Why become a Certified Java Programmer? Does Oracle Certified Professional Earn more?

I have seen many Java programmers in doubt whether to go for Java certifications or not? Whether getting Java certified will help them to earn a better salary? or after becoming Java certified from Oracle will help them to get a Job. In this article, we will see what the benefits of getting Java certified are. I know higher income, better job prospects, and a better chance of promotion is at the top of the benefits of becoming a certified Java professional, but this certification provides much more value than that. Apart from all those tangible benefits, the most important thing is that you learn Java better, which help you everywhere like in your day job as well as on interviews.

Another common question many Java developer asked to me is, whether I should go for OCAJP 11, OCPJP 7 (Oracle Certified Professional for Java SE 7), or OCAJP 8 (Oracle Certified Associate for Java SE 8) or do you need to pass OCA before going for OCP Java SE 7?.

One more doubt is in their naming, especially after Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems. These certifications are known as different names like SCJP (Sun Certified Java  Programmer) is still the more popular name for Java certification than OCP.

Well, getting Java certified and recognized is always good for your career, knowledge, and confidence, but it's even more important for beginners and junior Java developers, who have just started their career.

They are the one who needs something extra, apart from their regular computer science degree to impress the prospective employer and get an edge over other candidates.

There are many advantages and reasons for why Java certifications like SCJP, also known as OCPJP, is useful for Java programmers, and everybody has their own reasons for getting certified. I think the following 10 reasons make sense why should you become a certified Java programmer.

Why become Java Certified?

There are many reasons why should do OCPJP and become Oracle certified Java professional, and I am convinced with the long-term value it adds to your career, knowledge, and personality, and I hope some of this reasons will also help you to see the value of becoming Java certified.

I know everybody has their own reason to go for Oracle certification, but better salary, more job opportunities, and recognition top the list.

I am also looking forward to hearing your reasons of getting Java certified, I am sure this will help Java programmers who are looking to get certified and looking for potential benefits it can add to their careers.

1) Opportunity to learn Java better

Java certifications give you a chance to learn the Java programming language very carefully in a short span of time. You not only learn about basics but also subtle details of essential Java APIs.

Syllabus of  Java SE 8 exams are designed so well that you will be exposed to crucial Java concept, object-oriented design patterns, file input-output handling, exception handling, Java database connectivity, Java Generics and collections, Garbage collectors, and different GC algorithms, multithreading and concurrency and many more key topics are part of certification objective.

Once a beginner goes through this rigorous syllabus, he is bound to get a very good understand of Java programming language.

2) Help  to pass Java written tests

Java Certifications helps the beginner to clear written tests. At a fresher level, competition is much higher than at an experienced level, and many programmers apply for the same job, and companies often use a written test to filter those large number of candidates.

Once you are Java certified, there is a perfect chance that you will clear all these Java programmings written tests with very little or no effort. Some companies even provide direct interview opportunities to Oracle certified Java developers.

By the way, ready to prepare with coding questions, because Sun certification hardly tests your programming or coding skill, which is also very important during Java interviews.

3) Hiring Preference

Many government organizations and consultancy companies who work in government project value Java certification highly. Not every Job says that Java certification is a must, but there are certainly few jobs out there, who prefer a certified Java developer than the non-certified one.

After passing a Java certification like OCAJP or OCPJP with good marks, a beginner improves his chances of getting called from these companies.

4) Confidence Boost

Java certifications give your confidence a huge boost. Even without significant real-life Java programming experience, you will feel that you know Java much better, this reflects in your interview and there it matter most.

I have seen a certified Java programmer performs a lot better on core Java questions than average programmers. They are also perfect for answering those fact-based tricky questions, about which you don't have any clue.

This increase confidence not only helps to clear interviews but also to demand and negotiate better offers. Companies also recognize talent, and they have reasons to offer you more.

5) Add value to Resume

Java Certification looks very good on the resume. Especially if you don't have outstanding academic records or something on extracurricular which stands out, go for Java certification.

This will fill your gaps in the resume. It also sometimes acts as a filtering criterion.

A hiring manager with 100 of resumes from freshers and junior Java developer has only limited time to conduct interviews. He will most likely call first 10 of them who has either outstanding academic records or Java certifications on their resume.

6) Better Salary

Though it's not guaranteed, I have found that Java certified professionals often get a better salary and package then Java developers with same skill set but not certified.

