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As there seems to be
regular interest in issues related to becoming a Sybase
Certified Professional, here are some of my own personal
experiences and opinions in this area (note for UK readers: please
stick to the common American meaning of the word "certified"
;-). Please note: because I've only done certification exams for Adaptive Server Enterprise and Replication Server the below information and opinions only apply to ASE certification, and not to IQ, PowerBuilder or ASA (even though some of the information might be relevant to these certifications as well). Contents
Preparation
Certifications for Sybase ASE Certifications for Sybase Replication Server Certifications for Sybase IQ Practise tests The Sybase certification exams After the exam Does it pay off ? Other people's opinions on Sybase certification Share your opinion Preparation Attaining a certification for Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) should not be taken lightly. I'd say you need significant practical experience with ASE in the first place; let's say at least 6 months of full-time ASE experience before taking the test. This means you should have a version of ASE available to work with: if you don't have access to ASE, go here for information how to get a free version of ASE (though these come with some limitations). In addition, you'll need to spend time on studying the documentation: you'll find that there are many features you've never used, and you need to fill these gaps in your ASE knowledge. It's not required to follow any official Sybase Training Courses, but it will certainly help to get into the details of many features. Sybase provides "study guidelines" for the exams at http://www.sybase.com/detail?id=1002813, which represent the topics you may be asked about in the exams. Unfortunately, as these are rather high-level guidelines, this means you need to know about roughly "everything". In any case, you should check out the information about certification-related issues on Sybase's own web pages at http://www.sybase.com/education/profcert/, as this will answer many of your questions. Also, here is a very good presentation by Sam Lakkundi (August 2002) which also contains some useful guidelines and suggestions (this presentation is ZIPped; 330Kb). For preparation, make sure you have the ASE System Admin Guide and the Reference Manual handy, as well as the Performance & Tuning Guide for the Professional-level exams. You can download these manuals as PDF documents from the Sybase web site. For more info, go here. Also, I have published a complete, fit-in-your-pocket ASE Quick Reference Guide for ASE 12.0, 12.5 and 15.0, which may be useful. As for the exam questions, in my opinion, the Sybase certification exams for version 11.0 and 11.5 put too much emphasis on T-SQL syntax, proper usage of the ASE system stored procedures, and some nitty-gritty details that don't always seem relevant to real-life situations. For example, I recall a question about the different types of cursor that exist, (do you know them all ? hint: there are 4 different types…) while normal ASE users would probably never need to bother about this anyway. Also, some of the questions try to trick you into a wrong answer: I remember a question where the clue lied in spotting the fact that an ALTER TABLE statement to add a column to a table didn't include the mandatory NULL keyword at the end. From this observation, you could then find the tricky-worded correct answer. For the 12.0 and 12.5 exams, the quality of the questions has improved; there is more emphasis on testing your understanding and less attempts to make you trip over some silly detail. Note that this certainly does not mean that the exams have become easier for 12.0/12.5 ! Certifications for Sybase ASE The following Sybase ASE certifications currently exist (also see the official list). Note that the 11.0 exams are not available in North America. The exam codes can be used when booking an exam with Prometric:
The exams for the following certifications are not available anymore:
So which certification should you try to get ? The obvious thing to go for is the DBA certification, as DBA's are in high demand on the job market. With every new ASE version, the certification exam get more difficult, mainly due to the increasing amount of material to be studied. The 11.0 and 11.5 certifications are getting a bit out of date ( Sybase does not support ASE versions 11.0 and 11.5 anymore), so the 11.5 or 12.0 DBA certification would be more relevant. In any case, any DBA certification will look good when trying to get a job; it will help distinguish you from many other persons with Sybase experience, who have often not attained any certifications. In an attempt to keep things simple (this must have been the Marketing Dept. in action), the certified individuals for versions 10 & 11.0 were called "Certified Sybase Professional", while for 11.5 and later this changed to "Sybase Certified Professional". The certification logo changed as well :
Certifications for Sybase Replication Server Since April 2003, a Certification for Sybase Replication Server is available. The exam code can be used when booking an exam with Prometric:
Certifications for Sybase IQ Since Q4 2005, a Certification for Sybase IQ is now available as well. The exam code can be used when booking an exam with Prometric:
