I Passed Oracle 1Z0-149 While Working Full Time, and the Change That Helped Me Most Was Practicing Like the Real Exam

While I was working full-time, I successfully passed Oracle 1Z0-149 using practice materials that resembled the actual test format. For a long time, I worked IT job that involved systems support, automation, debugging back-end systems, and doing a lot of database-oriented work. I was comfortable working around the Oracle database because I could read SQL, understand PL/SQL flow, and solve small issues but I knew that being comfortable was not the same as being an expert. This gap in competence is what motivated me to take the Oracle 1Z0-149 exam. Currently, Oracle has 1Z0-149 - Oracle Database Programming with PL/SQL as an active examination as part of the Oracle Database PL/SQL Developer Certified Professional path.

What drove me to take such a serious approach to the exam

What drove me to take such a serious approach to the exam was the format as provided by Oracle. There are 65 questions on the exam, you have 90 minutes to complete the exam, and 66% is required to achieve a passing score. Additionally, the 1Z0-149 is validated against Oracle Database 19c. What this communicated to me was that there was no way I could just study occasionally for the exam and pass. I was going to need precise, timely execution and an extremely strong knowledge of the exam.

Why I chose this certification

Why I chose the certification is largely practical in nature. Over time, I had been in environments where Virtually all the PL/SQL processes I was l involved with required stronger PL/SQL programming skills to be able to do my job more efficiently and professionally. I also want to avoid the place of being in the middle of coding where I could read code, but would hesitate on package use, exception handling, collection usage, and advanced language constructs. According to Oracle, you can follow your career path with this certification at each level within an area of expertise in PL/SQL and also obtain professional-level expertise to support your career growth.

The second reason was about honesty. If you study independently for a long time, you can start to confuse experience with having a thorough understanding of the subject. I wanted a qualified way to demonstrate my PL/SQL proficiency by showing I had applied my skills under pressure. In addition to this, I saw that the old 1Z0-144 test had been retired by examining Oracle's Certification Roadmap; therefore, I needed a fresh training plan rather than obsolete materials that I would find on blogs or forums.

How to tell if you have enough information about the exam before you begin to study for it.

Oracle's website contains the highlights of each exam, but it does not adequately explain to a student what he or she will experience when taking 1Z0-149. In my experience, I have found the 1Z0-149 exam has a degree of difficulty that cannot be described in just one way. Instead of having to answer every question with an obscure term or concept, most questions provide enough detail that the candidate has to think critically and evaluate code assumptions/facts, while also eliminating unacceptable answers.

When doing my research, I want to take the time to distinguish what I know publicly from what is not published. Oracle provides many public records as it pertains to the 1Z0-149 exam; specifically its status, the number of questions on an exam, how long the exam will last once it is started, how many points out of 100 or 1000 you need to pass an exam and what version of Oracle should you be using with this exam; however, as of yet, I did not find an official Oracle Public Record that provided a scoring breakdown by domain on the 1Z0-149 exam, therefore I did not create one for others.To sum it up, the pass score is public, but there's not an in-depth breakdown of how the scores will be figured out on the official website.

Is 1Z0-149 active, and what happened to 1Z0-144?

As far as the 1Z0-149 certification is concerned, there are still not many details available about it or what happened to the previous certification, which was 1Z0-144. One of the most important things I wanted to ascertain with respect to an Oracle certification is that there was an abundance of misinformation presented on many sites related to the Oracle certification process, such that it has created uncertainty and confusion with respect to the correct cert or certification path for someone who may be looking into that cert.

Just so that I know you are clear that the 1Z0-149 is an active certification, that will help clarify resource usage. If any resource I am using to study for this certification was focused on a retired exam code or an older certification development path, then I am eliminating it from my list of resources.

Using developing your resources in this manner is also a way to verify that you do not use out-of-date resources, which is critical for any technical certification. With these technologies, time is very important and any wasted time in preparing for the exam could take weeks to recover from.

How the registration process/process of determining when/where to take the certification has changed

Again, based on freshness of the source of information, I used the official source and not information from the community. The Pearson VUE Oracle Exam website indicates as of September 1, 2022, Oracle will be delivering Oracle Exams via the MyLearn platform. Certification Exam Flow for Candidates indicates you would purchase the exam, pick a date and time, register through the MyLearn website and you must take the exam within six months of purchasing your exam. Therefore, if you are going to use the Pearson VUE website for registering or scheduling for the certification, you will be redirecting you back to the Oracle MyLearn website. Therefore, currently, based on the above information, your source of truth is the MyLearn website and not whatever you may read on community pages regarding the Oracle Certification process.

