ITCareerCoach Training - Coaching » Agile Training http://www.it-career-coach.net How To Take Your Career To The Next Level Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:09:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Java, C/C++ or C#, Which Is Better? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/04/20/java-cplus-or-csharp-which-is-better/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/04/20/java-cplus-or-csharp-which-is-better/#comments Wed, 20 Apr 2011 21:50:24 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=3172

Java, C#, C++, Which Is Better?

Java, C# or C++, Which Is Better?

Sometimes, you have to look to the past to see the future. To see the future of our more popular programming languages including Java, C#, Visual Basic, C/C++, let’s first review their histories.

Is C/C++ the Best Programming Language?

The C programming language was standardized in the early 70s for the UNIX operating system (and not Windows) by Dennis Ritchie.

In the early 80s Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs invented the C++ programming language as classes that extend the C language.

The C/C++ programming language is primarily used in writing operating systems, video games, device drivers, embedded systems and commercial, shrink-wrapped windows based software programs.

In the MS-DOS or Windows 3.1 era, C/C++ was probably the most capable compiler for developing windows based programs

Is Visual Basic the Best Programming Language?

The folks at Microsoft who were the sharpest minds in the software development business at that time realized that they were not catering enough to hobby or beginner programmers … keeping in mind that Bill Gates started his career as a hobby programmer without any formal computer science college education.

The issue was that working with C/C++ or most of the programming languages in existence at that time, required a strong computer science background or a formal computer science college education and lots of tedious, coding hours.

At that time, programmers had to repetitively code for mundane windows features or behaviors like detecting or responding to keyboard clicks or mouse movements.

So, in keeping with their founder’s (Bill Gates) history, Microsoft decided to do away with a lot of the repetitious, boring coding by developing Visual Basic (VB) 1.0 as a Drag and Drop, User Interface Driven, Rapid Application Development Environment.

VB 1.0 was introduced in 1991 to make computer programming accessible to everyone including hobby programmers, inexperienced software developers, beginners or anyone without a strong, formal, computer science background.

Visual Basic succeeded at making programming fun, less tedious or less expensive by giving programmers an easier, more productive coding environment.

A Paradigm Shift in Computing

Because of Visual Basic, millions of professionals without a formal computer science college education or background could learn how to program or get fun jobs without experiencing the drudgery or pain traditionally associated with programming languages.

Because of this paradigm shift, business owners could bring their windows software projects more quickly to market because the amount of time that programmers spend writing code had been dramatically reduced.

This paradigm shift also separated systems programming for which C/C++ was still the best from windows-based business software development for which Visual Basic was better suited.

What differentiated Visual Basic was its graphical, windows development environment which allowed inexperienced programmers to write less code by dragging or dropping pre-built windows features from a toolbox!

This meant that programmers no longer had to write thousands of lines of code before their software would receive user input in data entry forms, interact with back-end databases or detect and respond to mouse or keyboard actions from users.

Is Java the Best Programming Language?

While Microsoft was busy at work, the Internet appeared as if from nowhere and pulled the rug from other programming languages like Visual Basic and C/C++ which were not designed with the Web in mind.

The question no longer was “can you program in visual basic” but rather “can you program for the web or build a website?“

Sun Microsystems answered that question by releasing Java in 1995 with the intention that unlike Microsoft software, Java programs will run easily on web browsers and is portable to most hardware or software environments.

Java became very popular for many reasons. It was a superior object oriented programming language to Visual Basic which at that time was not object oriented.

Java was easier to code with than C/C++ and Sun designed Java programs so you could port or run them on all sorts of hardware systems unlike Visual Basic or C/C++.

Though Java became popular in the late 90s with experienced programmers, it still lacked Rapid Application Development features just like its cousin C/C++.

Today, Java still does not appeal to inexperienced software developers, beginner programmers or web developers without a strong, formal computer science education.

Java is also not the language of choice for writing web applications or designing websites! Web application development skills are currently more in demand than windows, systems, hardware programming skills.

Is C# the Best Programming Language?

Then Microsoft had another brainwave and released C# in February 13th 2002 which changed the web and windows programming industry again.

Here was a programming language that incorporated the object oriented programming capabilities of Java or C/C+ and the Rapid Application Development environment of classic Visual Basic and at the same time, provided a first-class web programming environment!

With all the facts in this article in mind, here are my recommendations for choosing a programming language.

  • Lower Learning Curves Is Good For You

    C/C++ has the highest learning curve (level of difficulty) followed by Java.

    C# is the easiest of the three (3) programming languages to learn because of its Visual or Graphical Programming features and language intellisense, which explains the meaning of programming commands as you type!

    C# also offers a large set of pre-built classes that save you from writing thousands of repetitious lines of code before you read, write or update databases or accept user input.

  • Acing Programming Interviews or Finding A Job

    Acing a programming interview or finding a job depends on your mastery of the programming language in question.

    Keep in mind find that mastering C# is easier than learning Java which in turn is easier than learning C/C++.

    Also, C# is preferred to either C/C++ or Java for building web applications.

    This means that if you want a web development career, you will do better to choose C# over Java or C/C++!

  • Bringing It To Market Matters Most

    The speed or ease with which you write code determines the time, money or effort required to complete a software development project.

    That is why it takes longer to build websites in C/C++ compared to Java. That is also why C# is easier or most productive for building web or windows applications compared to C/C++ or Java.

    Finally, software development managers are typically more concerned about the ease or speed with which you code than how fast your code runs, keep in mind that C/C++ is the the fastest or how portable your program is: Java is designed with portability in mind.

  • Code Potability or Processor Speed Is Irrelevant

    The amount of processing power available to Computer power has been dramatically boosted since the 90s.

    Software programs now run in 4GB to 8GB of memory instead of 256MB.

    Furthermore, computer processing power has grown from 16MHZ to QUAD CORE 2GHZ CPUs.

    So, the speed of your compiled software code is no longer a determining or driving business factor for most software development projects.

    The web / internet removes the need to address the question of code portability because HTML, XHTML and CSS is the native programming language for the web.

