7/10/13 Top three IT certifications you can get from scratch | TechRepublic

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Career Management

Top three IT certifications you canget from scratchBy Guest Contributor

July 24, 2012, 6:01 AM PDT

Takeaway: Accessible online training can help you conquer some of the barriers to pursuing

IT certifications.

Information technology certifications are highly respected testaments to a professional’s training and expertise

in Information Technology. Whether you’re changing careers, branching into another facet of IT, or

completely new to the IT sector, pursuing certification is a fast track to recognizable and transferable skills

attractive to many employers. For example, studies show that certified professionals are able to handle over a

third more tech support cases than non-certified employees.

Pursuing IT certifications used to be both expensive and inconvenient. New online courses enable you to

jumpstart a new career through straightforward and highly accessible online training. Brenner Spear, a content

developer at OpenSesame, a company that offers online training courses, talks about the top three IT

certifications and how you can get them.

Oracle Certified Professional Java SE 6 Programmer

Prerequisites: None

Time Commitment: 21 hours of course material + 2.5 hour exam

Financial Commitment: $80 course + $300 exam fees

The median starting salary for an individual with an OCPJP certification is $50,800, which usually grows by

$11,000 within the first 4 years of certification. There are currently 130+ jobs on Freelancer.com that require

a Java programmer.

To become an OCP Java Programmer, there’s only one exam you have to take: the Java SE 6 Programmer

Certified Professional Exam. OpenSesame.com offers 1Z0-851 Study Exam Material, a comprehensive 21-hour

interactive course covering the seven sections of the exam. These are a few of the topics covered in each

section of the exam:

Section 1: introduces classes, methods, objects and arrays as variables, and how to declare an interface.

Section 2: covers if & switch statements, for loops, for-each loops & while loops, and exceptions & exception

handling (try, catch, finally).

Section 3: teaches how to navigate file systems using FileReader and FileWriter, as well as integrate data from

other code using APIs.

Section 4: explains the different states in which a thread can exist.

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Section 5: describes the effect of modifiers on inheritance.

Section 6: explains the process of determining which collection of classes would be best for different designs,

as well as the different versions of the collections API.

Section 7: introduces the garbage collection system, and how to recognize when objects are ready for garbage

collection.

Alternatively, you may purchase a self-study CD set for $660 from Oracle themselves. When you have

completed the study process, you can take the certification exam at an Oracle Testing Center or through

Pearson VUE. Register for either through Oracle. This is probably the fastest way to get a credible certification

stating you’re a “professional.”

Oracle Database Administrator Certified Associate

Prerequisites: None

Time Commitment: 31 hours of course material + two 1.5-2 hour exams

Financial Commitment: two $80 courses + $320 (total) exam fees

OCA Database administrators earn a median of $40,000 annually, which usually grows by $23,000 within the

first 4 years. To become an OCA Database Administrator, you must complete two required exams, the 1Z0-051:

Database SQL Fundamentals & the 1Z0-052: Database SQL Administration. Mindleaders, a seller in the

OpenSesame marketplace, offers material for both.

The Oracle 1Z0-051 Exam Study Material presents 12 hours of material cut into seven sections which cover the

basics of SQL database management. No experience is needed to take this course. Some of the topics in each

section include:

Section 1: introduces the SELECT statement and how to limit/sort the rows retrieved.

Section 2: introduces and explains the four main functions: SELECT, INPUT, DELETE & UPDATE.

Section 3: covers group functions, and how to use GROUP BY & HAVING.

Section 4: explains how to use JOIN commands, as well as what subqueries are.

Section 5: describes, in depth, DML (data manipulation language) and DML statements.

Section 6: teaches how to create tables and add constraints during their creation.

Section 7: describes simple & complex views, and the differences between them. Explains sequences &

indexes, as well as public & private synonyms.

The Oracle 1Z0-052 Exam Study Material has 19 hours of material cut into 10 sections which build off the

foundational knowledge provided in the previous course. These more advanced topics include:

Section 1: explains memory structures and storage structures, and how to use all the tools for administering

an Oracle database.