Practise tests Once you feel you've prepared for the exams, I'd recommend to do some practicing. There are various possible sources:
The Sybase certification exams Sybase certification exams are not available from Sybase itself (although the exam questions are created under Sybase's responsibility); you must go to a company which specialises in certification exams. For more info, see the overview at http://www.sybase.com/detail?id=203422. Currently Prometric seems to be the only provider. They have a worldwide directory of places where you can take your exam. It doesn't matter where in the world you take your exams; the exam vendor will assign you a "candidate ID", which you should always specify when registering for a new exam. The exam results, tagged onto this candidate ID, are automatically transferred to Sybase; this way, Sybase knows when you've attained a certification and they'll send you a confirmation and some other stuff (see below).You must pay a fee before you can take an exam. This tends to be pretty expensive ($ 150 or your local currency equivalent), and there's a limit to the amount of times you are allowed to take an exam: if you fail twice, you must wait some time before you can re-take an exam (see the Sybase website for details). This means there's not much point in just trying exams until you pass. Note that in recent years, ISUG members could get a 20% discount on the price of a certification exam using the vouchers that are part of the ISUG membership kit. Assuming that this discount will be continued, here's yet another reason to become an ISUG member ! You may also be able to take an exam while is still in beta status. The advantage is that the exam is cheaper ($ 50) and that you'll be among the first people to be certified. However, the disadvantages are significant: you'll have to do more questions for which you'll get less time than in a regular exam. I did the 11.5 Pro when it was in beta, for which there were 180 questions in only 3 hours -- this was tough: I was absolutely knackered when I finished. Questions may also be worded badly or contain mistakes -- that's why it's still in beta. You'll get your final result scores only after the beta period finishes, which may be months away (the beta finishes once a minimum number of people has taken the beta test). The Sybase web site specifies whether an exam is in beta. The exams are PC-based multiple-choice questions, which are in English by default. A limited number of exams is also available in local languages -- check with the exam provider. In the English-language exams, non-English speakers may find some questions extra difficult due to the wording which is sometimes not so clear for foreigners (actually, someone from Britain replied that he was confused by some of the questions -- see below). An exam consists of 50 or 60 questions, for which you usually have something like 75 or 90 minutes, respectively (i.e. on average 90 seconds per question). This means you'll have to be able to answer half of the questions more or less immediately, or you'll get into time trouble. My advice: skip the questions which you can't answer immediately or mark them for later review. According to the Sybase web site , you can get extra time when you're taking a non-English version of an exam. I haven't done this myself though. The exam questions fall into one of the following categories:
The certification exam itself follows some pretty strict rules: you must usually identify yourself with two ID's (one must have your photo), and when you sign in, you sign a statement that you won't cheat. Cheating is quite difficult anyway, as there is usually someone around keeping an eye on what goes on. One time I did an exam, that person changed to another corner of the room every 5 minutes. I also had to leave my briefcase out of reach in the middle of the room, nor was it allowed to bring my own notepaper (they provided paper). At the end, all papers I scribbled on during the exam had to stay behind. In short: best don't expect to be able to cheat. Having said that, I've also done exams were the rules appeared to be less strict. After the exam At the end of the exam, your score is displayed immediately on the PC screen (except when it's a beta exam, in which case you'll only get your score at the end of the beta period). You'll immediately receive a printed statement with your score. This statement will only specify your score on the level of the exam topic categories, not on the level of individual questions. You're also not allowed to take notes about the exam questions home. This is because of how the exams work: for each category, there are a number of possible questions. When you do an exam, you'll be given a randomly selected question from that category. If everybody would write these down, it wouldn't be long before the entire set of questions would be known, thus making the certification exams lose their value. Assuming you passed and qualified for a particular certification, after some 6-8 weeks you'll receive a colorful certificate stating that you’re certified. They’re nice to frame and put up the wall in your office to impress your co-workers; certainly take them with you when you go for an application interview (go to here to see what they look like). In addition you get a credit-card size version of this certificate to "carry with you at all times" (as they cover letter says -- presumably to impress your friends or co-workers...). Also, you're allowed to use the "Sybase Certified