ITCareerCoach Training - Coaching » career action plan 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 The Secret to Success in a Nutshell http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/09/27/the-secret-to-success-in-a-nutshell/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/09/27/the-secret-to-success-in-a-nutshell/#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 23:25:33 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=3299

The Secret To Success In A Nutshell

The Secret To Success In A Nutshell

As a career coach, I receive lots of emails (from business analysts, computer programmers, project managers, software testers, etc.) about how to be successful.

Here is the answer in a nutshell: Knowledge + Skills + Experience = Career Success!

Applied Knowledge

The key to getting results is deep, skill building, career-focused learning.

For example, if you read about “how twitter can help you get a job“, go to Twitter.com right away, create an account and start posting tweets on your area of interest.

Practice right away … the second you finish reading a tip, blog post, article, book, review, listening to a podcast or watching a video.

The Goal of Learning Is Action

If you gain some new information … any information at all from any study, coaching, training or educational program, the value will be lost and your time wasted if you do not put it into action.

Some people think that they can skip this hands-on step. They read, nod, and think they’ve stored away the knowledge for instant retrieval when they need it.

They’ve learned something new, they think.
And it will all come magically back to mind the next time they need it on the job, they say to themselves.

Or worse, they want to get hired for the knowledge they have stored up in their brains.

Yeah, no.

The brain doesn’t work that way. Read to learn — and make sure it sticks by reading carefully, re-reading, and immediately applying what you read to some hands-on assignment, problem, task or project.

Heck no!

Employers are of the opinion that your past performance is the best predictor of your future performance.

So, if you are not performing or doing something with what you know now … you are just playing!

Read, practice, sharpen your skills

Not just today, but for tomorrow, for the rest of this month, and for as long as it takes to master that technique.

And then do it some more …

Stick with a technique until you master it.

If someone tried to become a commercial pilot by reading books on flying without logging extensive flying hours, would you consider him / her a pilot by any measure?

Absolutely no!

You take it for granted that every commercial pilot has flown the same aircraft several times in some testing / training facility before flying a commercial airliner, right?

That’s why, fortunately for the rest of us, the folks who fly commercial planes spend extensive time in flight school, learning how to fly … until they have it down pat.

So don’t skim around your learning resources.

It’s great that you’re eager to learn. But learning without practicing and without making an extensive effort to develop a real-world skill is not going to help you!

This isn’t a game folks — this is business.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you a resume writer can somehow rewrite or put something on your resume that gets you hired.

And don’t think that heading back to college for a graduate degree or MBA will impress employers into hiring you.

My advice for you is: don’t go near that crowd!

Be one of the fortunate few and take the most direct approach. It brings the best results because it gives employers what they want.

#1: Become The Most Knowledgeable Person You Can Be

Your first job should be to learn everything that you can about your chosen career.

To start with, employers want you to be knowledgeable about your job.

They don’t want a shiny resume and they don’t want decorative college degrees. They want functional knowledge.

As a professional, the way to get functional knowledge is by doing some or all of this (the more the better):

  1. Read, follow, subscribe to blogs and leaders on your topics of interest.
  2. Buy and read books on your chosen career. You can never invest too much on textbooks.
  3. Take training or coaching to get ahead in your career. There are lots of dead-ends and you need to avoid them all!

Study using as many resources as you can afford.

This is a knowledge-based economy, so the best investment you can make is in yourself.

… it is really this simple

#2: Become Highly Skilled

Knowledge is different from skills. Skills are gained by taking lots of quizzes or practice tests.

Sharpening your skills by taking lots of practice tests achieves two (2) really powerful objectives:

  1. It gets you ready for the question & answer format of job interviews.

    In a job interview, your interviewer wants you to be factual, detailed, comprehensive or prompt in answering questions.

    The interviewer also wants you to demonstrate that you are highly knowledgeable / skilled in your subject.

  2. Practice Tests also sharpen your skills for the real-world and here is why:

    When you rehearse the answers to a question and then commit it to your memory, you arm yourself with the ability to recall the solutions easily when faced with real-world problems … and managers just love that.

And that my friend is how you bridge the gap to becoming a highly skilled, highly marketable, successful professional

The ability to recall solutions easily will make you stand out on your job and it will give you a lot of confidence

The increased self-confidence comes from taking the time to study, practice and prepare for real-world, on the job challenges.

That my friend … is how to become a superstar professional.

So many people cheat themselves and short circuit the process by focusing on certifications or educational degrees, etc!

They miss the point completely!

Today’s world is highly competitive and employers are hiring for razor sharp, finely tuned / honed skills and not general skills.

#3: Gain Hands-on Experience

The last but not least is hands-on experience.

Employers rate hands-on experience above certifications or advanced college degrees.

Why?

Because in the Information Technology Industry, the mindset of employers is: “Your Past Performance Is The Best Predictor Of Your Future Performance“.

What this means is that the more real-world experience you have, the more attractive you are to employers.

The point is not to fuss about how you gain the experience (through coaching / mentoring, volunteering, on the job, etc.) but just to get it.

That is it my friend … The Secret Recipe for Success In A Nutshell.

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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/09/27/the-secret-to-success-in-a-nutshell/feed/ 0 Which Software Development Life Cycle Is Best? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/09/23/which-software-development-life-cycle-is-best/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/09/23/which-software-development-life-cycle-is-best/#comments Fri, 23 Sep 2011 11:58:46 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=3284

Your Guide To Software Development Methodologies (Agile, Scrum, Waterfall, SDLC, Extreme ...)

Your Guide To Software Development Methodologies (Agile, Scrum, Waterfall, SDLC, Extreme ...)

Models like Agile, Extreme Programming, Scrum or Waterfall are used by project managers, business analysts, software developers or quality assurance analysts to describe how a project is managed or a software product is built.

The software development life cycle determines how risks are managed, business requirements documented, resources estimated and allocated, stakeholder expectations or customer feedback is managed and when software / quality assurance testing is performed.

Each software development model recommends a set of guidelines or best practices for developing software.

It is then up to an adopting organization to follow these guidelines from the inception of their project.

Choosing the right Software Development Life Cycle is important because it helps your project team reduce or eliminate the risks of project failure which occur as frequently as 60% of the time.

Software Development Life Cycles are also important because they help deliver a better product or user experience.

In a nutshell, software development practices like Agile, Extreme Programming, Waterfall, Lean Software Development, Rational Unified Process (RUP), Scrum will help your project team meet or exceed customer or business requirements, deliver products on time or under budget.

Meeting Business Requirements

Software Development Life Cycles help with clarifying when or how software requirements will be gathered and analyzed in a software development project.

In software methodologies like the Waterfall model, business requirements are collected, analyzed or documented extensively at the beginning of the project.

In other software models like Agile or Scrum, requirements are gathered or analyzed multiple times during the life cycle of the project.

While opinions differ as to which software model helps you gather better software requirements, each model still offers the benefit of a formal plan for gathering, analyzing or documenting business requirements.

Engaging the Best Minds or Resources

Some Software Development Life Cycles like the Waterfall model are more traditional with their “top down” team structure or project management approach.

Other software models like the Agile or Scrum models are flatter in their team structure or more self organizing and independent.

The benefit of following a software development model is that it helps with organizing or structuring the project team’s roles, responsibilities or communication style.

Reducing or Eliminating Time or Budget Overruns

Statistics show that as much as 60% of Information Technology (IT) projects fail for various reasons including time or budget overruns.

This is where choosing the right software model can be helpful.

Each software development life cycle offers a set of best practices for estimating project resources, planning project deliverables or product features and monitoring timelines or milestones.

While some software models like the Waterfall emphasize time, budget or resource estimation at the beginning of the project, others like Agile or Scrum emphasize time, cost or resource estimation & planning throughout the life cycle of the project.

Managing the Software Development Process

Each Software Development model divides separates the development process into a set of activities which makes the project more manageable.

While some Software models are sequential, others are iterative.

Software development models separate your development cycle into phases which helps with project planning, resource utilization and progress monitoring or control.