The above question also relates to your inquiry about dates and availability for the certification exam. According to the official Oracle website, the test must be paid for first, and then scheduled for a defined timeframe of six months. The definition of this clearly indicates more of a continuous schedule rather than having fixed dates for tests that are offered in public once or twice a year. I researched the Oracle site to determine whether or not there was a dedicated page for live seats in specific locations, such as Milan, but found that such a page did not exist at all; therefore, if there are live seats available at that location, I will not be making up any documentation to claim there are. However, based on the scheduling process, the availability of local seats is strictly dependent on what Oracle has displayed at that time.

Exam cost and regional pricing

As for costs to take the test based on region, I was unable to provide a clear, defined price for taking the test; therefore, I will reference the Oracle FAQ pertaining to certification support and cite the following: exam vouchers and subscriptions are priced the same in every country but vary depending on the type of certification that you will be applying for. To determine the price of certification tests, use the online purchase process via Oracle websites. As indicated on the Oracle Technology Learning Subscription page, the cost of the subscription includes the ability to take three certifications as part of said subscription.

The bottom line is this: Oracle provides you with a defined purchasing process to acquire the certification you are seeking but the final cost of the certification can vary by location and product. Therefore, if you are preparing to take an examination at Oracle for certification, validate the city in which you are taking the test using Oracle's purchasing process and not with an outdated web page or from a reseller.

The hardest part for me with the PL/SQL exam

The hardest part for me with the PL/SQL exam was that PL/SQL has a very strange placement. If you are a SQL developer, most of the content appears to be familiar enough to give you a high degree of confidence when going into the test. However, Oracle does not test you based upon whether you could name the names of objects that are created but on your understanding of how PL/SQL functions and what the functionality/functionality of PL/SQL will be when performing specific actions.The difference when studying for the Oracle 1Z0-149 Software Development Lifecyle version 9 exam compared to other exams is likely more challenging than anticipated due to the exam having an advanced level of PL/SQL programming knowledge compared to other exams. There were 18 Pluralsight courses specifically covering the areas in which I struggled most (control structures, composite data types, explicit cursors, exceptions, subprograms, packages, dynamic SQL, triggers, & design issues) totaling approximately 20 hours of PL/SQL programming instruction.

After realizing this, I researched which areas of the PL/SQL programming language posed the greatest challenges, and found that packages, exceptions, and composite data types were often times negatively impacted by changes in minor language rules (code) compared to other types of language rules. Based upon this research, I compared these topic areas to the public course material Pluralsight offers on SQL in PL/SQL, composite data types, and the PL/SQL compiler, and each of the identified topic areas aligned closely with the areas that had previously caused me difficulty.

My first mistake was studying in a way that would appear to be productive

My first mistake was studying in a way that would appear to be productive, but was mostly a passive form of learning. For many of my study sessions I was only listening/reading to lesson material and highlighting key points within my notes, which created a feeling of familiarity with the material, but did not develop my speed in recognizing the code associated with the programming concepts. As a result, I was able to explain all of the concepts in a calm manner; however, I would have a substantial hesitation when trying to interpret code under the pressure of a timed exam.

My second major mistake occurred when I began to create enough time in between my study sessions to feel like I would have ample time to get through the 65 questions on the exam within the allotted 90 minutes to complete the exam. As soon as I began timing my practice against an established time record for the 65 questions, I was disappointed in my level of preparedness to take the exam.

Lastly, I made a common error by browsing the web for advice related to signing up and taking the exam which turned out to provide me with misinformation when it came time to sign up for the exam. By verifying the actual process by checking with both Oracle and Pearson VUE directly, I stopped using outdated community knowledge to create a study plan consisting of inaccurate information about the signing process and completing the examination.

Why I CHOSE the CERTIFICATION EXAM?

I selected the CERTIFICATION EXAM for its usability and ease of access versus other theoretical libraries. I already had access to theory but needed a method of maintaining consistent application through structure & repetition, along with an easy-to-use platform that would allow me quick review on any weakness I identified in my study plan.

I was specifically looking at public pages for CERTIFICATION EXAMS for 1Z0-149. On there, they emphasize how they'll be doing the exam in “Examination Mode” and “Practice Mode”, along with other functions like adjustable timing/seating questions/results, mobile usage, etc.. Other features - e.g., Publicly Available 1Z0-149 PAGE argues against relying on memory [as a sole solution] and presents timed practice (per the Exam page) both as a way to build understanding rather than mere recognition (per the PDF page). They claim to have 65 questions for this exam, and they encourage an individual to review their results in order to identify any weakness prior to their attempt at passing the real certification exam.

With that said, the part I liked was not necessarily the idea of “more questions”, but rather how that material will be studied. I needed a way to do shorter open-book review sessions during the week and/or longer timed review sessions over the weekend, plus an honest review of my errors. According to my assessment of the site feedback from the public pages, CERTIFICATION EXAM appeared to meet my needs more specifically than any other general course library site.