Professional" logo on your correspondence, business cards, web pages, etc. In the package you'll receive, there will also be a "release form" that you should sign and return to Sybase. After this, your name will be listed in the on-line directory of certified individuals at http://www.sybase.com/detail?id=1002818. This directory was restructured in the summer of 1999, and most of the earlier contents seems to have been lost in the process. In case you don't see yourself eventually listed in this directory, you may also try to register yourself through Sybase's " Certification Management System", but you'll need a login ID for this. It's not very clear how to obtain such an ID, so try sending an email to Cert_Admin@sybase.com . If this doesn't work, try calling 1-800-879-2273 (within USA) or +1-509-328-2571 (from outside USA). Does it pay off ? So what’s certification worth in practice ? I don’t think you should expect an enormous increase in contracts, salary or hourly rate once you’re certified. In practice, the demand for Sybase expertise often exceeds the availability, so if you have at least some Sybase experience, you’ll probably get hired just as easily when your not certified at all. On the other hand, certification might sometimes indeed pay off directly (it has helped me occasionally). Still, I think the main value lies in the increased breadth and depth of your own Sybase knowledge, as you’ll be forced to get into details of those features you’ve never actually worked with before. Good luck with your efforts to become a Sybase Certified Professional ! | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Other people's opinions on Sybase certification
Here's some feedback from other Sybase DBAs. Go here to add your opinion or experience. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Is there any good books for certification ASE 12.5 and replication (purely for certification purpose). Can someone share the document or link at nikky1087 (at) rediffmail.com
05 May 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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hi,
I am new to sybase .i want the know how many exam is their for becoming sybase dba certifed. Thanks Raj vora raj.vora01 (at) gmail.com 11 April 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Hi All,
I am thinking of appearing for sybase Certified SQL Developer for ASE 12.5 - Associate Level. Can someone guide me through like where it is conducted and how to apply. I live in Mumbai-India. Thanks aditya076 (at) gmail.com 06 July 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Certification always helps. It build one's confidence. This page contains good source of information consolidated in a single page. It helping me a lot to concentrate and prepareing for my ASE 12.0 Associate Exam.We should thank Rob for his efforts putting so much of details on this page.
"Thank You Mr ROB"
Appalaraju.kusumpudi +9193923 77228 22 March 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Hi,
Can anyone please guide me for the Sybase ASE 12.5 SQL developer certification. ash_narang (at) rediffmail.com 21 March 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Hi,
For sybase developer manuals are more than sufficient. I cleared this exam without any test material. Also take assement test at sybase.com which is free of cost. It will be of great help. regards Manoj Kumar manoj_kumar (at) in.ibm.com 14 December 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Hi, I am appering for Sybase 510-410 exam for Sybase Developer.I am not getting proper study material. Plz help.
Thanks Suman shahi_suman (at) rediffmail.com 26 November 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Hi All,
All ASE exams, other than 12.5 professional level certification can be cracked with the help of manuals. However certain part of professional exam course is available in edb555 course only and difficult to crack without it. If anybody need any help for ASE certification, please let me know. regards Manoj Kumar manoj_kumar_kushwaha (at) yahoo.com 16 November 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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hi anybody willing to share the practice exam CD with me. Like to know the experience of already passed out ones. Which books books to refer & practise sites etc. Help is apprciated. Thanks in advance. gopi
gopi123 (at) gmail.com 16 November 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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This is ravi from hyderabad, i need help to learn sybase ase dba, can any one help me?
plz feel free 0919395304996 cheers ravi 29 October 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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hi all i am searching for sybase DBA centres past one month. Anybody know please mail me.
By Ramesh rramesh16 @ yahoo.com 25 August 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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HI,
I m an BMS Graduate(Banchelor of Management Studies)final year.... i want to persue my career as Sybase DBA professional. As i m not from a Engineering background .can anybody help me out how should i go about it. Regards, Manjula Mumbai gowda.manjula @ gmail.com 28 April 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Books related to sybase certification not available widley. This is a great difficulty compared to other products like Microsoft,Oracle, Java etc.