Creating Better Software Products

Software development life cycles can help with meeting or exceeding customer expectations as well as creating better software products.

Your software development model will provided guidelines for creating test cases or mapping test cases to requirements or product features.

Software models provides guidance for quality assurance analysts or software testers, on when to execute tests, record bugs or defects and measure or report on the quality of the software product.

How To Adopt A New Software Development Life Cycle

An organization may be incapable of taking advantage of a software development model in-spite of the merits of the model.

Here is my advice on adopting a new software development model

  1. Evaluate your Company Culture: consider the flexibility or willingness of your company to change or adapt.

    I have seen organizations with a top-down management culture fail at agile models because they were not ready to give up some control to an agile, self-organizing team.

  2. Take Small Steps: don’t try to change too much, too soon, when adopting a new software development model.

    Over-committing at the early stages of your project raises a red flag because it means that your project team is being expected to run before it has learnt how to walk!

  3. Get Executive / Organizational Commitment: get someone with senior management or executive authority to back the adoption of the model or it may not survive corporate politics.

Sometime ago, I functioned as the Information Technology Director of a re-manufacturing plant in the Ozarks.

One of the goals I set for my team and employer was to get them to adopt a formal software development model.

Before I started running with the implementation of that model, I spent time coaching the CEO, the quality assurance and product development directors, and other senior managers on the benefits as well as potential challenges of the new software development model.

Because I had strong organizational commitment and backing, the software model was finally adopted without any incidents.

Which Software Development Life Cycle Is Best for Your Project?

With all that has been said in mind, i have prepared a downloadable study guide that will help you with choosing a software development model for your project!

The study guide which you can download below covers answers questions like:

  1. What is Agile, Scrum, Waterfall?, Lean Software Development, Extreme Programming …
  2. What are the advantages, disadvantages, challenges or benefits of adopting a software development model …
  3. How does Agile compare to Waterfall … And More ….

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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/09/23/which-software-development-life-cycle-is-best/feed/ 1 Can Certifications Take the Place of Experience? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/08/17/can-certifications-take-the-place-of-experience/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/08/17/can-certifications-take-the-place-of-experience/#comments Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:10:29 +0000 Russ Woodward http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=3265

Certifications Or Experience Which Is Better?

Certifications Or Experience Which Is Better?

I have been in business development / sales side of the Financial Services Industry for the past 15 years.

I have worked as a VP for several Fortune 500 companies.

Due to the market downturn and layoffs, I find myself looking to other industries for stability.

I want to get into Software / Network Sales and wanted to know what is the best way for me to break into the Information Technology industry

Should I get A+ certified, get a masters in I.T.?

Since I don’t have years of experience selling I.T., what are hiring managers looking for?

Can a certificate take the place of experience?

Thank you

Russ

Can a Certificate Take the Place of Experience?

  1. What does a certificate prove to hiring managers?

    Just like a college degree, certifications also prove that you are knowledgeable on a subject.

    Just like self study or taking a training class, a certificate also proves that you have taken the time to study, learn or master a subject.

    A certificate proves that you have mastered the information or knowledge you need for a job.

    And a certificate proves that you will not be studying textbooks on the job or asking questions about how to do your job.

    However, Information Technology managers are not really looking for your knowledge but for the ability or skills to perform … and having knowledge is not the same as having the skills or ability to perform.

  2. What Is The Best Predictor Of Performance?

    In the Information Technology (IT) Industry, you are hired for your ability to perform or get the job done.

    And as far as hiring managers are concerned, “your past performance is the best predictor of your future performance“.

    So, when it comes to finding a job in the Information Technology (IT) Industry, your experience will always count more than your certifications because it is a better predictor of your performance.

  3. What Is The Value of a Certificate?

    A certificate measures your ability to retain or recall information and it is important from the perspective that it assures hiring managers that you have really studied the material you need for your job.

    But what a certificate does not measure is your real-world ability to get the job done or perform.

    When it comes to the Information Technology (IT) Industry, hiring managers take your past performance as the absolute best measure of your future performance … hence the principle behind hiring is: “Can you perform, prove it“.

    If you want to get hired for a job … any job, don’t focus on certifications because that is a distraction, instead focus on proving your ability to perform on the job.

    4. How To Prove That You Can Perform

    The real question that you should be answering is” “How do you prove to hiring managers that you will perform if you are hired“. Here is the answer to the real question:

  4. Make Your Past Experience Count

    The real reason why you have been successful in business development or sales is your ability to perform on the job by bringing in sales.

    And what information technology hiring managers want from you is that same ability to bring in sales.

    Don’t cloud issues for yourself by focusing on your certifications.

    The ability to bring in sales does not depend on your certifications or education but on your past successes as a sales / development Vice President.

    What you have to do is simple: document your past sales & business development successes clearly on your resume and work on identifying those sales, marketing & business development strengths, experience and skills which will help you perform in any job, even when you change industry.

  5. Rewrite Your Resume – Prove That You A Top Performer

    Your resume is one of the most important documents along the path of changing careers.

    Hire a professional resume writer to clearly identify and document tangible sales results that you’ve achieved in your past jobs.

    Document things like the size of business you brought in or how many millions of dollars in revenue, sales or profit are attributable to your efforts.

    Document things like the sales training you attended, the sales quota you achieved or exceeded, the conferences you attended, the c-level businesses executives you networked with, the size of the budget you managed, the divisional or corporate sales goals or objectives that you achieved and how they mattered to your company’s bottom line.

    At the end of the day, your resume must highlight you as a superstar, top-performer and show clearly how hiring you made a difference to the profit, sales, revenue, strategic and tactical goals of the companies that you worked for as a Vice President of Sales & Business Development.

    Just remember this, you success in getting hired will depend on how well you can prove that you are a top performer and not on anything else.

  6. Ace your Job Interview – Prove That You Are A Top Performer

    The goal of your resume is to get you into as many job interviews as possible. But your resume alone will not get you a job, you must wow your clients at the job interview to get a job!

    And yes, the job interview is really a presentation. So prepare and rehearse your presentation and what you will say or you will not succeed.

    You may want to take some time to read more advice on “How To Slam Dunk Job Interviews” – http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=841

    Finally, you must be confident in your abilities and convey that self-confidence at your job interview.

    Remember this, the Information Technology Industry is a performance driven industry and no-one would hire you, if you first don’t believe in your own abilities.

    So, take the time to discover your own strengths, talents, abilities and then learn how to believe in yourself so that you will be able to convince others at your job interviewer, that you are a top performer!

Follow the strategy that I outlined in this post to change careers and get an information technology job.

Remember that Certifications are helpful because it helps you learn or master a topic.

But focusing on a certificate as a way of getting a job is not a high value strategy because that is not what hiring managers are really looking for.

Hiring managers are hiring for your ability to perform or get the job done!

You gain that ability to perform through rigorous real world problem solving or on the job experience.

You can prove your ability by highlighting your past successes which are the best predictors of your future performance or creating situations where you can grow and develop your experience through practical challenges.

[Ask IT Career Coach] is a Career Advice Column for Information Technology (IT) professionals looking for answers to their most challenging career situations …

Submit questions about your career using the [Ask IT Career Coach] service and I will answer it for you just like I am answering the question in this post …


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This post was submitted by Russ Woodward.

]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/08/17/can-certifications-take-the-place-of-experience/feed/ 1 Oracle Or Microsoft Access, Which Is Better? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/02/17/oracle-or-ms-access-which-is-better/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/02/17/oracle-or-ms-access-which-is-better/#comments Thu, 17 Feb 2011 23:14:10 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=3105

Oracle Or Microsoft Access, Which Is Better For Me?

Oracle Or Microsoft Access, Which Is Better For Me?

Are you matching your strengths to your opportunities or are you just being ideological … interested only in following your own ideas even when they won’t get you any results?

Here is a situation that illustrates the challenges of being ideological versus being results oriented. It is a situation that illustrates the challenges of learning an enterprise software like Oracle compared to a poor man’s database like Microsoft Access.