One reason for this could be that employer value a Java Certified professional more than those who are not. Which is true, some companies especially mention that they will hire only Oracle Certified Professional.

One reason for that is they save time and cost on examining candidate's necessary Java skill by various online Java testing sites like Brainbench, which is used by hiring managers to test Java fundamentals.

Another reason for a better package of certified Java professional can be attributed to confidence and negotiation power they achieved by doing well in Java certification.

Once you are certified with the 90+ score, you automatically feel confidence in yourselves, which reflect when you interview and negotiate.

7) Opportunity to upgrade your Java knowledge

Java is changing, and it's changing fast. If you are reading blogs or following release notes of various JDK version, you should know that several new features are added and existing features are improved. Which means, the best practices you follow now may not be relevant when you move to higher Java version.

For example, if you know Java 7 features, you will realize that there are better ways to do your day to day task. Come Java 8, you would see a radically different way of dealing with collections by using lambda expressions and streams.

It's true that you won't get a real opportunity to use the newest Java version in an enterprise project, I know several projects are still using Java 1.6, and many are running on Java 1.5.

By doing Java certification, you get a real opportunity to learn new Java features and how it affects your day to day job.

Preparing for a Java SE 8 certification is much better than just reading a few articles here and there because it's more intense and active learning. What you learn by doing Java certification will remain with you for a long time.

8) Reimbursement from Employer

Many good companies, start-ups encourage their employee to develop their technical and soft skills. It's a win-win for both company and candidate if he improves himself, that's why many companies pay for your certification cost, which sometimes includes the cost of OCPJP and cost of buying some courses or books.

If your employer has such benefits, you must take advantage of that. In fact, this extra motivation encourages many Java programmer to become Oracle Certified professional.

By the way, it's worth to remember that, usually you have to work for a minimum of six months for the same company if they pay for your Java certification. If you leave the company, most likely they will deduct the spent money from your salary.

So take a note of that. It's best to go for Java certification as early as possible to reap maximum benefit.

9) Rejuvenate your learning Skill

Just like an artist never satisfied with his art, a programmer should never satisfy with his skill. It's a field of constant learning, but like anything else, your knowledge will get slower with time due to lack of goals, opportunity and doing the same time of job again and again. Java Certification provides an opportunity to rejuvenate your learning skill.

Every day you learn something new about Java programming language, e.g., Java 7 features, Java 8 Features or something unique about features which you thought you know quite well.

Doing exercises, mock exams, and answering some tough questions from Java simulators like Whizlabs, Enthuware, and others will really test your Java knowledge.

So if you feel, your learning has become slow, or you want to test your Java skill, going for OCPJP Java SE7 certifications are the excellent option.

10) Recognition within Team

One more reason, why you should get Java certified is to improve your position in the team. I have experienced that, passing SCJP in the past and OCPJP nowadays with good score improves your impression in the organization.

People recognize your Java skill more than before and develop a high regard for your Java knowledge.

This is really useful, it not only help you to make a good friend, and increase your networking circle. If you participate in Java groups, then becoming Java certified also improves your position among your circle.

Useful Resources

If you decide to get Java 8 certified here are a couple of useful links and resources to prepare for your certification:

1. Whizlab's Oracle Java Certification Course
2. Syllabus and Complete detail of Java SE 8 Certification
3. Recommended Instructor-led Java SE 8 training from Oracle
4. Oracle Certified Associate Java SE 8 Programmer I Study Guide: Exam 1Z0-808
5. OCA Java SE 8 Programmer I Study Guide (Exam 1Z0-808) (Oracle Press)

6. Whizlabs Exam Simulator to practice Mock exams
7. Link to Register for Java 8 Exam


These are just the tip of the iceberg, there are many advantages and benefits of doing Java certifications, which comes time to time depending upon luck. For example, I have one of my colleague's family member who got Java development job, just because the company was looking for an Oracle certified developer and he was the only one from all the applicants.

So things happen, and having something valuable like OCP on your resume is always right. So if you have time and desire to learn Java better, go and do your Java certification. Do it early in your career to get the most out of your OCA or OCPJP.

All the best.

P.S.: If you are looking for a course to prepare Java SE 8 certification then Oracle Java Certification - Pass the Associate 1Z0-808 Exam! from Udemy is the right place to start it. It explains about new features of Java 8 required for OCAJP 8 exam.