I am a GIS professional who deals with databases and programming equally. I would like certification in one of these areas. Is OCP or MCSD.NET more valuable? And can you point me to some study materials?
QUESTION POSED ON: 09 NOV 2005
QUESTION ANSWERED BY: Ed Tittel
Choosing the OCP versus MCSD route may not be the right pair of certs to consider. Last week, Microsoft announced a new set of developer certs for Visual Studio .NET 2005 and the .NET Framework 2.0; these include the new Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (which includes credentials on Windows, Web and Enterprise applications) and the new Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (which does likewise). Given your current area of interest, your best pair of options would therefore be the OCP on the one hand and the MCTS-MCPD on Enterprise Applications on the other.
Job opportunities for Oracle professionals and developers slightly outnumber those for Microsoft database professionals and developers in the U.S., but the numbers are pretty close. I can't help but imagine that the situation is similar in your home country as well.
Thus, I'd recommend letting your interests dictate the direction you choose to pursue. If you prefer the Oracle side of the street, that's the side you should walk on; if you prefer the Microsoft side, walk over there instead. In the long run, career and job satisfaction far outweighs the value of certification per se.
As for books, you're asking a man who's series editor of two of the most popular certification titles around. Thus, I'd urge you to investigate offerings from Que Certification on Microsoft and Oracle in the Exam Cram 2 series (for short, focused exam tune-ups and readiness preparation) and in the Exam Prep series (for longer, more in-depth, educational materials to learn about the topics covered on the exams to which they relate).
Good luck with your career planning and certification prep activities.
-- Ed
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