How to become an Oracle Certified Master (OCM)

A turning point in a DBA’s career is when he/she is recognized by Oracle as an elite Oracle professional. I was happily surprised to find out I became an Oracle Certified Master (OCM). I got another surprise right away, “You are the 2nd OCM at the Pythian Group”. Well, I am very happy that I have been working among brilliant people here.

Believe it or not, after I became an Oracle 10g OCM, everybody else wanted to know how to become one. Let me show you the way to become an Oracle Certified Master (OCM).

The practical way to become OCM

1) Be Oracle OCP first. If you don’t know what that is, stop here.

2) Take 2 advance trainings from Oracle University. I highly recommend RAC and SQL tuning. Taking the training, I can play with RAC at my will without any concerns. RAC in the Oracle lab doesn’t belong to any production instance, so no worries at all. Furthermore, refreshing your knowledge of tuning is always good. Your experience from work only can’t substitute as the full toolkit of Oracle — which is what you are tested on.

3) Register for the OCM test (in many cases, the test will be in another city)
It is true for all Canadians. I had to go to New York to take the test. I was told by Oracle that there is no plan to provide an OCM test site in Canada. And I met another Canadian DBA in the test, from Toronto.

4) Book plane and hotel then take 2 days to become OCM
Get a hotel close to Oracle building though it is probably expensive, let’s say CAD $200 a day without tips. Don’t get lost in train/substation during rush hour — get a hotel close enough to walk to the exam.

5) Get results in 1 month.
I got my ‘congratulations letter’ from Oracle in a month, then a T-shirt some weeks later with the OCM logo. In this step, just wait in your warm home and enjoy it.

Drop me email if you still have questions. Welcome, my DBA friend.