MySQL Associate Certification
The MySQL Associate certification (CMA) is an entry-level certification that requires passing a single exam. It is intended for those that are relatively new to using the MySQL database server and covers basic database management system concepts as well as basic SQL. This certification is recommended for MySQL users who know the basics, but have not yet obtained the experience gained by professional MySQL database administrators or developers.
What do you get for passing these tests? The first answer is professional recognition. While certification is no proof that you can really perform on the job, doing the hard, hard work of certifying can help you prepare for the real world. Let’s be frank. If you only know your stuff on paper, you won’t know what to do on the job. Before long you’ll be pounding the pavement. In a community like certified MySQL professionals the word spreads fast.
When you pass a MySQL certification test you get this package.
The MySQL Associate Certification is aimed at users with the following qualifications: They can develop or administrate simple, small MySQL databases, have a working knowledge of basic SQL, but have little or no experience managing production databases, and plan to proceed towards Developer or DBA certification.
This hour-long exam contains fifty multiple-choice questions, each of which requires choosing one of four answers. These are the sections: Theory, Terminology and Concepts, Data Definition using SQL, Basic Data Manipulation using SQL, Advanced Data Manipulation using SQL, Transactions, and Import/Export. You can go to the MySQL certification website to get the approximate percentages for each of these subjects. But remember, questions are chosen from a large bank and will vary from test to test. Should you fail a test you may retake it, but it’s recommended that you wait at least two weeks before retaking the test. And here’s a bit of my advice; don’t retake the test until you have worked on your weak spots. If you didn’t pass the first time, luck won’t be enough for you to pass the second time.
One way to prepare for the Certified MySQL Associate exams is to follow the four-day MySQL for Beginners training course offered by Sun Microsystems MySQL. This course is given world-wide several times a year. There is also a wide variety of books and other training materials, some of it official and some of it not. Start with material that presents MySQL before you work with exam preparation guides.
Take my advice, don’t sign up for anything more expensive than a book until you download MySQL and spend some serious time trying it out. One thing is sure; if you want to pass the test you must run MySQL hour after hour, day after day. If you don’t like that do something else.