Are you wondering about who this situation involves? You are safe my friend because today, I will mainly be talking about me :-)

When I started out in the industry, my first priority was to get my foot into the door.

My goals were:

  1. To transition my career without incurring a lot of additional debt
  2. To learn a marketable skill so that I could get a job quickly
  3. To get myself into a position where I would be in high-demand by delivering excellent results

There were a number of career paths that looked promising and I looked into them all. Here a few of them:

Business Analysis

The business analyst career path was mostly available to systems analysts or management consultants people or poorly defined.

By poorly defined, i mean that it depended on the whims of hiring managers (it was subjective and depended on the employers needs or definitions) and so, there was no very clear or direct path to becoming a business analyst (this was in the ‘90s).

Network Administration

I had worked in network administration in an internship job right after college. My duties entailed helping support a Lotus CC:Mail/ Novell Netware Network

Based on my own first-hand experience, I ruled out computer networking primarily because I realized that I was not passionate about that industry.

Systems Programming

While in college, I had tried to learn C/C++ and I also decided that it wasn’t my thing because it took a long time to develop a fully functional software using C/C++

Based on experience, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to master C/C+ in a few months or get a job easily.

My finding was that it would take a number of years to become really expert or highly skilled at C/C++.

I was also certain, that even when I became highly skilled, I still won’t be able to deliver stellar results based on C/C++.

In case you’re interested, read my thoughts on choosing C/C++ as a programming language here…

Enterprise Database Software

I investigated getting an entry level job in SAP / Oracle / IBM or some other enterprise software since that is where it seemed that the big bucks where being made. In the 90’s, the major database players included IBM, Oracle, Microsoft.

Oracle was very popular in the enterprise database computing circle. However, learning Oracle was no small feat.

I mean that installing Oracle on your own local computer for learning purposes was not an easy proposition even for experienced oracle professionals because companies hired senior / experienced Oracle consultants just to install and setup Oracle correctly on their servers.

In addition to that, Oracle was targeted at the enterprise buyer which meant that purchasing a full-featured Oracle license for an individual like me without corporate sponsorship … was simply beyond my budget!

In addition, even if I raised the money to buy an Oracle License, I would have to spend additional weeks installing Oracle correctly by myself or else hire an Oracle database consultant to install it (Oracle database consultants billed anywhere from $60/hr. to $120/hr.)

And assuming that I overcame the hurdle of buying an Oracle license and then installing Oracle, I would still have to figure out one more thing about Oracle … how to learn Oracle!

You see, Oracle was one of those complex enterprise software application that had a really high learning curve.

The chances that I was going to learn or master Oracle in time enough to get a job was very low because professionals who had been working with Oracle for years where still struggling to understand it … it was that complex!

So, tell me, what will you have done if you were in my shoes?

Did I fixate on learning Oracle … even though I knew professionals that worked with Oracle for years were still struggling to get to a comfort level with it?

Absolutely not! One of the Oracle professionals that I was personally acquainted with had started working with or learning Oracle while we were still in college.

By the time I was evaluating learning Oracle, this professional (a lady based in the United Kingdom) was just getting comfortable with Oracle … and that is after working with it for 8 to 10 years!

So, I decided that the Oracle database and many of the other popular enterprise software applications available at that time had too high a learning curve!

Yes, I know that everyone’s situation is different and yes I understand that “what is good for the goose is not always good for the gander“.

But my situation was that I was married and I had to pay my bills.

Even though my wife was willing to support me, I wasn’t okay with asking her to take care of all the bills while I went on a multi-year learning trip.

Not only that,I had been out of college for a few years and didn’t want to risk taking another 8 to 10 years to learn a new career!

And I definitely didn’t want to start a career that would require such an expensive re-training that I would have to go deeply in debt!

Put yourself in my shoes and tell me what you would have done if faced with my situation keeping in my objectives which were:

  • To learn a marketable skill in a short time: I had to learn a marketable skill so that I could easily get a job and get out of unemployment.

  • To be prudent or save money: I had to pay my bills and account for all sorts of living expenses, while paying for my own re-training.

  • To get into a line of work where I could easily become competent: I needed to learn a skill that I would become an expert at in a reasonable short time.

What will you have done in my shoes … because I choose Microsoft Access!

In those days, a lot of professionals looked down on Microsoft Access as a sort of poor man’s relational database even though Microsoft Access had a lot going for it at that point in time.

Low Cost of Learning

Microsoft Access was available as part of the Microsoft Office family of products.

The cost of a Microsoft Office / Access license was as low as $300. And I budgeted an additional $100 for buying Microsoft Access textbooks from the local seller … Barnes & Noble. I would never forget the price that I paid for my very first Microsoft Access Book … just $49.50.

So, for less than $500, I was guaranteed that I would learn or master Microsoft Access … which was great news for me as an unemployed newbie IT professional!

Low Learning Curve

It took me between 30 and 60 days to study or master Microsoft Access from textbooks. After which I spent my remaining time, taking Microsoft Access practice tests and building relational databases.

In my first job interview test administered by a local staffing agency in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I scored above 90% and got hired into the systems / data analysis department of a local e-commerce firm with a starting salary of $15/hr.

Accelerated Time To Market

By my third month of working with Microsoft Access, I had completed a project that was estimated to last about 6 weeks in 2 weeks.

Because I could achieve those sorts of results, the IT Manager called a recruiting firm without my knowledge or permission and advised them to find more challenging work for me … which they did!

By my third month, I was billing $76,000/yr. and my billing rate continued to increase with time!

Dear Friend,

What I have learnt is that the only thing that stops us from achieving the results we want is our limiting belief systems or self-imposed mental boundaries.

So, what works and what doesn’t?

  1. Don’t hang your career on getting a recognized certificate or diploma

    That is so old school! The only thing that matters is your ability to perform on the job … and no accredited degree or diploma or program can confer that to you.

    In other words, you either learn or know how to get the job done or you don’t.

  2. Don’t get stuck learning any vendor’s software

    Because I got my foot in through the door, I have since had the chance to learn or work with Oracle and IBM enterprise databases at the employer’s expense!

    Learning Microsoft Access first actually made it easier for me to learn or work with SQL Server, Oracle and IBM databases later on.

    Remember that you are the one that makes the job work and not the software, vendor or qualification.

    I have seen professionals who want to become business analysts get stuck on learning an enterprise requirement management software like IBM Rational RequisitePro.

    These good folks forget that many employers can’t afford the licensing costs of the same software that they are hung up on and they also forget that requirements management is first and foremost a set of principles or techniques and not a software!.

    If you learn requirements management techniques you can for example document requirements using Microsoft Office or your employer can purchase any of the myriads of requirements management software in the market.

    So why are you so hung up on learning IBM Rational RequisitePro as if that makes you a business analyst?

  3. Learn a marketable skill

    One of the biggest challenges facing professionals is the right choice of a career. I know that because I get asked that question every day

    I’ve seen professionals get stuck with programming skills that are not marketable like mainframe programming or C/C++.

    In one instance, a C/C++ programmer with a computer science college degree after being unemployable for 3 years got the very first job he interviewed for … after I coached him on C#, ASP.NET and .NET Framework.

    His mistake that of failing to learn a marketable skill. The good news is that it only cost him a few months to rectify that mistake. And, once he fixed that, his career was back online again!

Here is my last advise to you on this point, make sure that you are pragmatic and not ideological about your career choices.

If it is looking like you are getting stuck on the path you are on, carefully evaluate all the other alternatives available to you.


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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/02/17/oracle-or-ms-access-which-is-better/feed/ 6 What Is the Toughest Challenge Facing your Career? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/01/11/the-toughest-challenge-facing-your-career/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/01/11/the-toughest-challenge-facing-your-career/#comments Wed, 12 Jan 2011 04:30:35 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=3062

What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

Compliments of the Season and Merry Christmas To You. What is the toughest challenge facing your career right now?

Post a detailed question regarding your challenges right now, and I will help you take care of them, once and for all!

How To Discover Your Passion?