    Your Web Software is 100% portable if it emits pure or valid HTML, XHTML or CSS, so saying that Java is portable gets you nowhere!

Please answer the questions below. But before you answer the questions posted below, take a moment to read this article titled: “Is Learning C/C++ Programming Language Good For You?”

Discussion Questions

  1. Today, we live in a digital, information rich, mobile, internet era and my first question is: “how relevant is C/C++, Java, C# to the Web / Internet Age?“

  2. What is the difference between Operating Systems / Hardware programming and Business Software Application programming?

  3. No one programming language is best suited for every project. With this in mind, “what sort of software development project is each of these programming languages best suited for: Java, C#, C/C++?“

This post answers a question posted by Josh on the quickest way to get into a computer programmer career..


What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?



What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

Visit the Shopping Cart, Click Here




ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES


Visit our Shopping Cart

]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/04/20/java-cplus-or-csharp-which-is-better/feed/ 5 A Day In The Life Of An Agile Business Analyst http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/04/14/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-agile-business-analyst/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/04/14/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-agile-business-analyst/#comments Wed, 14 Apr 2010 07:44:19 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2896

Questions for Agile Business Analysts

Questions for Agile Business Analysts

In response to the post: Is a Project Manager or a Business Analyst Career, a Better Fit for You?, a reader sent in the following comments about his experience as an agile business analyst.

In both Iterative and Agile methods, the BA is (or should be) involved with requirements gathering, project communication and facilitation, translating technical and business jargon, holding development to the business needs during the execution phase through Alpha Testing, demos, walk-throughs and issues management.

  • BAs often write the Test Cases and, surprise the Test Scripts when the project doesn’t have QA resources.

  • In the implementation phase, the BA acts as a Level Two Support contact to triage user issues.

  • Then the BA and the PM begin negotiating the features/repairs list for the next spring or iteration.

My question to you is, what has been your experience as a business analyst working on an agile or iterative project?

  • Do you have all your requirements ready before you start development?

  • Do you have to write test cases or test scripts?

  • How do you collaborate or work with testers?

  • How do you collaborate or work with project managers?

  • What are your challenges or pitfalls?

  • Which project or requirements management tools do you use?

  • What are your best practices?


What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?



What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

Visit the Shopping Cart, Click Here




ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES


Visit our Shopping Cart

]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/04/14/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-agile-business-analyst/feed/ 0 Cowboy Coder Or Agile Programmer? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/26/cowboy-coder-or-agile-programmer/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/26/cowboy-coder-or-agile-programmer/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:21:56 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2845

Cowboy Coder Or Agile Programmer

Cowboy Coder Or Agile Programmer

Are You A Cowboy Coder Or Agile Software Developer?

Software Developers facing a new programming project sometimes start coding before thinking through or planning an approach.

Coding without first planning or thinking through is a programming method known as cowboy coding.

Cowboy coders approach work with the mindset of coding without estimating or planning.

And they are at a complete lost when the results achieved by their cowboy coding tactics does not meet expectations.

Cowboy Coding Is Dead, Long Live Cowboy Coding

While many programmers publicly ridicule cowboy coding, they privately practice cowboy coding because it is the easier thing to do.

Look around you for cowboy coders. They exhibit some of the following tell-tale signs:

  1. They do not estimate the work required for a software development project before coding because that is too difficult or unnecessary for them

  2. They hack away at code instead of taking time to find the best algorithmic or coding approach for solving a programming challenge

  3. They frequently under-estimate the complexity of software development projects and so they work late nights, weekends or even holidays in a bid to catch up with late deliverables

  4. They dislike working with system architects, business analysts and project managers because the only work that matters to them … is that of writing code

  5. They can’t find time to sharpen or improve their programming skills because all their time must be spent on coding

  6. They get stuck in their code or hit dead walls because they under-estimate the complexity or difficulty of working with technology

  7. Cowboy Coders get frustrated because their programming projects always seem to take a longer time to market than they estimated.

    Unable to see the complexity of their code ahead of time, they are stumped when their efforts fail to produce working software on time or under budget.

  8. Cowboy Coders bite off more than they can chew by embarking on projects that are too large for such tactics.

    Since they do not take time to understand the complexity of their code, they are also likely to under-estimate the time or effort required.

  9. Cowboy Coders develop poorly designed, buggy, unreliable software because of a lack of proper architecture and a lack of a software development methodology

  10. Cowboy Coders produce poor quality software because of a lack of unit testing skills or good co-ordination with other software testers or quality assurance professionals

We Are Cowboys

Despite the superiority of iterative, agile or even Waterfall software development, Cowboy Coding is very much alive and well … and here are the reasons why:

  • Software Developers resort to cowboy coding because structured software development including Agile or Waterfall methods requires more thinking and planning skills from the developers.

  • Formal software development practice is more of an art than a science.

    And it requires additional formal training, education or discipline beyond that of just learning a programming language.

  • Agile or waterfall software development methods places an initial burden or responsibility on the programmer to think or plan their work first before coding.

    This goes against the natural habit of undisciplined cowboy coders.

  • Asking cowboy coders to go Agile hurts their feelings because it suggests that they cannot instantly, easily or intuitively come up with the best code for a programming challenge

  • Agile and Waterfall software development methods require more planning, design and architecture skills which are harder to come by or less intuitive than simply coding before thinking or cowboy coding.

Developers Go Agile!

Why the Waterfall model may seem like the next step up from Cowboy Coding, I recommend that developers bite the bullet and go agile for the following reasons

  1. Faster Time To Market:

    Agile developers work for their clients or customers.

    Agile Software Development helps you get the most important features to market first knowing that about 60% of software features are never used.

  2. Customer As King:

    Agile software developers work for the customer and not for the development process.

    They are empowered to focus, respond and adapt to the customer’s needs with the end goal of giving the customers what they want!

  3. Agile Project Management:

    Agile project managers focus on the current iteration or use it to make better estimates for the next one.

