Oracle Database 12c SQL Certified Associate Preparation 1Z0–071

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The thing to keep in mind is that there is no amount of studying that can make you feel 100% prepared for any exam. The point is to find your motivation for studying and be consistent with how much and how often you studied. I find that focusing on improving the process I used for studying yields more benefits than obsessing too much on a deadline, outcome, or other considerations. The point of it all is to learn. That is it. Find ways to ‘enjoy’ the process. The stronger your why the more likely you are to complete a goal with the least amount of suffering.

What is my Oracle SQL background?

This is my first time being exposed to Oracle SQL but has used MySQL, SQLite, MongoDB, and PostgreSQL in a limited capacity. Just enough to do simple CRUD operations.

What sources did I use to study for the exam?

• Ucertify SQL Course, which was drawn from Steve O’hearn. (2017). OCA Oracle Database SQL Exam Guide (Exam 1Z0–071).
  ISBN 978–1–2595–8549–4
• Oracle Database 12c SQL Certified Associate 1Z0–071 | Udemy
• Oracle Documentation (11g and 12c)
• Total Tester (143 question bank)
• 73 Questions (1Z0–071 practice test)
• 75 Questions (1Z0–061 practice test)
• Youtube videos
• Hacker Rank (Oracle SQL exercises)

What tools did I use to study for the exam?

• Focus To-Do Pomodoro application
• https://livesql.oracle.com/
• SQL Developer
• OneNote
• Anki

What did my preparation involve?

1. I started by creating flashcards as I went through the Ucertify Course. After finishing the course, I had about 1100+ flashcards created.
2. I took all of the Test Prep questions that required that I “master” 315 questions. A question is mastered after correctly answering it three times.
3. I then took all premade test sets A, B, C, and D from the Ucertify SQL Course. My score ranged from 80 to 98.
4. I then started creating flashcards using the Udemy course I mentioned above. After watching most of the videos, I had added about 400+ more flashcards.
5. Before taking my first attempt, I took one simulated exam (78 questions) using Total Tester.
6. Before taking my second attempt, I answered all of the 143 questions from Total Tester. I also reached close to 4 stars in hacker rank Oracle SQL exercises. I just needed 30 more points. As for the practice tests, I took another 73 question practice test (1Z0–071) and 75 question practice test (1Z0–061)

Any suggestions on how to go about preparing?

1. Create Flashcards

For this step, I created over 1,500 flashcards. It is essential that you create your own. This will yield more retention benefits than just simply using other people’s flashcards. The main thing that I keep in mind while creating flashcards is to make sure I provide enough context within each question to help with answering them. It is also helpful to try and ‘teach’ each card to an imaginary student. This helps with consolidating your knowledge.

2. Review Flashcards

It is vital that each review session is focused on the quality of your review not the quantity. This will help with lessening our tendency to focus too much on the result. Thus allowing our minds to be more capable of retaining information. Another aspect that helps me remain engaged is to adjust the questions, answers, or the general format of any card that may seem too ambiguous. Creating questions is an art in itself. Thus, the higher the quality of your question, the more likely you are to retain the information.

3. Take Quizzes

Continually assessing our knowledge in a way that reduces the likelihood of self-delusion is the most important part of learning. Testing our knowledge using varying formats will encourage different ways of thinking about it. Thus, increasing our ability to connect ideas. The point is to see the hole in your knowledge and using that as a way to guide your next planning session.

4. Take Tests

Prepare yourself in terms of being comfortable enough to sit through 2 hours worth of examination. The more you are used to the exam condition, the more likely you are able to calmly focus on the questions you encounter.

5. Review Wrong Answers

Review the wrong answers in a quiz or test as soon as you are done with taking a quiz or exam. This is vital because you want to make sure that you are 100% sure why you made the mistake. If not, you may end up confusing ideas because your brain did not get the feedback it needed in order to close the unsure loop. Meaning, during the test or quiz, there may be questions that you struggled with. You may have answered some or all of those tough questions correctly. But if you do not review after the test or quiz, your brain may think that those questions you found tough are the ones you got wrong. In my case, after I review the result, I often find that I correctly answered the majority of the tough questions I thought I got wrong.

How many hours of studying did it take to pass?

For my first attempt, I failed by 1 point LOL (100 hours). For my second attempt, I passed (47.9 hours). Overall, I studied for close to 150 hours. I set my Pomodoro timer to be 30 minutes per session with 5 minutes break after each session.

Focus To-Do application screenshot

What would you do differently in terms of the preparation needed to pass the exam?

1. Initially, I decided to create all the flashcards first then reviewing them after I completed all the lessons in the Ucertify Course. But after finishing chapter 4, I changed my mind. I noticed that my retention of information for the first 4 chapters was average at best. So I shifted gears and decided to review flashcards every other session. This immensely improved my retention rate.
2. I would have started with the videos first then worked with the Ucertify course. The video was more geared towards application and syntax. I highly recommend that you spend the time knowing SQL syntax really really really really really well. I hope I made my point. Otherwise, there’s no way you can pass the test.
3. After my failed first attempt, I decided to take a week off to rest and spend some time on other projects to change it up a bit. I think a week was excessive. It would have taken less time to feel confident for my second attempt if I didn’t take such a long break and just continued with my preparation. I would have done better if I only took two days off.

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