Perhaps, your toughest challenge is …

  • How to choose the right career or
  • How to make a career change or
  • How to get an entry level job that is inline with your career goals

Regardless of the type of challenge facing your career, go ahead and post a detailed question regarding your challenge and I will answer it for you

How To Do The Work You Love?

Perhaps, your toughest challenge is …

  • How to become highly skilled at your job or
  • How to get suitable hands-on experience or
  • How to transition from a beginner or junior position to a senior-level job

Leave a detailed comment about your challenging career situation using the form below and I will answer it for you!

How To Take Your Passion To The Market?

Perhaps, the most challenging situation facing your career is …

  • How to rewrite your resume and/or cover letter, so you can get the job you want or
  • How to distinguish yourself from others in your industry, so that you can standout or get hired or
  • How to ace your job / technical interviews so that you can get jobs more easily …

Whatever your challenge, just go ahead and ask a question using the “comment form” below and I will answer it for you.

I may answer by writing a new article that addresses your concerns or by posting a comprehensive reply to your comment below.

The concern or challenge facing you is important to me, so go right away and post it as a comment on this page.

The sooner you ask that question, the sooner I can take care of it for you. So, let’s get started


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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/01/11/the-toughest-challenge-facing-your-career/feed/ 53 Is An MBA Required For Business Analyst Jobs? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/12/10/is-an-mba-required-for-business-analyst-jobs/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/12/10/is-an-mba-required-for-business-analyst-jobs/#comments Fri, 10 Dec 2010 18:42:11 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=3031

MBA - Laid Off and Looking For Work!

MBA - Laid Off and Looking For Work!

[Ask IT Career Coach] is a Career Advice Column for Information Technology (IT) professionals looking for answers to their most challenging career situations.

This question was submitted by a reader who would like to know: “If An MBA Is Required For Business Analyst Jobs“.

Here Is The Question on Educational Requirements for Business Analyst Jobs:

… I will be working for one year then I have plans to go for a one year MBA program.

Will this plan help be to become a business analyst? And in this one year of working period before going for an MBA, i would like to load myself with extra courses like SAP or SAS or any other relevant courses.

Kindly let me know which part time course will be suitable for me to in this one year working period to become a business analyst.

I am not from computer background so do i need to do some computer programming related courses like c++ or java which will not be so easy for a beginner?

Thank you

Is An MBA Required For Business Analyst Jobs?

Here is the answer to the question: is an MBA required for business analyst jobs?

Business Analyst Jobs Are Not Traditional

Your question is based on the premise that Information Technology (IT) jobs are just like other traditional careers (law, medicine, education, etc.) … but they are not!

The IT Industry is fundamentally different from other sectors of the economy. For one, it is in a constant state of change and it is also in its infancy.

The Business Analyst Career has its roots in Systems Analysis, Software Development and Business Process Engineering amongst others.

So, business analysis as a profession is still in its infancy and it is still evolving and unlike other non-IT industries, there is no degree required for a job in business analysis or any of the other information technology fields.

So the answer to your question is: NO, an MBA Degree is not required for a Business Analysis Job.

Which College Degree Is Required For A Business Analyst Job?

Neither an MBA or SAS or SPSS or any one degree is required for a business analyst job … that is old school thinking!

Any degree will work for you because hiring managers are more concerned about your actual performance on the job than on your paper qualifications or credentials!

As a matter of fact, even if you get a job based on your paper qualifications, you are bound to lose the job, if you don’t understand the roles and responsibilities of a business analyst and perform accordingly.

Information Technology is a performance driven, prove-it field and business analysts are not exempt from that culture.

Your college education only goes to prove that you are literate and that you can be trusted to converse or discuss on workplace issues, intelligently.

Your college degree by itself does not qualify your for a business analyst job.

What Are Hiring Managers Looking For?

Hiring managers are looking for functional business analysis skills because business analysis skills are different from MBA skills or SAS or SPSS or any other body of knowledge.

In other words, getting an MBA degree does not convey functional business analysis skills.

To start with, business analysts gather, document, validate and manage requirements using specific processes like UML or Use Cases.

So, you can’t expect to get that from an MBA program or bypass this skill requirement by learning another course like SAS or SPSS.

In addition, employers often view business analysts as domain specialists because they are looking for subject matter expertise and previous business knowledge in their industry.

This is why you may see job postings for CRM Business Analysts or Sales & Marketing Business Analyst or IT Business Analyst.

Understand How To ACE IT Jobs / Principles of Success in IT Careers

My goal in this community is to get you started down the path that leads to career nirvana and stop you from forking over thousands of dollars in hard-earned money or waste time chasing down self-imposed limiting beliefs or myths supplied by others.

So, I would advise you to do just this:

  1. Don’t analyze Business Analyst jobs the way you would analyze jobs in other industries because that won’t work :-) .

    Don’t assume that an MBA degree pre-qualifies you for a business analyst job the way that a medical or law degree places you in the direct path of becoming a doctor or a lawyer.

  2. Don’t try to bypass the requirement for business analysis skills by taking non-business analysis courses.

    Learn business analysis first and then if you need to get an MBA or any other degree to fulfill your personal educational ambitions, do so afterwards.

  3. Take the shortest path to becoming a business analyst and give the hiring managers what they want.

    Learn business analysis, get hands on business analysis experience and bring you resume to market as quickly as possible.

  4. Focus your learning on business analysis techniques, skills and practices.

    You may learn business analysis in an online class because that fits in more conveniently with your hectic study schedule.

  5. The most impressive thing on your resume is your handson experience.

    So either get handson experience as an IT business analyst or get domain / subject matter expertise relevant to the domain you may want to specialize in.

Take a direct path to becoming a business analyst and don’t spend your time chasing rabbit trails … that is the [IT Career Coach's] ACE (Affordable, Convenient, Effective) :-)


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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/12/10/is-an-mba-required-for-business-analyst-jobs/feed/ 14 When Life Throws You a Curve Ball, Throw it Back! http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/11/24/when-life-throws-you-a-curve-ball-throw-it-back/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/11/24/when-life-throws-you-a-curve-ball-throw-it-back/#comments Wed, 24 Nov 2010 14:01:10 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=3012

Life Throws A Curve Ball, Then What?

Life Throws A Curve Ball, Then What?


Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans – John Lennon

The truth is that work is a lifetime constant. It’s a marathon and not a sprint, so along the way you may start getting tired or even feel like quitting!

If that describes you or if you have ever felt like that … don’t give up hope because help is much closer than you think.

And here is why. Today I will be dealing with a pressing problem that is facing many of you, which is: How to you keep your career from stalling when life happens.

Many smart people like you start their careers with a sky-is-the-limit trajectory. Perhaps you were also voted “most likely to succeed” in high school or college.

But twenty years later, you find that though you had fun for a while and made some money along the way, your career has sputtered or stalled for seemingly inexplicable reasons.

What Do You Do When Life Throws You A Curve Ball?

Once you were a pie-in-the-sky, bright-eyed young college graduate who just landed his or her first job. It was (you thought), a high-paying job that guaranteed a comfortable lifestyle, a nice house in the right neighborhood and a decent car.

You were probably single at the time and the life in-front of you seemed to be full of promises. So, you started a fast-track career with grand ambitions. And after a few months or years, you met someone you liked, got married and added a kid or two to complete the picture.

Then life happened! You don’t know how you got there and you don’t know why or when … but your career stalled, sputtered and slowly ground to a halt!

What happened is that maintaining career success required much more energy than you anticipated, so while you were worked at having a life, your career sputtered and stalled.

The demands of life and family seem irreconcilably opposed to the demands of technology and a fast-paced workplace and It is becoming increasingly difficult to juggle both the demands of personal life and an ever-advancing technological workplace.

So, it was subtle and you were not fully aware of the drift. You began to fall two steps behind, then another and another until one day you wake up to realize that your career has stagnated and you ‘re no longer as energized as you once were at the beginning.