Jackson 04 March 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Dear DBAs,
Recently I have achieved Sybase Replication Server Administration Professional Certification. Please follow thouroughly http://manuals.sybase.com/onlinebooks/group-rsarc/rsg1200e/@Generic__CollectionView and especially Rob Verschoor Sir's Sypron.nl before you schedule your certification test. There will be no tricky or false questions except the answer should be delivered from expertise and experience. I believe this experience is an expereince of expertise. I'm very happy to be a member of certified sybase professionals. Thanks and Regards Visweswar (vis4few @ yahoo.co.in) +91 98842 76855 28 January 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I Want to Write ASE 12.5 Associate Level Examination. Please provide the information about training centers in India Around Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Pls Contact me at :919886085479
kiran kumar 22 November 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Hi,
I am planning to give sybase certification, (510-020) but could not find any practice exams on the web. Anyone aware of such exams kindly enlighten me of the same. Also, are there any study groups for sybase certification? Regards, Dennis. denscar_2000 @ yahoo.com 04 September 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Any Sybase 12.5 ASE Admin ? Pls. contact me (Jai) @09880199866 (Bangalore, India)
11 August 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Hi there,
I will be taking the Sybase DBA exams for 12.5 soon. I have searched every poosible site for sample tests or documentation but can't find any. I have attneded the recommended course and have been working on Sybase for quite some time now. Going trough all 58 chapters is abit much but am scanning through it. If anyone has documentation or sample test that could assist me would be much appreciated. Thanks. ketand @ za.ibm.com 06 July 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The information in this page is worth while. Also i would help all the persons looking forward to complete the sybase certification if you can provide with a sample question paper for the exams.
Karthik SYBASE DBA 24 February 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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With regard to the ASE 12.5.2 Professional Certification exam:
The practice exam: --contains questions that are ambigously worded; --contains questions for which the provided answer is wrong, contrary to the assertion on the sybase web site that the exam questions are never wrong. Normally you accept imperfections of practice tests without much thought. However, one of these questions actually came up on the actual exam. So I was left with the quandry: do I choose the practice exam answer, which I know to be wrong, or do I choose the correct answer, which may be incorrectly marked wrong? --asked questions that were easier than the actual exam. The actual exam: --contained at least one question for which the provided choices which were worded ungramatically, at least to me as a native speaker of English; --contained ambiguously worded questions; --contained questions that required you to remember a specific value, i.e. did actually test memorization, contrary to statements about exam preparation on the Sybase web site; --did not exhaustively explain any question, as the sybase web site on certification promised; --asked questions relying on undocumented internals knowledge, questions that were in fact unrelated to server adminstration; --asked questins which I found tricky. For example, there were questins requiring the choice of 2 correct statements among 5. There were 2 obviously incorrect choices, one obviously correct choice, with the 2 remaining statements close enough that nuance of the wording made it difficult to choose. What was helpful was reading the manual entries for specific topics, especially new features. In any case, I passed and then came to the sypron site to grouse about it. david goodman 20 February 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Anybody is having sybase certification practice CD's of ASE 11.5/12.
I am preparing for exam. And let me know could you plz. share those CD's. Early reply will be grateful. Viswanathan.V viswanathanv_in @ yahoo.co.in 26 October 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I have worked in Sybase more than 4 years in developer level . I want to be a DBA , I want some Good and easy material please help me some one . debendra nath champati/debendra_champati @ programmer.net 31 July 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Pls. anyone who can guide how to prepare for Sybase Certification (DBA) with steps ...are their any free resourses on net other than sybase offical site....
vivek vivekbhargavas @ yahoo.com 14 July 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The person like Rob / Anthony Mandic should collectively help the certification entrants on the examination questions and answers. If you look at the other databases for certification there are lot of resources are available. People can work in Sybase but examination is totally different.
kannan 06 April 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I've discovered that the days of the single-level 12.5 exam are basically over. What was the 'administrator' exam has now been downgraded in status to an 'administrator associate' qualification. According to the Sybase website, there's a 'professional' exam for 12.5 on the way. Anyone know any more details about that? Also, there's a new 'ASE SQL Developer Associate' exam available now, and that also has a professional level to follow. Anyone taken this exam yet?
phil staines, philipstaines @ hotmail.com 30 March 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Just passed the 12.0 Associate exam (first time!). Onto the 12.5 single exam next.
I found the practice exams very good for this exam. Firstly, I wrote up my course notes for System & Database Administration and using the guide to the exam layout, populated each section with stuff from my write-up course notes and also the answers to the practice exams. I also had the 12.5 practice exam which I added to my prep notes to complete the picture.
