Review: uCertify PrepKit 1Z0-047

I was asked by uCertify to review their preparation kit product.

I am currently preparing myself for Oracle 1Z0-047 Oracle Database: SQL Certified Expert Exam and I thought this could be a good chance for me test my current knowledge and chose to review their preparation kit for exactly this exam. (Link)

To be honest, this is my first GUI based prep kit I’ve ever tried. So far I was using the Oracle official documentation as my primary source, and some of the books (Exam Study Guides) that were available.

My study strategy is read the official documentation and practice, practice, practice.

From my experience, the toughest part during preparation for an exam is when it comes to answer the question: “Am I ready enough?”

Usually I go through the questions available in some of the preparation books plus making even more questions based on different scenarios. I also use OTN forums to find discussions with challenging topics where I can test my knowledge.

With the last in mind, the uCertify Prep Kit is just another handy resource that one can use to test his/her knowledge before he/she actually takes the exam.

It is a solid product that provides more than three hundred questions combined into one diagnostic, one final, four practice tests and a quiz. The user also has an ability to create custom tests using those questions he/she finds interesting.

There are also number of questions that are pretty challenging. For all questions, the users have an option to read explanations about the answers including references to the Oracle documentation or other resources.

For each question, there is an option to start a discussion with other users, to send feedback to uCertify and to write personal notes and tags.

The feedback and discussion features are really nice. I found some answers that I did not agree with and used this feature to provide feedback to uCertify. I tested the discussion feature as well and it works nice.

The exam objectives are well covered. There are also questions specific to 11g version of the database.

The software has an update option so the user can download the latest updates and fixes.

The Graphic User Interface is very nice and the navigation is great. Each of the test results can be saved and used for later reference. Also there are features like Flash cards, a Quiz, Study notes and Articles. There are number of notes and articles available.

Finally there is a readiness report that can help the user to find the answer to the question: “Am I ready for the real thing?”

In general, this is a nice product that can be very helpful for one to prepare for an exam (they have various prep kits available (Link)). However, I don’t want anybody to get an impression that I think this is the only resource that one could use to prepare and pass an exam. Whenever I was asked for an advice on what resources should (must) one use to prepare for an exam, my answer was always straight, The Official Documentation, period. (The official trainings are also very valuable, but sometimes they are a must-do regardless of someone’s recommendations :-))

This product and all the other available out there (books, prep kits, study guides) are just another resource for learning and practicing that one may consider to use when preparing for an exam.