If you are in a stagnating or stalled-out career, don’t despair. There is still hope for you. Start doing things the IT Career Coach Way …. Learn and Practice.

Let’s look at the top reasons why your career is stalling, how to prevent career stagnation or how to give yourself a fresh start because you deserve it :-)

You have lost steam and enthusiasm. You’ve lost your vision, energy, focus and drive. And you’re only going through the motions of the job.

HOW TO FIX THIS PROBLEM

  1. Get focused, stop procrastination and start setting specific goals.

  2. Break down your career goals into Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely (SMART) steps.

  3. Consider making a lateral change within your company as this would get you thinking outside the box for a change and invigorate you with new challenges.

Your network is too narrow. Your only career contacts are your boss and co-workers, and your company is so small that you have to wait for someone to die to get a promotion. You have allowed yourself to become isolated from your industry and the better opportunities in your field.

HOW TO FIX THIS PROBLEM

  1. Don’t let networking fall by the wayside.

  2. Keep your name out there in your industry and with the leaders in your field. Remember that personal relationships weigh more in business or hiring decisions.

  3. Keep your resume updated with your achievements on an ongoing basis even if you are happy in your current position.

  4. Know your own strength. Don’t avoid jotting down your strengths because you’re afraid of tooting your own horn. There’s something to be said for humility, but in order to advance in your career and keep that spark alive, you must always be tweeting what you are about doing!

Life has gotten in the way. You’ve got health issues, you’re in debt, you’ve too many bills or your personal relationships are not what they should be. All of this is sapping your energy.

HOW TO FIX THIS PROBLEM

In between the daily grind of life and getting the work done, be sure to take care of you … because you are Numero Uno.

Here is an analogy: you are with kids in an airplane that is going down. Oxygen masks are falling fall around you. And you are instructed to position your own oxygen mask first before taking care of others. Because you will not be able to think straight or function properly until your personal oxygen line is secure.

So, pay strong attention to your personal physical, spiritual and emotional fitness. Just as physical illness can sideline you from getting work done, personal, emotional or spiritual upsets, relationship trials or money problems can get in your way, by cluttering your thoughts, sapping your energy or killing your drive.

Your skills are too localized. You only know one software language or business analysis technique and you’re not even an expert at that. Your foundation is weak and you’re always playing catch up with real-world skills or technology.

HOW TO FIX THIS PROBLEM

Just as a house built on sand falls like a pack of cards in stormy weather, a career that’s weak at the core will come apart in a tough economy. So, stop procrastinating and master the fundamentals of your field.

Make every effort to keep up with the fast-pace of technology change because the price you pay for sitting back, doing nothing or getting comfortable will be too high.

Your feel like a dinosaur. You plan to pay off your student loans while getting more certifications, diplomas and accreditation … hoping that a lucky employer would recognize your intrinsic worth. and before you know it, you’re deep in debt, you’ve wasted a lot of time and no-one is making you a decent job offer!

HOW TO FIX THIS PROBLEM

  1. Change your thinking and you will get a different outcome from life.

  2. This is a new world order. And employers are hiring proven, productive workers with relevant hands-on experience and tightly focused job skills.

  3. Here is the game changer … try the IT Career Coach Way. Work on both studying or learning and developing practical, hands-on career oriented skills at the same time.

The Law Of Inertia – Sir Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton in the First Law of Motion explains a fundamental principle of physical life … every thing continues in its state of rest or motion unless compelled to do otherwise.

Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1726)

Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1726)

In other words … Get Off Your Rockers! And do something

Use what you have to get what you want. Use your skills and experience as a launching pad and don’t be sitting on them.

Stay ahead of the technology curve. Take an online training or coaching class to to advance your practical skills, It doesn’t get in the way of work and you’ve got no excuses for not investing in your life. Often times, your company or employer will be glad to pay for your training, so do yourself a favor … just ask!

If you can’t afford coaching or training then keep a table at your local borders or barnes and noble bookstore and keep yourself up-to-date with the advancements in your field.

Though it may appear that career stagnation happens all of a sudden, the truth is that it happened slowly, gradually, eventually over time. And just as it takes time to come to a place of stagnation, it will also take time to light a new spark to yor now stalled-out career.

Though, time may not seem to be on your side, be patient and take it one step at a time. Each positive, forward step you take, renews your energy and propels you towards a bright and promising future … remember Sir Isaac Newton.


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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/11/24/when-life-throws-you-a-curve-ball-throw-it-back/feed/ 1 FREE Coaching on How To Make A Career Change http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/07/27/free-coaching-on-how-to-make-a-career-change/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/07/27/free-coaching-on-how-to-make-a-career-change/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:16:11 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2954

Coaching on How To Change your Career

Coaching on How To Change your Career


Some of you have been asking about “how to choose the right career” or “how you can make a career change“.

You are searching for specific, practical step by step instructions for transitioning or making career changes.

The answer to this question is important to you because you spend the majority of your waking time at work.

So you understand that this question determines how happy or successful you will be for several years or until your next career change :-)

With that in mind, I am devoting this series of FREE workbooks, study guides, career coaching, practical advice or instructions to answering your questions on how to choose or change careers.

How To Make A Career Change

Let me start by saying that you are going to consider changing your career at least once in your lifetime!

Gone are the days when you worked at one job, employer or career for your lifetime. The reality is that employers will probably not think highly of your skills if you stay at one place for too long!

This is true especially in the Information Technology (IT) industry, where your career diversity works for you and not against you!

So, it is okay to change careers, because you will benefit from gaining a broader perspective or a wider range of skills and your employer will view you as a more resourceful, capable cross-functional knowldege worker.

That being said, changing careers is still not easy. You could get lost in the transition or waste a lot of time chasing rabbit trails of certifications or college degrees only to discover that the trail leads to the door of hands-on experience or skills.

That is why this series is devoted to helping you make a successful career transition. By participating in this online career changers discussion group, you will receive answers to burning career transition questions such as:

  • Should I change my career or stick to the one I have always known?
  • How do I choose the right career?
  • Will I be able to successfully transition my career?
  • Is it wise for me to start from scratch in a new career?
  • Am I too old or is it to late for me to change my career?
  • Is this the right time for me to change careers?
  • How should I learn the skills, duties or roles required of me in a new career?

The answers you are getting are based on my career coaching book:The Blueprint, The Roadmap To Career Success

Some of this FREE information will answer whether business analysis, software development, project management, quality assurance or any other career is right for you.

Some of my practical advice will be in the form of Question & Answer (Q&A) discussions on this page.

And some step by step instructions will be downloadable as FREE Coaching Workbooks or Study Guides!

The First coaching guide in this series is titled: “Why We Change Careers“. It is the first in a series of workbooks with activities, discussions and free coaching on “How To Change Careers”.

I encourage you to download and read the free coaching guide and participate in all the activities contained both in the workbook and forthcoming series.

Note: Do not miss any of the activities, workbooks or articles in this series or you will be unable to benefit from this free coaching series.

Download the FREE Report below on How To Make A Career Change. It contains coaching information, workbooks and practical tips on transitioning your career!


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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/07/27/free-coaching-on-how-to-make-a-career-change/feed/ 13 How To Transition Into A New Career http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/07/04/how-to-transition-into-a-new-career/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/07/04/how-to-transition-into-a-new-career/#comments Mon, 05 Jul 2010 03:50:41 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2951

Career Advice - Ask IT Career Coach

Career Advice - Ask IT Career Coach

[Ask IT Career Coach] is a Career Advice Column for Information Technology (IT) professionals looking for answers to their most challenging career situations.

This post answers the question of “how to transition into a new career“.

If you are making a career change and you don’t know how to effectively transition into another field, follow these simple steps to transition your career.

  1. Do what you love

    Discover what sort of career you will be passionate about before making a transition.

    Yo may transition because of a bigger salary, market demand, job security or interest level.

    Transitioning because of interest level or passion is the best reason.

  2. Get Hands-On Experience

    It will be hard to transition your career without getting some hands-on experience.