    Agile software developers have better, more realistic or more accurate project plans to work with because they are only tasked with producing working software for the current iteration and not for the entire project at once!

  4. Agile Software Testing:

    Agile software testers work with software developers to produce high-quality software a the end of each iteration instead of waiting for the entire project to complete before testing!

    Testing for bugs at the end of each iteration, reduces the chances of producing unreliable, buggy software at the end of the entire project unlike the waterfall model.

Case Study: An Agile Developer Breaks The Cycle Of Unemployment

Here is a real-life case study of how I helped a C/C++ programmer break the cycle of un-employment using Agile Programming techniques.

Un-employed C/C++ Programmer

Sometime ago, I was approached by a C/C++ programmer with a college degree who had been unemployed for a couple of years.

Transition From C/C++ Programming

Instead of just re-writing the programmer’s resume, I counseled the C/C++ programmer to learn a new programming language and database platform from scratch.

Agile Hands-ON ExperienceFor acquiring hands-on experience in the new programming language, I gave the C/C++ programmer an iterative software development project to build from scratch.

I also tasked the programmer with building a working release of the project very early in the lifecycle and then presenting that to hiring managers immediately.

Guess what happened, including the agile development experience in a resume, got the developer hired in the very first job interview and with only 1 month of software development experience in a new programming language!


What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?



What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

Visit the Shopping Cart, Click Here




ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES


Visit our Shopping Cart

]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/26/cowboy-coder-or-agile-programmer/feed/ 7 The Agile Business Analyst, A Customer Advocate? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/22/the-agile-business-analyst-a-customer-advocate/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/22/the-agile-business-analyst-a-customer-advocate/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:13:22 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2846

The Agile Business Analyst

The Agile Business Analyst

The Agile Business Analyst plays a key role in facilitating conversations between stakeholders, quality assurance / testing teams, customers, subject matter experts (SMEs) and software developers in an incremental, iterative fast-paced product development environment.

So, who is the Agile Business Analyst and why should business analysts who are already comfortable with the process of eliciting requirements in a traditional product development environment be concerned about becoming more agile?

Introducing The Agile Business Analyst Role

The Agile Business Analyst’s role includes facilitating communication, reducing the reliance on extensive documentation and reducing the length of the feedback loop in product development projects.

  1. Collaborative - The Agile Business Analyst works closely with software developers, stakeholders, project managers and software testers and relies less on comprehensive requirements documentation at the inception of the project.

  2. Flexible and Adaptable - Unlike a more traditional software development project, an agile business analyst expects and welcomes changes in requirements. Being Agile means that changing requirements is not made difficult because of extensive documentation, communication cycles or change management processes.

  3. Just In Time Requirements – An Agile Business Analyst knows what is the right amount of requirements documentation to gather for a development cycle or iteration.

  4. More Face to Face Meetings – Because the Agile Business Analyst focuses on less documentation and more face to face meetings or interviews with stakeholders, software developers or testers, Agile Business Analysts make use of more User Stories and less Use Cases for documenting requirements.

  5. Iterative Development – And unlike requirements management practiced in a traditional waterfall software development life cycle, the agile business analyst only focuses on gathering, analyzing or validating the requirements needed in each iteration.

Between The Agile Business Analyst and Traditional BA

So, the Agile Business Analyst focuses on the deliverables for each iteration to o facilitate a faster development process.

Another key difference with agile business analysts is that they work with software testers or quality assurance professionals to elicit Test Cases directly from User Stories instead of from Use Cases.

Because Agile Business Analysts rely on face to face meetings and in-person communication, they work better in teams where the developers, stakeholders, project managers and testers are located in the same place and are committed to being involved on a continuous basis through the life time of the project.

The Agile Business Analyst gathers just-in-time (JIT) requirements through intense collaboration with customers, customer advocates, software architects, stakeholders and software testers.

Why Are We Not More Agile?

Traditionally, a business analyst is expected to gather all the requirements for a project at the beginning. These requirements are then shared with the Project Manager and Stakeholders as a static, fixed or immutable set of requirements.

This type of requirements gathering is common in product or software development project that make any or all of the following assumptions:

  1. Business Analyst – The business analyst can gather, analyze, validate and specify all the requirements at the beginning of the project and before a single line of code is written.

  2. Project Manager – The project manager needs to have a complete set of requirements to facilitate accurate project planning.

  3. Software Tester / QA – The software tester needs to have a complete set of requirements before creating a test plan and user acceptance or QA tests.

  4. Software Architect – The software architect needs to design the entire software system at the beginning of the project befor e a line of code is written.

  5. Computer Programmers – That computer programmers need to receive an extensive and complete set of requirements preferably in Use Cases format before they start coding.

    Traditional software or product development projects also assume that for developers to create a working product, they need to be told in detail, every basic, alternate path and exception flow through the system.

  6. Customers – That customers have a mind, wants, needs and desires that can be completely known at the beginning of the project through extensive requirements gathering and documentation.

    This also means that once the customer’s requirements is gathered or documented, it will not change during the life cycle of the product or software development cycle … at least not without extensive negotiation, documentation and signing-off.

The Role of The Customer Advocate

But is this true? Can the customer’s mind, needs, wants or desires be known and documented completely at the beginning of the project?

Does setting the customer’s requirements in stone assure a better product, a more satisfied customer and increase the chances of project success?

  1. The needs of today’s customers are not set in stone. Far from it, the very process of gathering customers requirements can change what the customer wants.

  2. The marketplace is always changing and product features become less important or even irrelevant in short periods of time.

  3. The practice of planning projects or designing entire software systems completely, at the inception of a project is fraught with risks, estimates and guesses.

    This practice often leads to more software features that are out of touch with the customer’s needs and more project failures.

    Considering that so many projects planned this way fail, Business Analysts need to consider utilizing more agile communication skills to supply requirements when they are needed.

Unlike the traditional business analyst who works from the assumption that requirements once signed off on are fixed in stone or immutable, the agile business analyst plays the role of a customer advocate by assuming that requirements can and will change during the life cycle of the product development effort.