One thing to note. The number of questions quoted per section in the exam guide didnt actually match the exam itself. Mind you, there is an awful lot of overlap. A practice server to hack and crash is also handy. P.S. Rob's quick reference guide is also very useful! martin hanna 27 March 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Hi..I am new to SYBASE...Can anybody suggest me which certification exam should i go for? Please refer me some sites and fee structures for the same....
Thanks.......
- Yogesh (India) yr03 @ softenger.com 12 December 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I recently passed the ASE 12.5 in my first attemp.
I work more as a sybase developer than a dba but preparing for exam and getting it thru definitely helped me in understaning what i am doing currently. May be i had to put little extra efforts but i went thru sybase performance and administration manuals. I also used Rob's quick ref guide for my revision because scanning manuals for the second time was almost imposible. I did'nt see the direct benifit of having a ASE 12.5 certificate yet but i found the process of getting certification more valuable. MANOHER 09 December 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Thanks for posting valuable information on this site.I have completed ASE12.5 Certification exam.
I am going to attempt, Sybase Replication Server Exam soon.
Umashankar Certified Sybase ASE12.5 Admin 04 October 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I am wondering if any body (already passed the
ASE 12.5 Exam) willing to share the practice
exam CD with me? I am asking so, because the
piece of practice costs more than us$110 !
(price+tax+dilivery). That is crazy.
The Test software should be able to be installed
on the second (my) PC. I am willing to pay the necessary cost.
Thanks walkee01@hotmail.com 20 May 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Are there any sites where we can give free online test for sybase certification
and which is a good book to be referred to for sybase certification?
Are there any free online tests available for sybase certification ...there are plenty for oracle or sql server certification but seems like very few for sybase? metrona@yahoo.com 17 March 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Hi All,
I have just completed ASE12.5 Certification (and proudly). I agree with most of what I have read. The exam was difficult (although basically fair). What made it hard was the guide given by SYBASE was too vague (and they were not keen to elaborate) and I found that some of the exam questions were outside of the guide's scope. The practice exams were very expensive for 50 questions and really not much help. I tried looking for a study guide (e.g. examcram... would someone like to write one!!!) and additional practice exams but they just don't exist. Instead I had to print off about 1500 pages of manuals and pick my way through it, summarizing the points relevant to the SYBASE guide. Overall, I found it quite hard going !!! ASE12.5 is a very good database and SYBASE market the certificate quite well, but the support/logistics to achieve certification is very limited. (cf ORACLE and MSCE) Anyway, thats my 5 cents worth !!!!! Laurence Beard 12 March 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I passed the Sybase 12.5 Administrator exam late last year and I found it very HARD. Getting to study every topic and keeping it all in my brain is getting harder with each certification exam. I've done 11, 11.5, and 12.0 certifications upto this point too. The good news is that I'm done with 12.5 certification. There isn't an Associate and Professional exam split anymore.
For those brave enough to try the 12.5 certification too - a helpful hint. I just bought the Official Sybase 12.5 practice exam from Sybase E-Shops. It hasn't been advertised on Sybase's certification website yet but it IS available to buy. I haven't tried it out yet but the previous practice exams were quite helpful to me. I bought it after I certified with 12.5 to help me with later certifications. Ruth 24 January 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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i am microsoft certified and have an experience of sybase environnement. I would now, to take sybase certification(Administrator DBA), but, i can't have free test, for preparing. It's strange. I check all the web, but nothing.!?
thanks to explain me why.
Badara Gueye MCSE abadaragueye@hotmail.com 24 November 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Hi Sybase Lovers.
Have you read some more stuff on this site. I am stunned by the new reference book on 12.5, its so handy and useful. Must buy book. As I said before, this site is very useful for real practical problems, there are some problems solved here which are not even mentioned in any of SyBooks. - Arvind Bhanushali 07 September 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Hi there, Rob
Thanks a lot for your very carefully cut , reviews. I enjoyed the information you shared with me reg. Sybase certifications. There is just one thing. Your opinion about BrianBench's exam on Sybase are a little to critical. While you are correct that BB has started to charge for exams, kindly glance through their website again, and you would observe that the topics covered now as compared to hithero are more vast. I enjoy giving BB exams, cos like you said it is difficult to cheat and once answered is best answered. More than that BB is the very few websites that now offer CAT ( Computer adaptive Testing) hence if you find that Sybase questions are simple, consider also that you asnwered the previous question wrong, since the next one depends on the level you show in previous questions. Maybe you took the older tests. See why they charge. 'Course ...I am not a BB marketing guy, so I am would'nt say they are running a free lunch, but quality of those test have changed a lot. Thanks for your advice. SAM 31 July 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Thanks for this unusually frank, concise and well constructed site. I'm trying to decide wether to take Oracle or Sybase certification as a first step and think you may have just made up my mind! It seems to me that the main beef with Sybase is the complete lack of exam prep materials unless you are willing to shell out thousands on the courses and take wks off work. @ least Oracle have got this sussed.
