work thoughts
I been making good progress on some professional goals - I've been wanting to update my Oracle certifications for about 5 years now and finally took care of 1 of those certifications yesterday. I've still got at least one more to go and a few after that. I've got my Oracle 7,8,9 and now 10 certifications done. Next on the list is my Oracle 11g OCP certification. That's all the Oracle certifications I really really feel I *have* to have to stay marketable, but I'm considering the following additional certifications:
1Z0-054 Oracle Database 11g Performance Tuning Certified Expert
1Z0-238 Oracle EBS R12 Applications Database Administrator Certified Professional
1Z0-206 Oracle E-Business Suite R12 System Administrator Certified Expert
1Z0-403 Oracle Enterprise Linux Administrator Certified Associate
1Z0-233 Oracle 11i Applications Database Administrator
1Z0-232 Oracle 11i System Administrator Certified Expert
1Z0-046 Oracle Database 10g: Managing Oracle on Linux Certified (older)
1Z0-402 Oracle Oracle Enterprise Linux Implementation Specialist (already might be grandfathered in with RHCE)
Anyhow, after I get the 11g Oracle certification, I'm then going to try and get certified in VMWare (VMWare Certified Professional) - for that I'll actually have to attend (either online or in person) a class before I can sit for the exam which seems just like a way for VMWare to make $$ to me but whatever.
I figure with my RedHat Linux, Oracle and then VMWare certifications I'll be truly at the top of my game from a professional resume point of view. Virtualization (VMWare) has been exploding in popularity over the last year or so (Cloud anyone?) and there's huge benefits to running Oracle on Linux and running the whole mess under VMWare. Lower licensing costs, increased performance, reducing possible downtime issues, much better DR solutions.
I have no current plans to leave where I work, really. At the moment my closest coworker is now (interim) Director of IT, I've got an extremely talented DBA working with me, and I'm doing cool stuff. But things can always change and I need to be more marketable than some $30/hr DBA out of India. I'm not a big corporation person. If/when I leave my current employer my plan is to go back to independent consulting. That gives me the flexibility I want, the most money I can earn, and the best options for savings.
Once I get my 11g OCP Oracle certification and my VMWare certification, I want to set up a website for my business (Weinshenker Consulting LLC - I know, very original) highlighting my experience and credentials. I plan to also include various recommendations from clients and tie it to my linkedin and my twitter (though I'll probably need to set up an additional twitter). At least initially I want to start building more and more of my professional presence and credibility on the web but I'd also like to start doing presentations (and get free attendance) to industry conferences. I've considered writing a book similar to the Oracle Applications DBA Field Guide, as I see many many ways I could update (it's from 2006) and improve on such a work. You don't write books to make money, you do it to get more recognized.
I've considered going to grad school and getting an MBA but there's really no upside to it for me that I can think of. I have no desire to go into more of a managerial role. I'm extremely good at technical work. There's no advanced degree for me to get in what I do - the closest is being up to date on certifications and more job experience.
So such is where my mind has been lately on work related topics.
1Z0-054 Oracle Database 11g Performance Tuning Certified Expert
1Z0-238 Oracle EBS R12 Applications Database Administrator Certified Professional
1Z0-206 Oracle E-Business Suite R12 System Administrator Certified Expert
1Z0-403 Oracle Enterprise Linux Administrator Certified Associate
1Z0-233 Oracle 11i Applications Database Administrator
1Z0-232 Oracle 11i System Administrator Certified Expert
1Z0-046 Oracle Database 10g: Managing Oracle on Linux Certified (older)
1Z0-402 Oracle Oracle Enterprise Linux Implementation Specialist (already might be grandfathered in with RHCE)
Anyhow, after I get the 11g Oracle certification, I'm then going to try and get certified in VMWare (VMWare Certified Professional) - for that I'll actually have to attend (either online or in person) a class before I can sit for the exam which seems just like a way for VMWare to make $$ to me but whatever.
I figure with my RedHat Linux, Oracle and then VMWare certifications I'll be truly at the top of my game from a professional resume point of view. Virtualization (VMWare) has been exploding in popularity over the last year or so (Cloud anyone?) and there's huge benefits to running Oracle on Linux and running the whole mess under VMWare. Lower licensing costs, increased performance, reducing possible downtime issues, much better DR solutions.
I have no current plans to leave where I work, really. At the moment my closest coworker is now (interim) Director of IT, I've got an extremely talented DBA working with me, and I'm doing cool stuff. But things can always change and I need to be more marketable than some $30/hr DBA out of India. I'm not a big corporation person. If/when I leave my current employer my plan is to go back to independent consulting. That gives me the flexibility I want, the most money I can earn, and the best options for savings.
Once I get my 11g OCP Oracle certification and my VMWare certification, I want to set up a website for my business (Weinshenker Consulting LLC - I know, very original) highlighting my experience and credentials. I plan to also include various recommendations from clients and tie it to my linkedin and my twitter (though I'll probably need to set up an additional twitter). At least initially I want to start building more and more of my professional presence and credibility on the web but I'd also like to start doing presentations (and get free attendance) to industry conferences. I've considered writing a book similar to the Oracle Applications DBA Field Guide, as I see many many ways I could update (it's from 2006) and improve on such a work. You don't write books to make money, you do it to get more recognized.
I've considered going to grad school and getting an MBA but there's really no upside to it for me that I can think of. I have no desire to go into more of a managerial role. I'm extremely good at technical work. There's no advanced degree for me to get in what I do - the closest is being up to date on certifications and more job experience.
So such is where my mind has been lately on work related topics.