By gayan Recently (starting July 1st, 2025), Oracle Announced it second “Race to Certify” Promotion. While the objectives and the steps of getting through each step had been clearly defined, I thought of sharing with You on my journey on winning the certification Race.
As most of you know, certification is essential for many reasons,
- To assess your own level of adaptation technology / Self satisfaction
- It increases Yours and (most probably) Your company’s credibility
- To gain confidence in technology and become a technology advisor
- It increases your market potential
And the list goes on.
How it all started
When I first did an Oracle On-line exam (on 28th of February 2001), I failed this “Introduction to Oracle: SQL/PLSQL” by 2 marks. This was when Oracle 8i had 5 modules to complete OCP. I was attached to a private firm (teaching Oracle) during my part-time BSc program and was in the 2nd year of my academic career when I managed to complete my Oracle 9i OCP. It was on 13th of March 2003, when I achieved this credential after having to upgrade myself to 8i OCP to 9i OCP.
This 9i OCP was the only credential that was considered when I joined my first IT Professional (IT Integration) Firm, as I was just halfway from my degree program.
Passion and progress
With self-satisfaction going up, I was extremely passionate about taking up completing all Oracle certifications which would be published by Oracle. Not all the exams were easy. I failed some exams but made sure to get them right in the next attempt. I had (and still have) a strategy of reserving the exam 1-2 weeks ahead. This was the best approach for me to allocate dedicated time (regardless of office and other workloads), knowing the examination was upcoming.
With commitment and dedication shown, the company I worked (Millennium IT, back then), encouraged me to attempt Oracle Certified Master (2-day hands-on lab) examination. They helped me by sponsoring the examination as well as travel and accommodation (as I had to travel overseas for the exam attempt). I was not a fan of “Exam dumps”. One would not obtain the “real” self-satisfaction and a sustaining knowledge if someone was entirely relied on these “dumps” – I felt. Since I was totally a hands-on guy, I was confident to take the OCM examination in 10g and managed to earn the credential and to become the first OCM in my country and the 50th in the world during that time. It was a great achievement and equally treated by the company, customers and the community overall.
I continued earning credentials and obtained OCM for 11g, 12c and the added credential of 12c OCM MAA. This was the time I was studying for my Masters (MBA – Edith Cowen University, Perth). While it was tough ask, the dedication, commitment and passion took me to achieve both my Academic and Professional Goals.
My current Status
Efforts to pass certifications helped me to face both local and overseas customers with confidence. They all respected the credentials I earned and looked up to me for technical guidance and treated me as their ‘go-to person” in crisis. Although I’m holding a Senior director position now, I never give up on my certifications.
I have thus far successfully completed 60 Oracle Certifications including OCI. I never missed any Free offering and made sure to take the best out of the OU sessions which were/are very productive.
I make sure I complete one whole cycle of learning from OU before reserving my examination date, and there after to at least run through the OU training for at least 2 more rounds in full.
In preparation for the exam, I do the practice exams, hands on practices (Where appropriate) and also take down notes from the Oracle documentation and compile a short note for me to refer a day before the exam date. I rarely reschedule exams as postponing I think is not a good strategy unless it is unavoidable.
In my last visit to Oracle Cloud world (2024), I met many experts especially in OU front. I shared ideas and even had several tech discussions with them on-line after returning home.
Whats next
In 2025, Oracle offered several promotional certifications, including AI Vector search, MySQL and the ongoing Race to Certify 2025. I was one of the top achievers in last year’s program which earned me an Oracle jacket as well.
I will continue to keep my passion for Oracle certifications up. Suggest You too to attempt. At least when it is free. More than the outcome of whether you have passed or failed, its an attempt to evaluate yourself and a certain chance to gain a credential at no cost. Im sure, You would win the race as I did.
Happy Learning and Good luck!