argument is completely and obviously wrong. ‘Studying’ for a test by memorizing actual questions and answers is not studying. is cheating. This activity does not give you the background information that the test is designed to determine if you have it. If you’re willing to cheat on a test, I seriously doubt you’ll change your mind based on this article. However, you must be honest enough with yourself to admit that this is exactly what you are doing.
Other than that, you as a certification candidate need to focus on this: Oracle certification tests are designed to determine if you have experience with any part of Oracle’s suite of products. This shouldn’t come as a surprise: An algebra test is designed to determine whether you actually did your algebra homework, and a history test is designed to determine whether you listened when your teacher talked about the French Revolution. The difference is that people who take Oracle certification tests do so because they intend to work with that product. On a typical work day, you’re unlikely to be asked to solve a quadratic equation or discuss the socioeconomic policies that led to the collapse of the French monarchy. However, you may very well be expected to recover from a database crash, resolve a database performance issue, or write a complex SQL statement. If you passed your 11G administrator OCP exams using brain dumps and then got a job thanks to that certification, chances are you won’t be able to do any of those tasks as well as you should.
If you’re going to work in this field, many of the questions asked on Oracle certification tests are about things you really need to know and need to learn at some point. If you need to know the information, it’s *much* better to learn in the context of studying for a test rather than in the middle of a real-life crisis when you’re being watched, timed, and graded by people who are paying. your salary. If you get certifications without having the knowledge behind them, this will become apparent sooner or later. There will be some hiring managers who may not be able to spot candidates with a thin layer of Oracle knowledge during an interview. However, most companies hiring for entry-level positions will have one or more of Oracle’s senior staff at the interview. I have been on these interviews and have discovered unqualified candidates. Even if you are hired, sooner or later if you don’t gain knowledge of Oracle, it will be obvious that you will not be able to do the job and you will be fired. If your plan is to learn the skills you need after you’re hired, why not learn them for certification? Using dumps means you risk losing your certification for cheating. If you’re hired on the basis of certification, you risk being exposed as a fraud if you can’t do the job.
I keep the title of the article. If you still think using dumps is a good idea, more power to you. However, you will never get to any company where I have a say in the matter.