    Yes, you need to get this hands-on experience before you get the job … otherwise no one will believe that you are capable of doing the job

  3. Let Your Resume Sell You

    Your resume should reflect where you are going to and not where you are coming from.

    You need to get a hold of the resume of someone who is established in the career you are transitioning … and find a way to get matching skills, experience or portfolio.

  4. Don’t Follow The Crowd

    Do not transition to a career because others say it is hot.

    Transition into a career because you are willing to pay the price to succeed in that industry because without hard work or sacrifice, you are bound to fail.

  5. Be The Best

    Prepare to be the very best at your new career.

    If you fail, then you will be above average.

    Don’t plan to be average in your new career because you will under-estimate the effort you need to make and end up without a job.

    6. Follow these simple steps to transition into your new career.


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    ]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/07/04/how-to-transition-into-a-new-career/feed/ 6 Career Tip for Senior Business Analysts: Become The Lead Business Analyst! http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/06/10/career-tip-for-senior-business-analysts-become-the-lead-business-analyst/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/06/10/career-tip-for-senior-business-analysts-become-the-lead-business-analyst/#comments Thu, 10 Jun 2010 07:49:48 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2929

    Career Tip For Senior BAs: Become The Lead BA

    Career Tip For Senior BAs: Become The Lead BA

    This post answers questions received from senior business analysts asking about how to carve out an upwardly mobile career path in their company or organization.

    The answers in this post are presented as tips, solutions or ideas for business analysts looking towards a better career path.

    If you have a question about your business analyst career, be sure to post it as a comment on this post and I will be glad to answer it for you.

    Here are the tips for business analysts looking for a better career path:

    Should Business Analysts Test Software Applications?

    In my department, analysts are mainly used for testing applications.

    I know that there is more to this than testing applications.

    What skills sets would you suggest I gain in order to become a top notch analyst?"

    Should Business Analysts Test Software Applications?

      • While business analyst are not full-fledged software testers, some organizations do require business analysts to test their software applications, oversee the testing process or collaborate closely with the QA / Software Testing Team.
      • When business analysts test software applications, they usually perform a form of testing known as Usability Testing, Functional or Acceptance Testing.
      • Business Analysts are sometimes asked to test software applications because they are the custodians of the customer, project or software requirements and so as such, need to confirm that the product or solution meets documented requirements.
      • However business analysts are sometimes asked to test solutions (and not just software components) because their company is short on QA staff and are merging both the QA / Software Testers duties into that of the business analysts!
      • Note: there is a lot more to the art of software testing than usability, functional or acceptance testing. These other other forms of testing may require scripting or automated tools and are not usually required of business analysts.

    What Is The Future For Senior Business Analysts?

    The toughest challenge facing me is the transition from Senior Business Analyst to Lead Analyst.

    The Future / Career Path for Senior Business Analysts:

    There is a real career path for senior business analysts. This career path comes with new titles, additional duties / roles or recognition (formal / informal) depending on the organization.

    To start with, there is no common way of showing the seniority or lead position of a lead business analyst

    In some organizations, the lead business analyst is the most senior or experienced person on the team and not necessarily the most educated.

    The position of the lead business analyst is sometimes given informally when a manager refers other business analysts to the lead and / or identifies the BA as such.

    1. If you are intent on being the lead business analyst, strive to distinguish yourself over a period of time by the quality of your work, the depth of your knowledge and expertise and your commitment to delivering excellent business results.
    2. Study the lead business analyst and start learning whatever it is they bring to the table that you presently don’t.
    3. In many organizations, the title of lead business analyst is earned over time because the lead business analyst has to have a strong understanding the business / organization. My advice is this: Be patient and hunker down for the long haul.

    Remember the Kaizen principle, which is used to achieve an outstanding result by delivering smaller but consistent, qualitative improvements over a longer period of time.

    • Start identifying the issues that your users have. Demonstrate to your manager that you have the analysis skills to take on the lead business analyst role.
    • Increase your output when it comes to problem-solving on the project. Make yourself available and visible to users instead of shying away from contact with them.
    • Get as much additional training as you can afford and channel all your efforts to becoming a better business analyst by learning everything that you can about business analysis.

    If you gain new skills or demonstrate additional abilities on the job, you will position yourself for more responsibility … even that of the lead business analyst.

    Finally, becoming a lead business analyst has a lot to do with demonstrating outstanding leadership skills.

    It is not just what you know (knowledge alone is not enough for this role) but how well you can step out of your box to help your fellow business analysts, team or company.

    Learn how to demonstrate exceptional leadership, communication. coaching and mentoring skills in addition to your traditional business analysis skills and you will stand out from other senior business analysts or your peers!

    What Is The Career Path for IT Business Analysts?

    I need help. My company is considering creating specialist areas for the Business Analyst in IT.

    Is there a model or any existing categorization of Business Analyst role in IT?

    I am only aware of roles like Senior/Junior Business Analyst.

    The Roles / Models for IT Business Analysts:

    There are several possible career paths for IT Business Analysts depending on the size of the organization or the diversity of tasks performed by your business analysts.

    Assuming that your company has a legitimate need to start putting business analysts into silos, here are some options, categories or specialized roles:

    1. Usability / UI / User Experience Business Analyst

    2. Web Business Analyst

    3. E-Commerce Business Analyst

    4. Marketing Business Analyst

    5. Business Process Analyst / Process Engineer

    6. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Business Analyst

    Use this list to elicit more careers centering on specialized functions performed by the business analysts on you team.

    This post presents tips, strategies or solutions for advancing your business analysis career. If you enjoy reading this post, be sure to … Share It with Friends


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/06/10/career-tip-for-senior-business-analysts-become-the-lead-business-analyst/feed/ 9     How To Handle Recruiter’s Phone Calls? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/06/04/how-to-handle-recruiters-phone-calls/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/06/04/how-to-handle-recruiters-phone-calls/#comments Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:05:33 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2926

    How To Handle Recruiters Phone Calls

    How To Handle Recruiters Phone Calls

    Recruiters are the gatekeepers for business analyst jobs.

    They are in touch with more employers, consulting or full-time engagements than most business analysts.

    This post answers the question of how to handle or deal with recruiters calling about business analyst jobs.

    If you need help with a Question or Challenge, be sure to submit your question as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering this reader’s question below!

    If you enjoy reading this post, please be sure to … Share this Post with Friends

    Here is a question posted by a business analyst on how to deal with recruiters

    I have received some phone calls from recruiters recently about BA jobs.

    We talk about the description, and then my experience.

    At the end of the call, they always promise to call back.

    They most likely never do. When I try to follow up, they most often do not reciprocate.

    Is this typical

    Or is the a better way for me to handle these calls

    How To Handle Phone Calls From Recruiters

    Handling recruiters successfully depends on your ability to put yourself in the recruiter’s shoes or negotiate from a point of strength.

    Here are some tips on how you can do just that!

    1. Put Yourself In The Recruiter’s Shoes

      Recruiters are primarily out to help their bottom line.

      With that in mind, your conversations with recruiters must prove beyond a shadow of doubt that you are qualified for the job.

      This means that you are not trying to convince, beg or plead for a job but that you come across as a skilled, experienced or knowledgeable business analyst with a pleasing personality.

    2. Tailor Your Conversation To The Job Description

      Recruiters generally have a light grasp of technology.

      Which means that they may not be as familiar with the requirements listed in the job description as you may think.

      So, make it easy on recruiters and present your skills, experience or background in the light of the job description at hand.

      For example, if a job description is posted for a business analyst with business use cases skills and you present your skills as system use cases, you may be passed.

      So, make sure that your skills, background or experience cover the specific requirements mentioned in the job description.

    3. Grab The Recruiter’s Attention

      Get your act together before getting on the phone with the recruiter.

      While on the phone, take charge of the conversation and grab the recruiter’s attention within the first few minutes of the conversation.

      All things being equal, recruiters tend to feed off your energy level.

      So, if you sound positive and upbeat, they will conclude that they want to do business with you.

      If you sound unsure of yourself, they are likely to conclude that you are hiding something or that you are not as good as you need to be!