jessicabosworth@hotmail.com 13 July 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I would like to do my sybase adative server certification .Can you please tell me which book i can buy to prepare for test. And also where(which web site) can i get the book.
madhu_av@hotmail.com 01 July 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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This is Roger and the 2nd entry of mine. I can now and finally add Sybase to my other Oracle and Microsoft Certifications.
I finally passed the Associate test. This time I took the 12.0 Associate and studied really really hard.
Sybase has to have the hardest database tests. Anyways I am going to tackle the Professional in a couple of months
but 1st I am going to order Rob's new book. Thanks for everything Rob.
Roger rfoley@voyager.net 12 April 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Thanks you for the excellent sybase ASE 12.0 Quick reference from your site.
I feel similar guide on sybase certification (cramsession) would get more hits to this website.
G.K.Suresh OCP-DBA 8i/9i 28 March 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I have been certified in ORACLE OCP 7.3 - 9I and sometimes scoring into the 90%.
I am almost done with Microsoft DBA.
However, I have failed miserably with Sybase 11.5 twice. I am going to attempt the Sybase 12.0 Associate soon. Any tips, book recommendations, etc would be appreciated. Roger rfoley@voyager.net 27 March 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I really appreciate the effort taken by Rob in providing all of us such valuable info about certification which is very rare.
I am planning to give 12 Associate exam and this gave me some insight about the exam. I have purchase the sybase practise exam CD and lets see how useful it turns out !!!! dswagle@yahoo.com 14 February 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Let me take this opportunity to congratulate you on your web site, what it
conveys, and its presence in the industry. Well done.
I just passed the ASE 12.0 Associates level (1/29/02) with the help of focusing on exactly what was outlined in the pointers on your web site, using your Reference Guide--especially the details of new features conveniently displayed as 12.0--and of course the outline from the sybase web site at http://www.sybase.com/detail?id=203422 and their manuals. It is also invaluable to have a test server you can use to practice with, break things, see what happens when something is not done quite the right way and so forth. There is one thing on your web site which I see in a different way, however. Certification is definitely an absolute must for the junior to mid-level Sybase professional because in this time of economic uncertainty one can definitely get the edge with this credential. If you are a CTO or other hiring manager and you had to choose between two candidates...need I say more. Thank you again, Jamis Aaron Mack Sybase Certified Professional 05 February 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I passed the associate and professional level tests for 12.0. I had a Sybase learning passport and went to all the relevant classes. I used the Sybase study guides. I used Rob's excellent Quick reference guide to learn the mechanics. I also bought a Linux system and installed 11.9 and 12.5 at home. I heard the tests were a bear and I wanted to make sure I passed.
Philip Lanks 19 November 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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This page contains good source of information consolidated in a single page. It helped me a lot to concentrate and prepare for my ASE 12.0 Associate Exam. Now I am preparing for the Professional Exam. We should thank Rob for his efforts putting so much of details on this page.
There are two more good documents, I would like to share with all of you. I found these in the Techwave 2000 CD, which are helpful in preparing for the above exams: 1. 00Q304.pdf Getting your Sybase DBA Certification by David Straiton It has a few sample Questions as well. 2. DM205.ppt How to Successfully Take & Pass Your Sybase ASE Certification Exam by Sam Lakkundi It lists the exact exam topics which you are required to concentrate on. Ravinder Singh, Certified ASE 12.0 Associate 21 September 2001 Editor's note: a more recent presentation (August 2002) is available for download here. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I am Oracle/Sybase and MS SQL Server DBA for 7 years. I am Oracle OCP 7,8,8i and Sun SCSA and SCNA 2.6.
Two years ago I tried twice for Sybase ASE 11.5 Associates but failed every time by 1 or 2 questions. Then I gave up. But I still love Sybase. Too bad we do not have much certification resources for Sybase.
