Reply to: Oracle Developer needs a change [HELP !]

[css_jay99]

Thanks DS23,

What you said regarding HR makes sence

[DS23]

Is fusion only for HRMS only OR for all the others apps as well? i.e payroll... financials .....
can you elaborate on why you think HRMS is the fastest growing of oracle apps
css_jay99

fusion will cover all the modules. the longer term wacky backy pipe dream strategy for oracle will be to close the e-business, siebel, jd edwards and peoplesoft apps and have one package that does it all. no doubt it will be released in chunks - financials then scm then crm.

why hr? over the past 5 years or so hr seems to have had the biggest demand and the smallest supply - thats all. you could go ultra niche and learn mobile replenishment or something but then you will really struggle to get many contracts. hr is a nice niche module with plenty of work around.

sure, financials has the biggest footprint but there are plenty of specialists in that area.

plus my advice was re the ability to get into oracle quickly - afaik hr is a relatively self contained module that would could be sensibly learned in and of itself.

if you go "financials" you really need more than one module (general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable etc.) and then the learning task becomes greater.

hth

[css_jay99]

If I were you I would also consider switching from Oracle developer to an Oracle DBA role. Thsi is what I did a few years ago when all the Oracle Forms/Reports contracts started to dry up very quickly. Most of the Oracle DBA jobs I do now have J2EE front ends and the Java programmers on the project struggle to write efficeint SQL - which is also where I (and you) come in.

I was not really looking to go the dba route, without offending i find that dba's in big institutions like banks dont do as much as smaller institutions. Further Its a big shift to market myself as a dba after doing some courses

fusion offers a potential quick entry into lucrative oracle apps work because it is spanking new - the playing field of experience is levelled...

Is fusion only for HRMS only OR for all the others apps as well? i.e payroll... financials .....
can you elaborate on why you think HRMS is the fastest growing of oracle apps

the courses aren't that great though - they are very much from a functional point of view and don't really teach you the little tricks that you need to know as a developer.

They are aimed at functional consultants implementing Oracle - not techies sadly.

There has got to be a way of learning the techi stuff without having to pay oracle UK


Basically I think i have another 7yrs max of coding left in be before gcse students start getting jobs as coders. i dont want to go through midlife crissis as well as job loss at the same time. thats why oracle apps seem appealling especially finaly moving into functional roles.


Anyone here gone the bootcamp route ( oracle/SAP/seibel/or any app...) and then managed to wiggle their way in?

css_jay99

[Robwg]

Someone told me i could do the courses back to back with Oracle india and its still going to work out miles cheaper than Oracle UK. only problem is I dont think i can afford the time off work.

the courses aren't that great though - they are very much from a functional point of view and don't really teach you the little tricks that you need to know as a developer.

They are aimed at functional consultants implementing Oracle - not techies sadly.

[orabod]

Switch to DBA

If I were you I would also consider switching from Oracle developer to an Oracle DBA role. Thsi is what I did a few years ago when all the Oracle Forms/Reports contracts started to dry up very quickly. Most of the Oracle DBA jobs I do now have J2EE front ends and the Java programmers on the project struggle to write efficeint SQL - which is also where I (and you) come in.

[DS23]

Why would people want to upgrade to 12 when fusion in round some corner.

well r12 is the next major upgrade of a known entity but fusion is a whole new ball game: new architecture and new forms - it is meant to be a melding of the best of the best from oracle, siebel, peoplesoft, jd edwards etc.

most customers out there will migrate sensibly from r11 to r12 and then take fusion as and when it makes sense but there will also be cutting edge greenfield customers who will take fusion route when it arrives.

fusion offers a potential quick entry into lucrative oracle apps work because it is spanking new - the playing field of experience is levelled...

[TheFaQQer]

Further Oracle charges and arm 7 a leg for these courses, when can i do them dead cheap or even get materials to learn.

Have a search for "Oracle bootcamp india" in Google - there are some good training courses out in India which are about 1/4 of the UK cost, and most include accommodation, food and exam bills as well.