      The best preparation is to rehearse your opening statements or polish your presentation before getting on the phone with the recruiter.

    4. Looking for a Job? Stay Busy!

      Don’t sound like you are just staying at home waiting for a job, even though that may be the truth.

      Talk about how busy you are and how you are lining up interviews because recruiters are wired to follow the herd.

      In other words, if you sound like you are busy taking interviews and lining up jobs, they will scramble to represent you as well.

      But if on the other hand, you sound like you are having difficulty finding interviews, they will shy away from you too!

      Recruiters behave like this because they reason that if their colleagues are not going after you, then either you are not qualified or not a good match for the job.

    I hope that these tips will help you represent yourself better to recruiters.

    One of the well-kept secrets of working with recruiters is that they prefer polished, professional presentations from candidates who seem to know what they are doing even.

    This is because recruiters often cannot distinguish an experienced, skilled or knowledgeable candidate from another business analyst who is less skilled.

    So, plan, prepare and present your skills in the best light possible and you will win their hearts and souls :-)


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/06/04/how-to-handle-recruiters-phone-calls/feed/ 0     What Does It Take To Learn Business Analysis? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/05/21/what-does-it-take-to-learn-business-analysis/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/05/21/what-does-it-take-to-learn-business-analysis/#comments Fri, 21 May 2010 12:55:42 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2918

    Highly Paid Business Analyst

    Highly Paid Business Analyst

    You are reading this post because you are interested in learning or mastering business analysis for a number of reasons like

    • You may have read the US Bureau of Statistics report which predicts that the business analyst role will be one of the fastest growing occupations through 2012

    • You are a computer programmer or software tester who is getting burned out on the monotony of coding or testing

    • You may be interested in learning business analyst because you will gain more visibility by interacting with users and managers

    • You feel that gathering requirements for software projects would be a better fit for you than your current IT position

    What Does It Take To Become A Successful Business Analyst?

    You may also have read a few business analyst job descriptions or observed successful business analysts at work and because of that, you feel that you can easily succeed at business analysis.

    What do you assume that business analysts do or what do you think that it takes to become a business analyst?

    Do you assume that business analysts just gather requirements, or that business analysts are essentially MBA graduates or that knowledge of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) or even Quality Assurance makes you a business analyst?

    There is more to business analysis than having a knowledge of the software development lifecyle (SDLC) or a college degree like an MBA, or even learning how to gather software requirements.

    Business Analysis is really not like computer programming and it is not equivalent to project management or having an MBA.

    Business Analysis is a specialized profession just like Law, Medicine or Engineering.

    Here is more information on what it takes to become a successful business analyst:

    So, What Does A Business Analyst Do?

    Computer programming and business analysis while being related, are still worlds apart.

    Programming is a wholly technical discipline while business analysis focuses on the business side of managing software or project requirements.

    A business analyst does more than just ask users what they want from a software system, type up the requirements in a pretty document and hand it off to the developers.

    Business analysts liaise between stakeholders to understand business problems and the requirements for a successful solution using strategic thinking and excellent communication skills.

    The business analyst also has to follow best practices for planning, gathering/eliciting, managing, modeling and validating user requirements.

    So, you need to thoroughly understand the business analysis profession if you want to make the leap from programming (or any other career) to business analysis.

    Business Analysts Don’t Just Gather Requirements!

    You do not need an MBA to become a business analyst and getting an MBA is not the same thing as learning business analysts … the two disciplines are separate!

    To start learning business analysis, you will need technical skills, business skills, industry knowledge / domain skills and analysis skills.

    In addition to the following: Requirements Elicitation, UML, Use Cases, Requirements Modeling and Facilitation skills.

    How Do You Demonstrate Business Analysis Skills?

    There is no such thing as a new IT career without new IT skills. In the same way, you can’t become a successful business analyst without learning business analysis skills through training and hands-on experience.

    If you have been applying to business analyst jobs without any response from potential employers, here is the reason: Your resume does not show that you have real-world business analysis skills.

    Many project managers or business managers have been in the situations where they hired persuasive candidates only to regret the lack of understanding of the business analysis role or the lack of BA skills needed to get the job done.

    • The bad news is that too many managers have been burned, so the chances of getting hired without real business analysis skills are not as high as one may assume.

    • The good news is that as we head out of the recession, there is a demand for professionals who have the business analysis skills required to successfully take an IT project to completion.

    So, the first and most important step towards a successful business analyst career, is making sure that you have the required business analysis skills.

    Yes, there is a real shortage of good business analysts. If you will simply take the time to get trained and get hands-on experience, you can go places in your career!

    How Do You Gain Business Analysis Skills?

    The traditional way to gain skills in other careers is to get a college degree. But does having a business degree qualify you for a business analyst career?

    What if you have a family and can’t take the time off work to go through another two to four years of college?

    The problem with traditional college degrees is that they keep you on the theoretical path of learning, where you may spend two to four years in college and still lack the skills, experience or insight needed for a successful business analyst career.

    In addition, traditional college degrees are extremely costly. If you’ve worked in the IT industry for any length of time, you would have met successful business analysts or computer programmers who couldn’t afford to go to college and yet succeeded at each of their professional careers.

    What Are Your Options For Learning Business Analysis?

    There are several alternatives to traditional business colleges. For example, many training companies squeeze the business analyst training program into a few (three to five) days.

    You fly or drive in to the location, sit for a few days and then get back to work the next day!

    The problem with these three to five day training programs is that you simply will not retain or understand new technical information that is crammed in a short period because real life professional skills are not learned in a hurry!

    If you’ve ever crammed for an examination, you know that once the exam is over, most of the information is gone from you because you only studied to pass the examination!

    The challenge with short term business analyst training is that you will not retain, understand or apply the information effectively on your job.

    You need to learn business analysis concepts in a way that helps you retain it or use it to advance your career.

    Learn Business Analysis – The Effective Way

    This is how you learn business analysis at the Business Analyst Boot Camp

    1. Mentoring / Coaching: The Business Analyst Boot Camp is designed more like a mentoring / coaching program.

      You get case studies that allow you to practice the real-world business analysis skills before using them on the job.

    2. Skill Building / Career Focused: The Business Analyst Boot Camp is designed like a series of examinations.

      You are quizzed or examined on concepts, skills or ideas so that you are able to think creatively / of the box.

    3. Natural Learning Pace: The Business Analyst Boot Camp is designed to walk you through beginner to advanced business analysis topics in a series of steps.

      You are not expected to learn or master business analysis in three days but over weeks, so that you have time to internalize, understand, appreciate or learn business analysis material in a paced, natural or productive way

    The Business Analyst Boot Camp is designed to provide practical training or real-world skills for the IT Business Analyst role and it can be accessed through our online Learning Management System (LMS) from any location and at any time by registered business analysts!


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/05/21/what-does-it-take-to-learn-business-analysis/feed/ 26     The Database Administrator (DBA) Job Description http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/04/15/the-database-administrator-dba-job-description/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/04/15/the-database-administrator-dba-job-description/#comments Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:40:02 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2876

    Database Administrator (DBA)'s Job Description

    Database Administrator (DBA)'s Job Description

    In this issue, I will be answering a question submitted by a reader on “The Roles, Responsibilities or Job Description of Database Administrators (DBAs)“.

    You can Ask IT Career Coach your toughest or most pressing questions and I will answer it fully just as I am answering this reader’s question below!

    If you enjoy reading this post, please be sure to … Share this Post with Friends

    Here is the reader’s question::

    About The Database Administrator’s (DBA) Job Description

    I am a final year BE student interested in developing a career in DBA

    Can you tell me the future prospects for DBA jobs and do i need to have a good knowledge of programming like C,C++,java,.net etc to be a DBA?

    And I have also heard that getting jobs in DBA as freshers is very tough and companies don’t prefer DBA as freshers.

    The Duties, Roles And Responsibilities of Database Administrators (DBAs)

    The Database Administrator (DBA)’s job comes with a lot of responsibility and because of that, a lot of experience is usually required for the job.