Arif Imam (USA) 05 August 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I've just passed the Sybase Certified Associate ASE 12 Admin and found it pretty tough. Having mainly worked with 11.x versions I found the emphasis on new V12 functionality/system limits etc to be the hardest factor and was glad I'd done a lot of manual reading beforehand.
I wasn't impressed with the Sybase practice CD, especially given the fact that it costs over £80 here in the UK by the time you add tax, postage etc. The same 59 questions in random order and at least one of these is wrong! I got proof of this in the exam when the same question came up and asked for one correct answer instead of the 2 requested on the practice CD! Anyway it was all worth it when I looked up on the world wide directory and saw how many people have bothered to become certified in the UK - not many!! Now prepping for the Pro exam, good luck to everybody! Cheers Luke Dolman 22 July 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Thanks 'Rob'. Its a really a best sybase site , I've ever seen. I think U've work a lot to collect all the usefull information in One Place. Keep it up. I'm also planning to start a website to help all my sybase friend as I'm working on Sybase from last 12yrs. Currently I'm building my website www.sybasehelp.com. Gaurav Mishra 03 July 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I have purchased the sybase DBA Prof, and Associate exam cd which cost me £90.00...but I was not impressed with these because they come with 59 questions and these questions are repeated over and over again...so there comes a point where you are achieving 100 % as you know the answers by heart... I purchased another disk from a vendor in America called D.O.C and these exam question that they gave came in topics so if you were weak in one subject then you could revise and try the topics out. salma_khodabaksh@yahoo.co.uk 26 June 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I'm a certified DBA from BrainBench I would like to go for SYBASE DBA, could someone please suggest some books and prep exams for the same Regards Mansoor Khan 31 May 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Thanks for the
great information. I have not given sybase certificate
examination but I am a sybase Developer and DBA and this
information helps me a lot in day to day work Thanks once again Sumit Khedkar 09 April 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Thanx for some
great information Rob, found your site extremely useful
along with your
complete quick ref quide
which was published just
in time for my Exam! :) Brainbench was good just to brush
up on all sorts of 'general' SQL knowledge + some admin
but to pass your sybase exam I would 'HIGHLY' recommend
the Sybase Prep Exams. They really get your mind in the
way of thinking for the actual exam, I found anyway. Once again thanx....am going for the pro cert next! ;) Andy Gamble Sybase Certified Associate, ASE 12 08 March 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Very useful
information. I have passed Sybase 11.x from Brainbench.com.
I am preparing for Sybase Certification Associate ASE 12.
I would really apreciate If you can publish some more
sites where I can get free tests and some good guidelines
it would be much help to me and others. Thank you. PS If anybody knows about any site that I can find questions related to the exam or demo test please drop me a line at gary@sybase.com.mx Thanks Guys "May the force be with you" Gary Jacques 07 February 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Very useful info.
I have passed Sybase 11.x from Brainbench.com. I am
preparing for Sybase Certification. Hope by following
your info it would help me to pass the exam. If you can
publish some more sites where I can get free tests and
some good guidelines it would be much help to me and
others. Thank you. Warren D. Rowland 23 December 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Certification
always helps. It build one's confidence. This site is
extremely helpful as a starting point towards getting
Certification. This site also have some good stuff on
Rep, P&T, ASE. Really appreciate this site. - Arvind Bhanushali 22 November 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Feel good on
viewing your details to new sybase user. I appreciate you
for your interest on us and SYBASE . Wish you more enjoyment in working in sybase. Give your practical experience welcom . expect good suggestion to people like us who enter in to sybase world . best ever arunachalam, achamthavirthan@hotmail.com 03 October 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I LIKE TO
TAKE THE EXAMS.