Section 2: teaches how to create a database with the DBCA (Database configuration Assistant) and set it up the

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way you want/need it.

Section 3: shows how to manage database storage structures and schema objects, as well as how to correctly

use temporary tables.

Section 4: covers network architecture and how to configure an Oracle Network Environment correctly.

Section 5: explains how to keep an Oracle database secure by controlling accounts and privileges, as well as

standard database auditing.

Section 6: teaches how to recognize PL/SQL objects, and how to use undo and undo data.

Section 7: covers an array of helpful tools, such as: automatic memory management, AWR (automatic

workload repository), advisory framework, and memory advisors.

Section 8: explains the concepts of backup and recovery, and how to make automated routine incremental

backups.

Section 9: covers the types of failures Oracle databases can experience and how to recover from them.

Section 10: teaches how to import and export data using the Oracle data pump, as well as manage any patches

released.

Both courses include three full-length practice exams to test your grasp of the material. When it comes to exam

day, only a 60% and 66%, respectively, are required to pass. If you have some database experience, passing the

051 with no studying is probably possible, but it won’t help your overall understanding of Oracle-specific

topics, which could be a hindrance when taking the 052 course and exam.

Interested? Register for both exams with Oracle - the 1Z0-051 exam is even available online. Oracle also offers

on-demand prep-seminars (videos) for both the 1Z0-051 and the 1Z0-052, for $650 a piece.

Linux Red Hat Certified System Administrator

Prerequisites: None

Time Commitment: two full work-weeks

Financial Commitment: two $2700 classes + $200 exam fees

OR

Prerequisites: 1-3 years of full-time Linux administration experience

Time Commitment: 21 hours of course material + 2 hour exam

Financial Commitment: $80 course + $400 exam fees

For the last decade, Red Hat has been the leading Linux operating system for the enterprise user. Earning an

RHCSA certification demonstrates your ability to administer Red Hat Enterprise Linux environments,

including important common core skills like handling command-line environments and network file systems.

To pursue a Red Hat certification, you must attend Red Hat’s on-site training, virtual training, remote

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classroom training or in-person training.

Linux Red Hat System Administration I (RH124) is the introductory course. Classroom training by Red

Hat Inc. and classes from certified Red Hat instructors from sites like ExitCertified are available for $2,700. A

few skills taught during the course include:

The how-to’s of the graphical Installation of Linux

Dealing with physical storage

Using command line

Installing local components and services, as well as configuring them

Creating and securing networks & network services

Keeping files secure and organized

Creating and overseeing users and groups

Using file-sharing services

Using GUI-based tools and important command-line concepts

Linux Red Hat System Administration II (RH135) follows the RH124 course. Both classroom training

from Red Hat Inc. and ExitCertified offer the course with the RHCSA exam included, but the class is $2900

(which means you’re saving $200 on the normally $400 exam). The more advanced skills taught in this course

include:

Troubleshooting networks, file systems and logical volumes

Handling file systems and logical volumes, and using a LVM (Logical Volume Manager)

Managing user and file access, as well as packages

Installing and managing services and processes

More important command-line operations

If you have 1-3 years of full-time Linux administrator experience, OpenSesame offers a course to prepare for

the required RHCSA Exam (EX200). The RHCSA EX200 Exam Study Material comprises 21 hours of

material cut into 9 sections. This course focuses on topics included in the exam that even experienced

administrators will need to review, including:

Hardware and installation requirements

Installing RHEL 6 on a virtual machine over a network with the help of Kickstart

An overview of all the required command line skills

Controlling Security using firewalls, access control lists, file permissions, and SELinux

Everything that goes on during a startup

Filesystem maintenance, including logical volumes, storage encryption, and partitions

The Red Hat Package Manager

Managing users and groups

Administration tasks

Have certs helped you?

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With excellent online and in-person training options, certification in the in-demand IT sector is within your

reach. Do you have any of these, or other start-from-scratch certifications? Have they helped you start down a

new career path?

Brenner Spear is a content developer at OpenSesame, the world’s largest marketplace for buying and selling

elearning courses. He is currently a student at Chapman University in Orange, California, majoring in CIS

(Computer Information Systems) and Business.

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