DataStage 9.1 Certification

ray.wurlod · Post by **ray.wurlod** » Tue Jul 15, 2014 2:54 pm

There is a lot of overlap between versions 8.x and 9.1 of DataStage and this is reflected in the certification exam. If you have certification at 8.x then you should have no great difficulty with the 9.1 exam (which I have passed). It would be worth reading the "what's new in this release" documentation and reviewing those areas.

dsadmos · Post by **dsadmos** » Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:19 pm

Ray,

Unfortunately, my premium membership on this site has expired. I will get it extended soon.
I could only read the first sentence of your post.
No, I am not certified in 8.x version.

qt_ky · Post by **qt_ky** » Tue Jul 15, 2014 6:12 pm

You should definitely plan on using the Knowledge Center / Information Center in addition to the redbooks. I think the amount of time you've estimated sounds reasonable.

Search for a practice test online. The testing center used to offer one for around $30. The practice test should give you a pretty good idea of your weak areas and likewise what to go and study in the vague areas.

Do not take the exam without first taking the practice test. That was a mistake I made... At that time, the practice test wasn't available, or at least the link was broken. I went to take the exam being over confident and came out feeling like I didn't know anything about anything!

Oh, and version 11.3 was made available for download on June 27, 2014. You may also want to consider upgrading to 11.3 and check if any new exam might offered for 11.3.

ray.wurlod · Post by **ray.wurlod** » Tue Jul 15, 2014 7:03 pm

The exam for 11.3 is quite some way away yet. The team only begins reviewing test items once the product becomes generally available, so that they don't ask questions about functionality that didn't make it into the shipped product.

cppwiz · Post by **cppwiz** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 10:22 am

When you take the practice exam, take a screen print of every question and set of answers and thoroughly research the question after the practice exam is over.

Plan to fail the first real exam that you take, even with 4 years of experience. The v8 certification exams did not test real-world skills but instead had a lot of esoteric filler like memorizing APT variables and I doubt the v9 exam has improved.

To properly plan to fail the first time, budget your time carefully and mark questions that contain unfamiliar topics. Before you end your exam, review the marked topics and write them down on the scratch paper. After you fail, review the "questions and number correct" section of your score report. It will look something like this:

Code: Select all

Section                                     Total              #Correct
01. Configuration                            5                      3
02. Metadata                                 2                      2
03. Persistant Storage                       6                      4

Match those report sections with the topics you wrote down before ending your exam and that will give you a strategy to study and pass on your second attempt. The testing center will not let you keep the scratch paper, so commit your study strategy to memory, leave the test center and then immediately write down the sections and topics that you remember. Then study for 2 or 3 hours per day and take the exam again in one week.

The resources you listed above contain everything that I used to pass the v8 exam and I'm not aware of anything else to help you prepare. Good luck!

dsadmos · Post by **dsadmos** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 12:29 pm

Thank you for your responses!

I am still unclear on how to study for part 1 and 2 of the first section.

Section 1 - Configuration (6%)

1) Describe how to properly configure DataStage v9.1

2) Identify tasks required to create and configure a project to be used for v9.1 jobs.

Especially the first part.
Does the second part talk about creating a project in Administrator Client?
Do I really need to memorize all OSH, APT and DS variables?

qt_ky · Post by **qt_ky** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 7:05 pm

Take the practice test to get a better idea.

cppwiz · Post by **cppwiz** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 8:42 am

dsadmos wrote:Do I really need to memorize all OSH, APT and DS variables?

Yes, you definitely need to memorize the variable names and choose the correct result from setting the OSH, APT and DS variables. You need to memorize the exact name of the variables and be able to distinguish the exact name from the answer set with similar names (e.g. APT_DUMP_SCORE or APT_SCORE_DUMP).

On the second point, you need understand the options in the Administrator client for project properties. You should know what each checkbox does on every tab in the project properties. I can't say much more than that without violating the NDA.

dsadmos · Post by **dsadmos** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 2:04 pm

qt_ky wrote:Take the practice test to get a better idea.

It is too early to take the practice test. By no means I am ready to do it. I will take it after the first pass of all the topics. And my goal is not to pass the test but to learn DataStage deeper by preparing for the test. Passing it is almost a good side effect.

cppwiz wrote:
dsadmos wrote:Do I really need to memorize all OSH, APT and DS variables?
Yes, you definitely need to memorize the variable names and choose the correct result from setting the OSH, APT and DS variables. You need to memorize the exact name of the variables and be able to distinguish the exact name from the answer set with similar names (e.g. APT_DUMP_SCORE or APT_SCORE_DUMP).

On the second point, you need understand the options in the Administrator client for project properties. You should know what each checkbox does on every tab in the project properties. I can't say much more than that without violating the NDA.

Thank you very much!!!

Can anyone add something to the super-vague "1) Describe how to properly configure DataStage v9.1"?

huge10 · Post by **huge10** » Tue Nov 08, 2016 4:53 am

Someone knows if the certification path for 9.1 is active?
I've searched certification DataStage over PEARSONVUE website but I can see only DataStage 11.3.

Thanks!

PaulVL · Post by **PaulVL** » Tue Nov 08, 2016 10:09 am

Not sure why you want 9.1 cert, shoot for 11.3 or 11.5 if anything.

If you are padding a resume, someone with 11.X will be put ahead in the line over someone with 9.1.

huge10 · Post by **huge10** » Wed Nov 09, 2016 3:08 am

IBM says "Test C2090-303 is withdrawn on 04/30/2016. It is no longer available. "

I was looking for the 9.1 certification because I work every day in 9.1, so could be more simple for me.
Certainly is better to take the certification for latest version of DataStage.

Thanks for the answer!