FELIPE G. AGUINALDO 27 August 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Certification is
well worth doing, especially from a self-confidence
perspective, but expect to put in a lot of work before
hand or you WILL fail it. Don't relate the Sybase exams
to that of Microsoft or Oracle, Sybase exams really are
hard. Sybase like to test your experience and it isn't a
case of reading the manual and breezing into the exam. If
you do that, expect to fail. The practice test, which you can download and contains 10 questions (Rob has explained about this elsewhere on his page), is very easy and should not be taken as an indication of the difficulty of the actual exam. The real exam is a lot hardy than the downloadable test. Use the download merely as a way of getting used to the exam delivery system. On a final note, you can pretty much guarantee that if you meet a sybase dba, they won't be certified. Also, they will also probably 'intend' to take it but never get around to it. If you want it, go for it, but don't talk about it unless you intend to put some effort in and sit the exam! Andy Price Sybase Certified Adaptive Service Administrator - Associate v11.5 07 June 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The owners of
this website are really good people that are willing to
share experience with others Thanks a lot for your help Boris Lipsman 09 May 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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This
Certification test are really worth taking.I am CSP-DBA
,and questions are more tricky and needs thorough
knowledge(what we do as DBA as well as we need to read
each manual in detail).And ofcourse I agree with that
more questions are not directly related to our day-to-day
DBA work.I really appreciate this site.I also suggest
that we need to focus more on sharing problems related to
performance and tuning. VIMAL ZALA CSP-DBA 29 March 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I wish I'd found
this site a year ago. The descriptions of the exams
here are accurate. I would add that 'non-american' english speakers might find the questions a little ambiguous. I am English and thought some the questions were very strangely phrased - even accounting for the fact that the examiners are trying to make us think! I have the Garbus book and the test papers in the back are useful and overlap about 85ith the real System 11 exams. For complete novices I would also recommend the SKILS SUITE CD's available from Sybase - the interface is a little 'clunky' but there are some neat games that provide a different way of testing yourself. It's not cheap but perhaps your company will pay ? Raphael Moore. Cert. Professional System 11 Administrator 28 February 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I would
definitely appreciate for this site. Really it gives us
the indepth idea for Sybase certification whcih every
Sybase DBA needs to know. Last week I have easily passed
ASE 11.5 Associate (510-011) DBA Certificate exam and
already I have passed Fast Track to Sybase 11.0
Certification. I am planning to appear for Sybase DBA (510-012)
Professional exam.I have the folllwing Professional
Certification. a): Certified Sybase 11.5 Associate Professional b): Certified Sybase 11.x Fast Track to Sybase Professional Exam. c): Master Sybase 11.x Certification from Brainbench(Tekmetrics) Inc. d): RDBMS developer Certified by Tekmetrics Inc. e): Unix Administrator Certifies by Tekmetrics Inc. f): Powerbuilder 5.0 Certified by Tekmetrics Inc. I have total 5 Yrs. of It Expericne. Thanks Dilip ( dilipwadhwa@hotmail.com ) 17 February 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Unlike MCSE, I'd
just say you do not need any single 3rd party books to
pass the exam. Only things you will need: 1. Study Guideline posted in slc.sybase.com 2. Sybase own course manuals 3. Read some topics in the reference manuals that are covered in (1) but not explain in detail in (2) I pass associate and professional exams in one try without any problem. Ken Ho, kenwkho@yahoo.com Certified Adaptive Server Administrator Professional 06 January 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Thanks
for posting some valuable info on the web. The
author is VERY RIGHT about the Sybase's emphasis on T-SQL
and other unnecessary tricks. Less than half of the
questions are directly related to what we (DBAs) do in
the real life work environment. I hope Sybase will
relaize this flaw make it more practical (not necessarily
easy) for the candidates to pass the exam.
Sudhakar Garlanka, sgarlanka@hotmail.com 12 October 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Thanks
for this great information. I have been always looking
for someone who already passed the exam to give me some
help and ideas about these exams. I always wonder why
there is a lack of supplying these information from
Sybase itself. If you go to a book shop, you will find
alot of books to help you prepare for Microsoft, Oracle
and Novel exams. But you would not find a single book for
Sybase!!. I know the size of microsoft and oracle in the
market is very huge. But I just ask Sybase to provide
with each new release, in addition to the manuals, a book
or more to help people to get certified and to include
some sample exams and other things which would help.
Sweidan 06 October 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The
page is an excellent source of all information needed to
get certified, its precise and has the right details one
would look for!!! I too didn't know about the websites
that offer practise tests and I certainly agree that the
tests are bummers even for very experienced people. Arun Kamat Cert. Sybase ASE 11.5 Admin Associate 06 October 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Share your opinion / experience If you have an opinion or recommendation on Sybase certifications you'd like share, you can submit it below. Please note that actual certification exam questions will not be published ! | |||||||||||||||||||||
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