The agile business analyst welcomes changes in the customer’s requirements because they reflect what the customer really wants and not what was documented.

In doing this, the agile business analyst elevates the customer’s needs above the needs for more documentation.

The agile business analyst understands that there is always some uncertainty in the marketplace, so the planned features of a product or software application cannot be set in stone!

The agile business analyst understand that software developers do not need to have 100% of a product or project’s requirements extensively documented using Use Cases before they begin coding.

So the Agile Business Analyst relies more on communication, presentation and facilitation skills than written documentation in communicating with software / product developers.

Today’s constantly changing marketplace requires the Agile Business Analyst A customer advocate who elevates the customer’s needs above that of extensive requirements documentation!


What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?



What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

Visit the Shopping Cart, Click Here




ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES


Visit our Shopping Cart

]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/22/the-agile-business-analyst-a-customer-advocate/feed/ 6 Giving Effective Feedback to IT Professionals http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/01/10/giving-effective-feedback-to-it-professionals/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/01/10/giving-effective-feedback-to-it-professionals/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:06:42 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2756

We Give Feedback!

We Give Feedback!

One of the challenges of self teaching, self learning, CBT courses or traditional class room training is the lack of personalized, one on one performance review or feedback.

Training courses where both instructors and trainees can post or respond to questions are few and far in between.

This is the case even when you pay thousands of dollars for traditional class room training!

This is because training providers typically have an in-flexible curriculum and a set amount of training time to communicate their message!

  • Restricted Training Time: In traditional training courses, you have to learn all the information in a few days.

    Though the trainers may answer a couple of questions daily, they cannot take questions from everyone and also hope to cover their entire training curriculum by the end of the week!

    The good news is: we don’t have the restraints of an inflexible training curriculum or a set training time :-)

    You can login to our Web-Based Learning Management System and post questions or discussions on your own time and our course instructors can answer them on their own time.

    Our course instructors are not trying to rush you through the entire training curriculum in a week, so they can afford to engage your questions on a one to one, personalized basis!

  • College Tutoring: In traditional colleges, instructors get to know their students personally and they review student assignments before assigning grades.

    We have adopted the same learning process in our web-based, online learning management system.

    Each of your hands-on assignments are reviewed by a live, human course instructor before they are graded!

    In our web-based, online learning management system, the instructor may choose to post a discussion, comment or review of your assignment … just for you and not for anyone else.

    • Why Do We Incorporate Feedback In Training?

    So, the question is: knowing that feedback is expensive and time intensive, why do we still choose to include it in our training … at no additional cost?

    • We Make Training Interactive: we believe that more interactive training makes for a better experience.

      We emulate the learning that happens in the real world, where you are always receiving feedback from your bosses, co-workers, customers or friends.

    • We Make Training Effective: we believe that personalized, one on one training makes for better learning … especially in the information technology industry.

      Passive learning like the type you find in a lot of CBT (computer based training) or even information technology text books are usually too boring or tedious to be effective.

    • We Make Training Useful: we believe that IT professionals need more real-world feedback during training … before using their skills on the job!

      It is usually better to receive feedback in training because that is the only time when you are 100% certain that you can ask for feedback and improve or act on it without any adverse consequences!

    This post discusses how we make our online, web-based training more effective, interactive and useful by incorporating one on one personalized feedback or performance reviews.

    If you have any questions about our courses or online training services, be sure to contact us and we will answer it for you!


    What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?



    What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

    Visit the Shopping Cart, Click Here




    ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES


    Visit our Shopping Cart

    ]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/01/10/giving-effective-feedback-to-it-professionals/feed/ 0 3 Day Early Bird Registration Discount Begins Now http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/01/12/3-day-early-bird-registration-discount-begins-now/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/01/12/3-day-early-bird-registration-discount-begins-now/#comments Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:42:34 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=443

    3 DAY EARLY BIRD TRAINING REGISTRATION DISCOUNT

    3 DAY EARLY BIRD TRAINING REGISTRATION DISCOUNT

    The early bird registration for SQL Boot Camp Training, Business Analyst Boot Camp Training and Software Developer Boot Camp Training begins now and ends on Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 11:59 PM Central Standard Time (CST).

    Use the early bird coupon EarlyBirdCoupon on the shopping cart now to get a substantial discount on the training packages immediately.

    The IT Professional Boot Camp

    The IT Professional Boot Camps are Video-Based, Hands-On, Instructor-Led professional training for beginner to senior business analysts, computer programmers, database developers and other IT Professionals who want to take their career to the next level by improving their skills. The training is provided through a secure, private, web-based, online training system which allows you to log-in and watch your training videos from the comfort of your home or office.

    How To Use A Discount Coupon?

    Go to the shopping cart and select the IT professional boot camp you are interested in. Click the [Add To Cart] button and enter in your coupon EarlyBirdCoupon. Note that additional discounts are available and automatically applied to orders of 2 or more people.

    What Happens After You Place An Order?

    You will get a payment confirmation e-mail and a link to complete your registration for the Boot Camps. As soon as you complete your registration (enter your name, address, etc.), you will get a confirmation e-mail for your Boot Camp training.

    Busy Right Now?

    If you are quite busy at work or in your private life, you can still take advantage of the 3-day special discount. Just register for training and then use a feature on the web-based training software to pause your training until you are less busy and are ready to begin training

    Reasons Why You Should Take Your Training

    1. Recession Proof Your Career: You become the better skilled, better trained or more productive team member. In a recession, the better trained or skilled professionals tend to keep their jobs while the lesser skilled workers are let go. If you are in the market for a new job, the skills you acquire during training look great on your resume to hiring managers and give you a competitive advantage over lesser trained or skilled job applicants.

    2. Get A Salary Raise: Training or improving your skills make it easier for you to negotiate a salary raise or prove your worth to your manager. The investment in your training us easily reaped back in terms of better pay, better job prospects or better, more frequent on-the-job promotions.