How I USED the CERTIFICATION EXAM WHILE HAVING A FULL-TIME JOB

My routine was simple enough (teaching individuals how to take exams) that I think it worked just fine. On week days I kept to a 60-90 minute study after work [sometimes I split between multiple reviews vs. one practice exam], On Saturdays I did longer mixed-format studies (using a clock).On Sundays, I spent time analyzing all the incorrect responses I had submitted, rewriting any areas I felt were weak in brief language, and determining whether I really understood a particular concept or simply memorized a pattern.

What I found useful wasn't just the response to test questions but rather what happened afterward with respect to how I approached questions that I answered incorrectly (not knowing or being unable to explain the correct answer taught me that I still needed to work on that subject area). This change in thought process completely changed the way I viewed incorrect responses. I began looking at them as diagnostic clues rather than poor scores. The findings from the review oriented functions described in the CERTIFICATION EXAM publication such as variable tests, bookmarking capabilities, access to mobile devices, and the ability to review your results, lend themselves very well to this new way of thinking.

Exam Day: How I Managed to succeed on exam day.

The week leading up to my exam, I began to stop trying to learn every concept at once. Instead, I concentrated on establishing a rhythm for completing multiple-choice questions, ensuring that I answered questions accurately, and calming down while working through the question sets within the given time limit.

The biggest advantage I experienced the day of the test wasn't due to the fact that the majority of the test seemed extremely easy to me. It was more so that I had established a pace before hand by practicing several timed test sets.

Another big factor that helped me succeed on the exam was having the discipline needed to read each question thoroughly and systematically eliminating any answer choices that did not meet the requirements of the question. I also made sure that I continued working on other questions even when I became frustrated at one question not being easy. Although these steps may seem simple in practice, they are much more important than most people realize when completing multiple-choice questions under 90 minutes on an exam.

After Passing the Exam: Job Opportunities, Roles, and Salary

In my opinion, earning just one certification does not lead to an immediate change in your life nor do I want to convey this message like a brochure. For myself, the change is much more realistic.I had the chance to own some of Oracle’s back-end systems which allowed me to feel like I could step up in areas where I had more familiarity with PL/SQL and become more confident in accepting jobs that required programming databases as a major part of my job function. According to Oracle’s site, this process of certification is a way for professionals in the field of database application development to demonstrate that they have the necessary knowledge to implement operationally and develop and administer systems that are critical to the business.

Salary will always be a gray area due to various mistakes made when determining amounts for position. I would never say that the certification will guarantee a certain number, but there are other established salaries/positions available to compare this certification against. Glassdoor has the average salary for Database Developers in the US at approximately $114,617 per year. PayScale has the average salary for SQL (Oracle) developers (independent of any certification) working in India with skills related to PL/SQL at ₹437,398, while the average salary of Database Developers in Germany is approximately €59,151 (again according to Glassdoor). Keep in mind that these are salaries for positions in which the individual will likely work and not salary amounts for individuals with only the certification. However, the data will help you to see what to expect with this type of credential.

I wanted to gain some real insights into other options

I wanted to gain some real insights into other options for recognizing as someone who has passed an Oracle exam, so I gathered some (or at least some of what you could expect) additional details regarding a few different preparation options. In comparing them, I wanted to avoid simply using arbitrary criteria, since there are so many variables when comparing training/devices/qualifications, etc.

Alternatives to CERTIFICATION EXAM and a real comparison

I did not want to assume one prep source was automatically the best, so I looked at real alternatives and compared them based on what they publicly offer.

Oracle University and Oracle’s official exam ecosystem

Oracle is the source of all exam materials (including actual certification exams), scheduling, curriculum and credentialing for Oracle. If your main purpose is official source/vendor authority, or to learn about Oracle official materials, Oracle would be the best choice as a source to pursue. This is validated on Oracle's website by the fact that they explicitly indicate this to be the case via their exam certification pages. Oracle's certification page and examination pages clearly define Oracle as being the "source" of the exam, and they outline the process for obtaining certification using Oracle training materials as well as the steps necessary to prepare you to become certified. When preparing for an exam, one of the most challenging things for a full-time candidate can be the focus! Luckily, Oracle has developed a complete end-to-end learning and certification experience for their students. Did I say “end-to-end”? While there are many things that I’ve found very helpful during my most recent prep experience with Oracle, my preparation needed to be something more narrowly defined (and maybe a little repetitive). The public pages of the CERTIFICATION EXAM were focused more on providing direct access to practice materials, actual exam materials, customizable tests, and the identification of weaknesses (which represents my last-mile prep perfectly). In no way am I saying that the CERTIFICATION EXAM is better than Oracle; I simply mean that the CERTIFICATION EXAM matched more closely with my needs on my last-mile prep.

