January saw the advent of the new MySQL 5.0 Developer exams, and now the MySQL 5.0 DBA exams are available, too. Exams for both of these MySQL 5.0 certifications are currently offered at “Beta” exams. That an exam is in Beta basically means that

• There are more questions to answer
• You have more time to answer questions (both overall exam time as well as time-per-question and overall exam time)
• If you’re quick, heavy discounts are available
• You do not receive immediate feedback on your score, but must many weeks before you know if you have passed or failed.

A more detailed explanation of Beta exams is available on http://www.mysql.com/certification/beta.html

Discounts on MySQL 5.0 Beta Exams

The quick movers among you can get Beta exams at half the price! It’s easy, …

Matt Asay has written a great piece entitlted Self-Indulgence and Silicon Valley.

Living in Silicon Valley, it’s easy to forget this simple fact: no one else cares about technology as much as the Valley’s denizens do. No one. Other people make money in other ways, and so technology doesn’t live front and center in their lives. It’s a complement, at times, but not their lifeblood.

(go read the rest of the article; it’s very enlightening).

Reading this article really struck a nerve with me, albeit on another level.

I work for MySQL, which may be the world’s largest company based almost entirely on a virtual organisation. That means I spend all of my working time looking at a couple of screens, interacting with my colleagues almost …

In their latest installment, Certification Magazine has published an article by Yours Truly.

Go read it

Rob Jones of HotLinuxJobs has written several good columns on the topic of Linux Certifications. MySQL is not Linux, but it’s all Open Source, and much of the thinking that goes for those that consider Linux Certification is of course parallelled by those considering MySQL certification. I especially like Jone’s last two columns, in which he does some thinking on the subject of why many Open Source users are hesitant about obtaining certification:

Most experienced Linux people see certifications as meaning nothing in the real world. When things break they need to be fixed, and just because you have a piece of paper that says you are a network administrator does not …

I’m on the lookout for good software for in-class testing (certification and otherwise). If you know of any such software that…

• is cross-platform (Windows, Linux)
• is server/client based (where tests are distributed from a single host and results are collected on that same host)
• supports multiple-answer questions (single and multiple responses)
• is secure (uses encrypted network communication)
• is dead-easy to install on both host and clients (web-based?)

and for preference…

• it will also run on MacOS
• it’s Open Source
• it interfaces directly with a MySQL server for fetching questions and storing results

then let me know!

Even if you do not know something that will do this directly but can be easily tuned to do the above (by you or others), don’t hesitate to contact me.

Another recently-joined-up colleague, Kai Voigt, went to sit the MySQL cerfication exams and got mixed results. If nothing else, it goes to show that even if you work for MySQL AB as an instructor, the exams are not easy to pass(!).

Kai is now one of many helping me to get ready with the questions and answers for the 5.0 exams, a job which will hopefully prepare him well for passing

Kristian Köhntopp, our soon-to-be colleague, went through MySQL certification recently. He has done a very nice write-up on his experience here.

Kristian has some very good pointers on how to learn all the stuff you’re expected to know about the MySQL certification exam, and how to ultimately pass the exam.

(No, even I don’t know whether he passed or not yet — I have yet to receive his exam results).

The 5.0 version of the MySQL Certification Study Guide is now available at amazon.com. I have received quite a few complaints that it wasn’t immediately available on the 26th, so I guess a lot of people are keen to get their hands on it.

It still hasn’t turned up in-stock in the .co.uk or .de shops, but that is hopefully just a matter of time.

On the same subject, we’ve been asked if the 5.0 study guide can be used to study for the 4.1 exams.

The 5.0 Study Guide is very specific to the version 5 exams. For that reason, I would not recommend that you use it for the v. 4.1 exam. Although you may see a phrase here or there to the effect of “this has changed” or “this was introduced in …

With the MySQL 5.0 Certification Study Guide hitting the bookstores, a lot of people are starting to ask

1. When will the exams be available?
2. Wouldn’t it make sense to wait for the 5.0 exams rather than bother with the 4.1 exams now, then upgrading?

The quick answers to these questions are:

1. I don’t know.
2. No.

Of course, things are a little more complex than that.

The MySQL 5.0 exams will be available about a month after the first GA release of MySQL 5.0. We want to review the actual GA release to make sure all questions really do reflect any last-minute changes in the server that may have had to be implemented.

For many people, taking the 4.1 exam now makes a lot of sense. There are a couple of things to keep in mind regarding this:

1. When we say that the exam is …

Erica Ann writes

True - You can have the knowledge without having to pay to be Certified when it comes to computers.
True - Just because you have the certification does not mean you actually know the material as well as someone who is not certified. You might just be good at taking tests.

So what is the point of getting IT Certifications? To have a piece of paper? Superficially that might be the big debate. But, take a closer look at that and you might find more to it than what meets the eye.

The discussion then moves on to a long talk on manager’s perceptions of certifications and why you may need certification to get a job. There are many valid points, and the situations she describes (where the HR department and/or hiring manager sees the resumé) …