    3. Become The Best: The best rewards for taking your training could be that you simply become the best at what you do on the job. The extra peace of mind, improved self-confidence and command you gain from taking an IT Professional Boot Camp training means that you perform better on the job, handle your responsibilities more efficiently and on time and become the go to resource or leader on your team.

    International Students Are Welcome

    The SQL Boot Camp Training, Business Analyst Boot Camp Training and Software Developer Boot Camp Training is open to registration from USA, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Turkey, South Korea, India, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and other countries including Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Venezuela, Algeria, Andorra, Anguilla, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Scotland, Wales, Zambia, Kenya, French Antilles, Gibraltar, Indonesia, Mexico, Monaco, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Romania, Uruguay, Virgin Islands (US). If you don’t see your country in the list, don’t assume that you cannot participate … ASK

    Do You Need Help?

    If you need help or you have any questions about the registration process or training … post it as a comment on this page and I will be sure to reply and get back to you promptly


    What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?



    What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

    Visit the Shopping Cart, Click Here




    ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES


    Visit our Shopping Cart

    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/01/12/3-day-early-bird-registration-discount-begins-now/feed/ 19     Tech Predictions for 2009 http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/01/05/tech-predictions-for-2009/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/01/05/tech-predictions-for-2009/#comments Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:00:34 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=328

    2009 Tech Predictions

    2009 Tech Predictions

    Happy New Year!! Here are some technology predictions for 2009 that are worth a read for software developers, business analysts and database developers who want to position themselves for success in 2009:

    1. Pay attention to Social Media says CapGemini:

    “2009 will be the year when use of social networking tools within companies will be the talk of the town. Yes, it has been around for a while but to be honest, nothing much has really happened apart from that Serena Software uses Facebook internally.

    So when our global heads of Capgemini Consulting visited Sweden office last week and started talking about the power of social networking only five minutes into the talk I felt that something had changed. For the better. Substantial growth is predicted in web 2.0 for the enterprise within the next five years.”

    2. The economy looms large says PCWorld:

    “Ultimately, economic conditions will play a huge role in how 2009 pans out for the developer community. When customers aren’t buying, tool vendors don’t innovate — so don’t expect many groundbreaking new technologies to debut this year.

    Among enterprise customers, tightening budgets are likely to put the kibosh on many an ambitious new project. But smart companies will realize that process automation is one of the best ways to reduce costs in any business.

    Now may actually be the ideal time to revisit old software schemes that got shelved back when staffing budgets were flush. Layoffs and hiring freezes will mean there are fewer developers to go around, however, which could make smart projects infeasible for the time being.”

    3. Agile development is a must says Barry Gervin:

    “Many of my customers began large-scale re-writes of their key software assets in 2008, many of them against my recommendations. For most of my key customers in 2008 and into 2009 I’m an advocate of providing incremental value in short iterative releases, not major re-writes that take 6+ months to develop.

    Even if your application is written in PowerBuilder 6 or Classic ASP, avoid the temptation to rewrite any code that won’t see production for 4 months or longer. We can work towards componentized software by refactoring legacy assets and providing key integration points so that we can release updated modules towards gradual migration.

    It is difficult for software teams in this economy to produce big-bang, “boil the ocean”, build cathedral type projects. We simply can’t predict what our project’s funding will be in 4 months from now, or if we’ll be owned by another company, scaled down, out sourced or just plain laid off. That is of course unless you work for the government.

    Government spending will continue if not increase in 2009, but still, try to spend our taxpayer money wisely by delivering short incremental software releases. It allows you to build trust with your customers, mark a line in the sand and move onward and upward, and let’s you move quickly in times of fluid business requirements and funding issues.

    Incremental, Value-Based software development isn’t easy.
    It takes lots of work, creative thinking, and much interop and integration work than one would prefer. It might easily seem like an approach that costs more in the long term, and in some cases you could be right. But if a company has to throw out work in progress after 6-8 months or never sees the value of it because of other changing business conditions, then what have you saved? Probably not your job anyway.”

    For more technology predictions for 2009, Bob Stumpel has an impressive compilation of tech predictions from around the web here.


    What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?



    What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

    Visit the Shopping Cart, Click Here




    ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES


    Visit our Shopping Cart

    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/01/05/tech-predictions-for-2009/feed/ 0     The Accidental Business Analyst http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/16/the-accidental-business-analyst/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/16/the-accidental-business-analyst/#comments Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:18:18 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=154

    Business Analyst Boot Camp Training Curriculum

    Business Analyst Boot Camp Training Curriculum

    Business analysts come from a wide variety of industries and from varying backgrounds. Because of this, you need to be flexible in your expectations of the type of work you will perform as a business analyst.

    More than 50 major domains or industries that hire business analysts including the web development, web design, e-commerce, software development, information and marketing industry.

    As the business analysis industry matures, software developers, database designers, software architects, project managers and professionals with diverse backgrounds are taking on formal business analysis jobs.

    As a software development team begins to improve its development processes, many people become Business Analysts simply because they begin picking up the requirements gathering and analysis tasks that are left lying undone on their team.

    These are the Accidental Business Analysts. They did not plan to take on the title, and in some circumstances, many still bear titles other than “Business Analyst”.

    Like programmers, business analysts seem to come from different backgrounds.

    One business analyst that I worked with in the past had a degree in computer science. He worked as a programmer for many years on our team.

    He eventually became our business analyst because none of the rest of us wanted to spend time with the customers. For some strange reason, he was eventually promoted to team manager!

    Another business analyst I worked with had a degree in business. He was hired as a systems analyst with the Federal Reserve Bank.

    Even though he had no real background in technology, his role was to talk to managers about what they needed in the systems and translate and communicate those needs to the IT personnel.

    Other business analysts I am acquainted with have backgrounds in biology, literature and even theatre!

    While those business analysts who took college classes in business and computer science may have been introduced to the process of requirements gathering and business modeling, most did not. Where do they get their skills from?