Pluralsight

Pluralsight has a specific learning path built for the 1Z0-149 certification. Within those 18 Courses and approximately 20 Hours of Content, there is significant detail posted regarding many things that are associated with programming, including: control structures, composite data types, exceptions, subprograms, packages, dynamic SQL, triggers, compiler work and design considerations. To those of you whose biggest weakness is conceptual understanding, the structured approach of the Pluralsight course offers real value.

While that approach works very well for getting your conceptual understanding down, the CERTIFICATION EXAM is generally centered on the concept of repetition and exam rhythm. If your style of learning is best through some form of guided instruction, there are multiple pieces of public evidence of Pluralsight’s strength in this area. If you really want to hammer in the exam format through repeated drills of the exam and the exam rhythm through post-test review, the CERTIFICATION EXAM appears to align much more directly with that format.

Udemy

Udemy has multiple preparation options for the 1Z0-149 certification. There are several current course pages that feature realistic practice tests; also, there are two current course pages that feature three full-length practice tests with 195 questions total. Looking at the live listings of courses on Udemy’s topic pages, it appears that there are many additional preparation methods available for this family of exams. This creates a strong reason for the individual who desires lower-cost preparation options through an open marketplace to be drawn to Udemy.

The downside to such a wide-open marketplace is that there is little guarantee of consistency.Regarding the Udemy course that I took, how good the class content\execution is will vary based on the instructor and how in-depth it was. The strength of CERTIFICATION EXAM is it has a more consistent workflow across all products in regard to taking the exam than the previous course. I found that there is a clear difference in the workflow versus universal quality.

Why I feel CERTIFICATION EXAM was most beneficial to me:

The underlying reason is very simple. This matched my area of weakness.

I didn't need to receive more ownership of the exam from Oracle; I had that in spades. I didn't need more theory than has been published; I needed to develop more speed, accuracy, and discipline in real-world situations. The practice-first approach to CERTIFICATION EXAM, especially regarding configurable testing and weakness review, was a better fit for what I was able to do than the larger course ecosystems.

The best way for me to provide evidence-based comparisons is using the following assumptions. For official information regarding testing, exam policy, and exam scheduling, Oracle is the best place to find the appropriate official resources. For official structured guided training, Pluralsight is the best choice. For the lowest-cost and most varied marketplace offerings for exam preparation, Udemy is your best option. Therefore, if I wanted the most helpful way to prepare for the exam as I get closer to passing the exam, CERTIFICATION EXAM provides me with the most accurate opportunities for real exam style practice and weakness review.

For someone currently preparing for the test:

First, validate the official test details with Oracle before you do anything else.Currently at the time of this check, 1Z0-149 is still live (and 1Z0-144 is now retired). The number of questions on the exam is 65 (and you get 90 minutes in which to complete the exam) and the passing score for the exam is 66%. This is confirmed by the information available from all the Oracle websites that I have checked out.

2ndly, don't count on old scheduling information. Both Oracle and Pearson VUE make it very clear that Oracle My Learn has a current role in the registration process and exam delivery process.

Third, depending on what your weakness is, your method of practice will differ based on whether you need to comprehend the concept or are better with timed mixed practice when you're under pressure. This is partly my experience but mostly based on how these products are being portrayed on the public side, generally.

4thly, don't create certainty where there is no public information to back it up. For example, there is no one definitive concrete piece of information from Oracle that tells you what the cost will be, as it varies based upon country and type. While Oracle does provide a pass mark of 66% in public; they do not state a full breakdown of the method by which all questions on the main exam were scored/weighted.

A common place for people to look for 1Z0-149 Dumps is to find certainty quickly. I totally get that, but chasing after short-cuts did not help me pass. Structured practice helped me find gaps inmy preparations and fix them before exam day. The official guidance from CERTIFICATION EXAM helped me to take this certification far more serious than some random site just giving away questions.

Final Thought

Even though I passed Oracle 1Z0-49 whilst working, the last change I would have made related to how I was practicing was not finding a "miracle" source but rather changing my practice.

My search on Oracle's official site has confirmed the following facts:

1. 1Z0-149 is active

2. 1Z0-144 is now retired

3. There are 65 questions in the exam

4. The exam is 90 minutes in length

5. The passing score is 66%

6. There are now scheduling through Oracle's MyLearn.

CERTIFICATION EXAM has been developed to help solve some of the problems related to the official Oracle websites that support the certification checks and practice in that they provide structured practice which is repeatable with flexibility, as well as being honest enough to show my weakness beforeexam day. Therefore, CERTIFICATION EXAM has proven to be the best way to support and improve my studying and preparation for the Oracle 1Z0-149 certification.