Oracle or MCIPT ?

[mihiwa]

Hi everyone
I am interested in obtaining an Oracle certification or MS certification (MSCE, MSCA or MCITP) but do not know where to begin. I am fairly new to this but I’d like to pursue a career. I would really appreciate it if someone could just point me into the right direction and help me get started. I know Oracle Cert and MS Cert are totally different but I am ready to put in the work to obtain this incredible certification or complete a bachelor degree. I plan on getting a degree but I want to start with this. Please help me decide. Also, which one is worth full as now and future market?
Thanks

 

[kmcferrin]

I know Oracle Cert and MS Cert are totally different

Understatement of the year.

You're looking at either a database administrator certification or a systems administrator certification. They're totally different. Here are some key points to keep in mind:

First, certifications are not degrees. With a degree you go to school, learn how to do something, then use that to get in the door. Certifications are supposed to be validation of your knowledge and work experience. The normal progression is you get a degree, then get a job in the field. With certifications you get the job experience then get the cert.

Secondly, DBA and SA work is completely different. Which is it that you are doing now? Which is it that you are more interested in doing? Only you can decide what career path is right for you. If you're not happy with the career path that you choose then nothing else matters.

Thirdly, a certification is not a direct correlation to a paycheck, so saying that one cert pays better than the other is a misnomer at best. The salary that you earn will be based on what you know, how well you do the work, and your work ethic. In the big scheme of things, the certifications that you have probably will have an incremental effect on your income at best. Simply having a piece of paper doesn't make one a good employee (and that goes for degrees too).

If you want to know whether MS Server Admins make more or less money than Oracle DBAs then you probably should be looking at IT salary surveys. They will be far more revealing than comments on this forum. However, I would caution you against "chasing the dollars". Some jobs definitely pay better than others, but if you have no passion for the work then you will only ever be mediocre at it.

If you have no practical work experience in IT and you don't know what you want to do career-wise then I recommend that you go for that Bachelor's degree. It will give you a fair foundation of learning that will help you get a job somewhere, but it will also expose you to a wide range of different types of work in the IT sphere (DBA, System Admin, developer, etc) that will hopefully help you decide what it is that you want to do for a living.

________________________________________
CompTIA A+, Network+, Server+, Security+
MCTS:Windows 7
MCTS:Hyper-V
MCTS:System Center Virtual Machine Manager
MCTS:Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization
MCSE:Security 2003
MCITP:Enterprise Administrator

 

[mihiwa]

Thanks kmcferrin.