    As an Accidental Business Analyst, chances are that you start out simply winging many of your tasks and responsibilities. Even in situations such as these, your ability to lead, understand and communicate with customers, your understanding of your business domain and your ability to express customer needs to IT and vice versa will serve you excellently.

    However, as the business analysis industry comes to maturity and you begin to grow your career, you should take the time to understand what a business analyst really does.

    You should move towards excellence by finding out what makes a good business analyst, sharpen your requirements gathering and analysis skills, your business understanding and even your interviewing skills.

    A little UML and Use Cases wouldn’t hurt you either? You will want to understand how to balance the business side of a project with the IT side of the project.

    You should grow your value to your company by learning how to take a high level view of business issues as well as getting down to understanding processes and how systems support these processes.

    The Business Analyst Boot Camp provides complete end to end training for business analysts.

    The Business Analyst Boot Camp training is designed to be an in-depth online business analyst training that takes you from beginner to mastery in all the skills and competencies you need to be a great business analyst.

    The high level summary of the Business Analyst Boot Camp curriculum is below. If you would like to download the detailed curriculum, request for the detailed business analyst training curriculum here:.

    INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS ANALYSIS COURSE

    1. INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS ANALYSIS

    REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING COURSE

    1. REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING
    2. ADAPTING PRACTICES TO PROJECTS
    3. AGILE REQUIREMENTS METHODOLOGY

    CREATING THE BUSINESS CASE COURSE

    1. DEVELOPING VISION AND SCOPE
    2. MAKING THE BUSINESS CASE

    RISK ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION COURSE

    1. RISK ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION STRATEGY

    ELICITING REQUIREMENTS COURSE

    1. STAKEHOLDERS & REQUIREMENTS SOURCES
    2. ELICITATION TECHNIQUES

    ANALYZING REQUIREMENTS 1 COURSE

    1. THE REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS LIFE CYCLE
    2. PRIORITIZING REQUIREMENTS
    3. BUSINESS PROCESS MODELING CONCEPTS & PRACTICES

    ANALYZING REQUIREMENTS 2 COURSE

    1. RELATIONSHIP MAPS
    2. PROCESS MAPS
    3. CONTEXT DIAGRAMS
    4. EVENT-RESPONSE TABLE
    5. BUSINESS POLICIES
    6. ACTOR TABLE/MAP
    7. USE CASES I
    8. USE CASES II
    9. STORYBOARDS
    10. DATA MODELING
    11. STATE DIAGRAMS
    12. BUSINESS RULES

    SPECIFYING & DOCUMENTING REQUIREMENTS COURSE

    1. CREATING A USER REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT
    2. CREATING A SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
    3. SPECIFICATION DOCUMENT

    VALIDATING REQUIREMENTS COURSE

    1. CREATING TEST CASES
    2. CONDUCTING PEER REVIEW
    3. USER ACCEPTANCE TESTING

    MANAGING REQUIREMENTS COURSE

    1. CHANGE CONTROL
    2. ATTRIBUTES & TRACING

    MODELING WITH UML 2.0 COURSE

    1. UML ONE
    2. UML TWO
    3. UML THREE
    4. UML FOUR
    5. UML FIVE
    6. UML SIX
    7. UML SEVEN
    8. UML EIGHT

    INTRODUCTION TO OBJECT-ORIENTED CONCEPTS COURSE

    1. OBJECT-ORIENTED CONCEPTS

    Click here to request the detailed business analyst training curriculum


    What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?



    What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

    Visit the Shopping Cart, Click Here




    ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES


    Visit our Shopping Cart

    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/16/the-accidental-business-analyst/feed/ 4     How To Keep Your Job In A Recession http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/10/how-to-keep-your-job-in-a-recession/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/10/how-to-keep-your-job-in-a-recession/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:41:03 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/10/how-to-keep-your-job-in-a-recession/

    Laid Of In The Recession

    No doubt you already know how the recession affects the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Unemployment Rate or Stock Market. So, I won’t waste your time by repeating all that bad news.

    What I would talk about is what really matters:”how you or your loved ones can protect your finances by staying employed in this recession!“

    The best way to keep your job in a recession or to find a new job easily is to become “The Most Over Qualified, Under Paid Professional” on your team.

    Here is why becoming over-qualified and under-paid work hand in hand to protect your career:

    1. The Least Qualified Professionals Are Laid-Off In A Recession:The employees at risk of being down-sized are the least valuable professionals (business analysts, software developers, etc.) on the team.

      The least valuable professionals are the least effective, productive, skilled, trained or experienced people on their jobs.

    2. The Most Over Paid Professionals Are Laid-Off In A Recession:The other type of employee at risk of being down-sized are the over paid software development professionals (project managers, web designers etc.).

      The over paid information technology (IT) professionals typically earn far above their contemporaries with the same skill sets or far above the historical costs associated with a position in a specific business. Firing over paid workers qualifies as cost savings for managers concerned about cutting payroll costs in a recession.

    3. The Better Qualified, Least Paid Employees Keep Their Jobs In A Recession:

      The employees who keep their jobs or get hired easily in a recession … are the better trained, highly skilled and relatively inexpensive employees.The employees who advance their skills though hard work and training without always asking for more money … tend to stay employed even during recessions.

    The Secret To Staying Employed Even In A Recession

    The best way to stay employed especially in a recession … is by training to “become the best skilled person … and not the best paid!”

    You need to cultivate the attitude of champions … “who train daily to be the best!“.Champions do not obsess about money! Champions understand that … proving their mettle is the only thing that really matters!

    Champions are rich, famous and successful … because they ignored the pursuit of money … to become the best

    So, will you accept this challenge: “to recession proof your career” … by training to become the best or are you going to leave your career at the mercy of the coming financial storm?

    If you found this information helpful, Click here to follow me on Twitter


    What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?



