Can some of u guys give me some input on the following:
If someone has a background in the IT field, and in the past 7-8 years working on visual basic and recently on oracle dba, what is the next step basically? what should one get certified for ? what other “hot” courses are out there? what type of certification should one pursue? (and where can one achieve this living in the states)
i’m sure this is a very general not to the point type of question, but any feed back would be greatly appreciated.
it is not for me. its for a close family friend.
he does not have any certifications really. he's taken some oracle dba courses, and vb and vb script before, isn't really certified for anything in particular
with 2 to 3 years Oracle DBA experience most employers do not care if you have certification or not. If you have less than one year experience then Oracle DBA certification can be a contributing factor for getting a job.
But any kind of certification looks good on resume' irrespective of length of your experience in the field .
Your friend will need to decide whether he wants to pursue the database track or development track. This is not to say that a hybrid isn’t possible… but in the long term, specializing in one track will pay off.
The other suggestion I have is to pursue complementarities along with specializations.
For example, if your friend is interested in the development track, and he already has some experience in VB programming, then pursuing a .NET related track would be a good specialization – and perhaps along with that, a Web Services certification would be a good complement endorsement.
The above is just an example. Anyone that you talk to will give you their own take on what is a lucrative certification these days. The ultimate decision is your friends. A lot depends on the type of opportunities that are available around him… and the plans of his own employer etc.
I am personally looking into certifications related to SOA and Web 2.0 these days and am researching options right now.