[css_jay99]

Unfortunately, i dont thik I can take a permie job at the mo considering the financial calamity my b**ch Ex has landed me in. I need at least 50K to keep my head above water and I am sure no one will employ me to learn Apps at that salary.

if you are going to select an oracle apps module to get into then hr is probably the best from a contract security point of view.

release 12 is just coming out now and after that comes fusion.

some interesting times ahead - gotta get the right job at the right time to ride the crest...

Why would people want to upgrade to 12 when fusion in round some corner.

Someone told me i could do the courses back to back with Oracle india and its still going to work out miles cheaper than Oracle UK. only problem is I dont think i can afford the time off work.

I've got to give Bi**h ex £48k in two weeks or she hounds me for even more. I hope she chokes on every penny

Advice to all you contractors, dont date Tax lawyers cos they know ways to screw you and its not just in bed

[DS23]

if you are going to select an oracle apps module to get into then hr is probably the best from a contract security point of view.

release 12 is just coming out now and after that comes fusion.

some interesting times ahead - gotta get the right job at the right time to ride the crest...

[Robwg]

surely you dont have to know all the 1400 tables offhead. I am more inclined to go the Oracle apps route since C# opens alot of worms interms of .NET and web related stuff which i have not done. on the other hand its easier to assimilate relational tables.

Well - no you don't, but you do need to have a rough idea for your chosen modules and if you are used to working with applications with nice normalised data models - then forget it!! That is what most people find hard (also - Apps has been designed so that it can be customised for any organisation structure - so there are a lot of tables holding this setup info).

Forms and Reports development is also different under Apps as there are various API's that you need to call (Forms is more different to Reports).

I don't know Payroll so can't comment - apparently it is technically more complex than Financials and apparently pretty different to the rest of the suite as it was developed in the UK. On the other hand it is only one module whereas Financials comprises several (GL, AP, AR etc.).

I got myself a permie job near home off the back of knowing forms, reports, PL/SQL, Workflow quite well but not having eBS experience. After a year there, I had good eBS skills on the CV, which helped me get a range of contracts.

I'd go that route as well - plenty of permie jobs around - if you already know Oracle's technical products then a year working on one would give you enough experience to then go back into the contracting market.

[TheFaQQer]

You can download eBS from http://edelivery.oracle.com There are some good threads on the OTN forums for installation guidance if you need it - I'm installing it on my other laptop as I type this.

No - you don't need to know all the tables at all. I friend of mine always sells himself along the lines of "if you want someone who knows all the tables and code, I'm not your guy. If you want someone with a proven track record of delivery, and isn't going to come in with any pre-conceived ideas, I am your guy". He's been doing the same thing for quite some time, very successfully.

I got myself a permie job near home off the back of knowing forms, reports, PL/SQL, Workflow quite well but not having eBS experience. After a year there, I had good eBS skills on the CV, which helped me get a range of contracts.

Faqqer

[css_jay99]

surely you dont have to know all the 1400 tables offhead. I am more inclined to go the Oracle apps route since C# opens alot of worms interms of .NET and web related stuff which i have not done. on the other hand its easier to assimilate relational tables.

I now have to decide either to go for Financials or payroll. which is easier of the two in terms of learning. From my perspective i would have thought for e that the financials will be since most of my double entry bookeeping knowledge is still intact.

Further Oracle charges and arm 7 a leg for these courses, when can i do them dead cheap or even get materials to learn.

funnything was that Oracle sent me a stack of the Applications DVd's last year but i binned them !


css_jay99

[Robwg]

You need to get some 11i (i.e. Financials - or E-business suite as they call it now) experience (somehow) - either install 11i on your home system (if you have 100Gig free) or something.

Then you shouldn't really be out of work (be warned - it is much much harder than basic coding - there are well over 1400 tables and some of them have 100+ columns).

Having said that - C# would probably take less time to learn to 'blagging' status.

[TheFaQQer]

I'd look to move into Apps - if you've got a financials background (play it up a bit) plus technical ability, then you can get some nice hybrid roles that have a bit of techie stuff and some business logic as well.

I do a lot of hybrid roles - strong technical background plus consultancy / business roles to support it. Although functional seems to pay more than technical roles!

HTH,

Faqqer

[theemeestroo]

I would stick with the Java and J2EE stuff. I had same skills as you and last few jobs have been oracle backend and Java frontend. Oracle ADF is a nice new tool which they are pushing all Forms and Reports users to.