    What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

    Visit the Shopping Cart, Click Here




    ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES


    Visit our Shopping Cart

    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/10/how-to-keep-your-job-in-a-recession/feed/ 0     Knowledge Workers Accept The Challenge To Be The Best Or Why IT Professionals Feel UnderValued http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/02/knowledge-workers-accept-the-challenge-to-be-the-best-or-why-it-professionals-feel-undervalued/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/02/knowledge-workers-accept-the-challenge-to-be-the-best-or-why-it-professionals-feel-undervalued/#comments Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:38:35 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/02/knowledge-workers-accept-the-challenge-to-be-the-best-or-why-it-professionals-feel-undervalued/

    How you value knowledge tells me a lot about who you are … because knowledge capital is the most important resource in any organization.

    In the digital age, what makes one employee more valuable than the next employee is simply stated … the amount of knowledge, skill, expertise, training and learning they have managed to acquire and put to use.

    Now, managers are not interested in employees that know it all … only in employees that constantly put their knowledge capital to work by solving corporate problems or challenges … those employees are the gold mines in any organization.

    Now, think about it for a moment, if you are a trained, knowledgeable, competent, skilled Information Technology (IT) professional, your resume would display your accomplishments, success stories, skills, training and technical mastery. And because you have all these, you can send your resume anywhere in the the world … and be instantly hired! … just because you are very good at why you do … and you can prove it!

    The singular reason why you, as an IT professional may feel undervalued or wasted in your career is that for some unknown reason … you have made the unconscious mistake of not investing enough of your personal time in improving your skills!

    Here is why technology or software development professionals lag behind in their career:

    Managers Have A “Show Me Proof” Mindset:

    Managers tend to follow a show me proof strategy .. .simply put, you have to demonstrate that you have acquired or mastered a new skill … before you will get a break or the next promotion on the job. So, your manager will pay you more money when you show tangible proof that you have learnt a new skill, you have attended a new training or course, you have mastered a new technology or software development process like UML, Use Cases, Requirements Analysis or Object Oriented Software Development.

    Without tangible proof that you are constantly improving or learning … you may not only be bypassed for new or important opportunities, you will also be more likely than others to be back-burned or fired in a recession.

    Adult To Adult Relationship:

    Several years ago, I was hired first after college into a Fortune 500 company as a Process & Technology manager. During the employee training sessions, I heard a great word that has stuck with me throughout my career … that word is “Adult – To – Adult Relationship“.

    What that word really means, is that your employer wants to forge a new relationship with you, where you are treated as partner or co-business owner even though on paper .. you are just an employee. In the light of this, your employer wants you to take personal responsibility for your career, personal development, initiative or the contribution only you can make to the company … and that is where you may miss the boat!

    Taking personal responsibility for your career means that you need to sit down and draw up a career roadmap of where you want to go in the next 1 year, make a detailed career plan for achieving your career roadmap … and then follow through.

    You need to specify how long it will take you to master each skill or competency needed to perform your job 1 year from now and then personally ensure that you acquire the knowledge, expertise, skills, training or experience needed.

    Some employees fall off the grid at this point by making the mistake of waiting on their manager to take personal responsibility for their IT Training and skills development.

    You Are Only As Valuable As What You Know:

    In today’s competitive digital economy, nobody gets ahead based on their good looks or their family connections or the type of college they attended! Even if you manage to get your foot in the door by “repeating the name of your alma mater three times” at the interview or getting your dad or mum to pull some favors for you … you will only last as long as the next round of corporate cost reduction / cost cutting a.k.a downsizing / layoffs.

    So, there is no getting around it, you simply have to know what you are doing or strive to be the best on your job or just simply play the sorry, loser on your team … the butt of off-handed, not so subtle remarks on the need to shape up or shape out.

    So, what is a knowledge worker to do?

    The Attitude Of A Knowledge Worker:

    Start by recognizing that knowledge is one of the core prerequisites for wealth, personal empowerment and career advancement. Tell yourself this “without knowledge I bring nothing to the table , no usefulness to my team or manager and therefore I may not have a job … and you will being to get the big picture.

    To Be The Best:

    Accept the challenge to be the best … you simply must accept the challenge to be the best at what you do, whether you are a business analyst, a computer programmer, a project manager, database developer or you wear a myriad of hats on the job!

    The problem with individuals who do not accept the challenge to be the best on the job is that, they constantly allow themselves to under-perform because they don’t hold themselves to a high-standard! This may be due to a poor self-image or a feeling of incompetency or a “I could never be that good” mindset.

    Unfortunately, this has a way of proving itself right. If you lower the bar for yourself, you will fulfill the expectations set for under-performers or inevitably shoot yourself in the foot. The saddest part of it is that you cheat yourself by losing out on the opportunity to discover that you are in your own unique way, a gem, a virtuoso, a top performer … who can achieve just like anyone else!

    Take Your Training:

    You have heard it all … you are only as valuable as the knowledge you bring to your team or manager … take personal responsibility for your career development … accept the challenge to be the best at what you do … so, what next?

    No one ever achieved anything much without the help of other people … that is why I’m referring you to these great resources for becoming the best, the most competent professional, the top dog and not the under dog on the job!

    We are now accepting registrations for the next batch of INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BOOT CAMPs … Early Bird Registration Discounts Are Available … Register Now And Use This Discount Code: EarlyBirdCoupon For A Special Discount

    To Register for the Business Analyst Boot Camp Training … Click Here:
    To Register For SQL BOOT CAMP Training (Database Developers, Data Analysts Or SQL Programmers) … Click Here
    To Register For Software Developer Boot Camp Training … Click Here.

    In addition, if you haven’t already done so, read How To Learn Or Master Computer Programming Fast – Book OR How To Learn Or Master Business Analysis Fast – Book.

    If you enjoyed reading this post, you may Click Here To Follow Me On Twitter: when I make the next blog post.


    What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?



    What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

    Visit the Shopping Cart, Click Here




    ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES


    Visit our Shopping Cart

    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/02/knowledge-workers-accept-the-challenge-to-be-the-best-or-why-it-professionals-feel-undervalued/feed/ 0     How To Get A Business Analyst Job Easily http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/10/17/how-to-get-a-business-analyst-job-easily/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/10/17/how-to-get-a-business-analyst-job-easily/#comments Fri, 17 Oct 2008 23:24:56 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/10/17/how-to-get-a-business-analyst-job-easily/

    Looking for a new business analyst job can be intimidating whether you are a seasoned business analyst looking for a challenging business analyst position or you are applying for entry-level business analyst positions.

    If you do not handle your business analyst job search correctly, you may be passed over for positions that you are really qualified for or your resume may never get to the desk of the hiring managers or you may get discouraged by the lack of interest in your resume from potential employers.

    Whatever your situation, what I am about to say next may help you find your ideal business analyst job quickly, fast track your business analyst career or help you become a star player in the business analyst industry, so, pay attention!

    Your Cover Letter Is Key To Landing The Next Business Analyst Job

    The cover letter you include with your resume is the first thing about you that will be read, noticed and analyzed by potential recruiters, employers and hiring managers.

    Some job seekers assume that their job search starts with their resume or the business analyst job interview. Boy, are they so wrong! The process of actively soliciting a business analyst job actually starts with the cover letter and here is why:

    Before you are scheduled for an interview or have your resume read by a hiring manager, the cover letter attached to your resume has to be read first. Whether you send in your resume by email, fax or snail mail, you have to include a cover letter with your job solicitation or application.

    Now human resource departments receive a good number of resumes for any business analyst job position that they post and because of it, they will review your cover letter and only proceed to read the rest of your resume if your cover letter draws them in. This is exactly the reason why you must prepare a really good cover letter for your next business analyst job search.

    The way hiring managers or staffing firms handle business analyst job seekers is similar to the way you search for information on the internet.

    Typically when you search for information on the internet, you end your information search as soon as you find a high quality site that provides all the answers you are looking for. You will probably quickly narrow your focus to a few websites out of the several websites listed on the search results page. Now, picture a potential employer sifting through a pile of resumes in their inbox or mail folder. They will quickly also select few resumes out of the pile of resumes available based on the cover letter attached to the resume.

    So, do not make the mistake of neglecting your cover letter or focusing all of your attention on your resume, give it the attention it deserves!

    Your Cover Letter Says A Lot About Who You Are

    Your cover letter should be a brief but convincing sales letter. It should present and qualify you as the best candidate for the business analyst job opening. At IT-Career-Coach.COM, I hear from a lot of people who complain that the never seem to get interviews or calls from recruiters and hiring managers. What is often missing is for these job candidates is a cover letter that sets them apart!

    Make sure you highlight your best qualities, because the Law of First Impressions Still Holds! So, write a cover a letter that does a great job of convincing your potential employer that you are the best candidate for the job posting. Mention specific business analyst training, business analyst courses or business analyst classes you have attended. Mention any major results, key assignments and business analyst roles that you have been responsible for in your current or previous business analyst jobs.

    Remember, that this is not a time for you to be shy, but a time to showcase your best business analyst skills, talents, training or on-the-job performance.

    How To Write An Awesome Business Analyst Cover Letter!

    You have decided to apply for a business analyst job posting and you have read the rest of this article, so you are ready to write a cover letter that makes your resume stand out.

    Here is what you must do. Read the job description and then use your cover letter to position you for the business analyst job opening. If the job opening is for a Business Analyst with Agile Methodology experience, mention that. If the resume requires Rational Unified Process (RUP) experience, mention that or else mention that you have Rational Unified Process (RUP) Training.

    List the key, measurable business results you have been principal to achieving. List all UML Training, Agile Training, Use Case Training, Requirements Analysis Training, skills and job experience. Mention any Fortune 500 corporations, business consulting experience, or experience in any industry aligned with that of your potential employer.

    Finally, make sure your cover letter matches your key business analysis skills, training, certifications or job experience with the qualifications or requirements of the business analyst job posting.

    Does Your Cover Letter Grab The Attention Of Hiring Managers?

    If you have followed all the guidelines in this article, by now you should had a reasonably good cover letter. However the road from good to great is paved with good intentions. So, you need to make sure that your business analyst cover letter actually stands out!

    You can achieve this the hard way by sending out your cover letter when you apply for a job and then sitting back to wait and hope that it is better than cover letters from other candidates who applied for the same business analyst job or you may do it the smart way. I prefer the earlier, easier, smarter reality check. Usually this begins by asking a business analyst coach, trainer or mentor to review your cover letter. Or by asking for specific feedback when you send your cover letter in with your resume.

    Whatever, you do, don’t assume that your cover letter is good enough, verify it!

    How To Format A Business Analyst Job Search Cover Letter

    When writing your business analyst job search cover letter stay close to the straight and narrow path in formatting the letter.

    Use normal business conventions in the opening paragraph, when addressing the business analyst job position, and in the closing paragraph of your cover letter. This will apply to cover letters that you send to business analyst job postings by email, fax, snail mail or business analyst jobs posted on job boards like Monster.com, Dice.com, etc.

    Be courteous and business-like. Formality will not take away from you if you have something interesting to say, so keep the cover letter short by being focused and getting straight to the point. The entire cover letter should not be more than four paragraphs. Avoid starting out with “to whom it may concern.”, that is old school :-) If possible, you should use the name of the recruiting manager mentioned in the business analyst job posting. Do not use slang, cute phrases, emoticons or graphics.

    Make sure your spelling and grammar are correct. Use a spell-checker and if possible, get a friend or mentor to proof-read the cover letter before you send it out.

    Finally, remember that your cover letter presents you with an opportunity to get your ideal business analyst job. It is your opportunity to connect with and capture the recruiter’s or hiring manager’s attention, tell your professional story and stand out from the crowd. It may take hard work to create great business analyst cover letter, but it is worth the effort, when you land that great business analyst job while others wonder why they are not as lucky as you.

    I wish you success with your business analyst job search.

    To Your Career,


    What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?



    What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

    Visit the Shopping Cart, Click Here




    ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES


    Visit our Shopping Cart

    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/10/17/how-to-get-a-business-analyst-job-easily/feed/ 2