    This is the reason why Database Administrators tend to be seasoned database professionals and not entry level database professionals.

    With that in mind, your first goal should be to learn database development first and then get a job where you can work your way up to becoming a DBA by first proving your competency as a database developer first.

    Does A DBA Need To Know Scripting Languages?

    DBAs are not computer programmers so they do not need to master every facet of programming with C/C++, C#, Java, .NET, etc.

    However DBAs also need to write scripts for database maintenance jobs in a specific programming language.

    For example, DBAs importing data into a SQL Server database may need to know enough of the Visual Basic scripting language (VBScript) to write some of the Extraction, Transform and Load (ETL) or Data Transformation Services (DTS) tasks required for the Extraction, Transformation or Loading (ETL) process.

    Does A DBA Need To Know SQL Programming?

    Though DBAs are not required to master computer programming, the normal day to day DBA duties may involve extensive programming in SQL.

    For example, a DBA may have to write fairly extensive programming solutions in the SQL Language as part of stored procedures or some other database script.

    It’s important to note that each relational database platform has its own native programming language (T-SQL, PL/SQL, Access SQL, etc.)

    Introducing The DBA’s Job Description

    Here is a quick overview of the database administrator’s (DBA) job description.

    The database administrator or DBA is responsible for maintaining the database, applying the patches and upgrading the database.

    The DBA is also responsible for maintaining the security of the database.


    Here is some additional information on the roles and responsibilities of a DBA:

    • The DBAs responsibilities includes installing the database on a production system.

    • The DBA role tends towards supporting production, staging or quality assurance databases and rarely sandbox or developer databases.

      Supporting Sandbox or developer databases are usually part of the database developer’s job description.

    • The DBA is also responsible for maintaining the uptime or availability of production databases.

      DBAs have to monitor production databases regularly or respond to any database issues by bringing down the database or taking the database offline.

    • The DBA’s roles, responsibilities and duties also includes monitoring or optimizing the performance, security, backup, recovery or integrity of database management systems.

    This post was written in answer to a question submitted by a reader on “The Database Administrator’s Job Description.

    If you have a question, be sure to post it here as a comment on this post or submit it to: [Ask IT Career Coach].

    How To Become A Database Administrator?

    The first step in becoming a database administrator is to learn SQL Query Writing, master relational database design and development and study advanced sql topics.

    Database Administrator’s tend to be highly skilled database developers and are usually promoted from within. What that means is that in all likelihood, you would start out as a database developer, gain a lot of experience and then move up the ranks or get promoted to a database administrator (DBA).


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/04/15/the-database-administrator-dba-job-description/feed/ 13     Are You Inspired Enough? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/10/are-you-inspired-enough/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/10/are-you-inspired-enough/#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:32:04 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2812

    how to make friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie

    How To Win Friends And Influence People

    This is a real-life story taking from events in my life. Please read and share it with your friends

    I stumbled upon “Think And Grow Rich” on my 17th birthday.

    Shortly after reading Napoleon Hill’s classic, I also read “You Can If You Think You Can by Norman Vincent Peale” and got hooked on self help / motivational books.

    A few years later, I read a really good book in that genre … “Awaken The Giant Within By Tony Robbins“.

    What made “Tony Robbins’ Awaken The Giant Within” stand out was that Tony tried to backup his promise with some scientific, neuro-psychological, mind altering stuff.

    Now, to be honest, I really didn’t try to change my destiny with Tony’s neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).

    I was and am still skeptical of self help, motivational books because they seem to skip the last step of their own self-help message.

    By skipping the last step, I mean that self help books generally omit the actual, practical steps required for success.

    Self help books are generally unsuited for practical, real-world challenges, because their premises are usually too wide. They tend to offer promises for every financial, emotional or social problem and they aren’t helpful enough because wide, general claims are not realistic!

    However, “Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends And Influence People” is a rare breed of self help book because it contains practical, step by step instructions that can change your life.

    I guess that Dale Carnegie succeeded where other self help authors failed because he narrowed his promise to … “helping you win friends” , instead of something like: “helping you overcome every problem in life”!

    Getting back to my story …it’s me, I am 21 years old … and in college. I am the President of a Public Speaking and Motivational Club with about 100 college students. I have been giving speeches on “how to succeed in life” to my fellow college students, even though I am still, just a student!

    And I want to become a Motivational Speaker!

    Which is an insurmountable problem because every self help author or motivational speaker that I know of, builds a career around making wide, general, untargeted promises.

    My problem was that apart from Dale Carnegie, every one else was making too wide a promise.

    So, even though I had cultivated a following, I left the self help business behind in college … in search of a narrow promise that I can fulfill.

    My Promise To You Is …

    I will help you discover your passion, do the work you love or bring your passion to market.

    Discover your Passion: by identifying or focusing on tasks that bring pleasure to you and to others.

    In other words, I will help you find the work that you love .. work that others find equally useful.

    Develop your Passion: by maximizing your strengths or becoming the best at your game via deep skill building AND practice.

    Bring your Passion to Market: by building or promoting your personal or corporate brand and becoming a leader in your industry using effective PULL vs. PUSH techniques.

    Thank you for reading this or sharing it with your friends. Do leave a comment for me, if i inspire you, in any way :-)


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/10/are-you-inspired-enough/feed/ 2     What Career Is Right For Me? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/01/what-career-is-right-for-me/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/01/what-career-is-right-for-me/#comments Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:55:00 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2771

    Choose The Right Career

    Choose Right!


    If you are looking to start a new information technology career, you may be wondering about how to choose the right career.

    This post helps you answer that question.

    After reading this post, feel free to ask a question or discuss the topic by posting your opinion or comments.

    1. What do you love to do? start off by reviewing all the productive things that you love to do and then compile a list of careers from them.

      For example, if you like repairing electronic hardware, you may consider becoming a hardware or network support specialist or if you like writing, you may consider becoming a technical writer or a business analyst.

    2. What do you have some background or experience in?: review your previous working experience or background for skills that you ca re-use in a new IT careers.

      For example, if you have a background in marketing and sales, you may consider becoming a technical recruiter and if you have a background in programming electrical circuits you may consider going into computer programming.

    3. What are you interested in doing? you may develop a list of careers based on what you already know about information technology.

      For example, you may may be interested in becoming a web designer because you are interested in designing flashy or artistic websites or websites.

      While in college, I realized that I had a desire to connect and relate to people.

      I was the kind of person that would sit through and listen to someone’s sad or happy story … so I knew later on, when the opportunity presented itself that I was really interested in becoming a career coach!

    4. Research Job Postings: Job postings on Dice.com, Monster.com, CareerBuilder.NET and other job boards come with a description of each job.

      Using careful, methodical research and analysis, you can categorize these job postings and document the requirements, skill level, technologies or environments for each job.

      Finally, you can review and choose the types of careers that seem interesting based on your research of current demand for skill sets.

    5. SWOT Analysis : you can use a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis to determine the suitability of one career option versus another.

      For example, you can use a SWOT Analysis to compare your suitability for a business analyst job versus your suitability for a computer programming job.

      A SWOT Analysis also helps because it serves as a reality check and it helps you review the assumptions for choosing one career over another.

    6. Consider The Market Demand: you can research a list of jobs and use the information about the demand for each job, salary or compensation and career prospects to determine the attractiveness of each career path.

      This method may suit you, if you are driven or motivated by compensation.

      Also considering the demand for your skills apart from the compensation provides you with better on the future prospects of the career.

      It is a mistake to consider the pay, salary or compensation for a career without considering the market demand for the career because the two things are not the same!

    7. Consider The Learning Curve: how easily you learn, understand or apply information in a new career is a direct result of your suitability for the career.

      For example, if you choose to become a business analyst and you find it hard to study, understand and recall business analysis topics, then you may be going into the wrong profession!

      same thing with being a computer programmer … I have met folks that have computer science degrees from 4 year colleges … yet they can’t read a programming book out of pure self interest or by themselves!

    This post addresses the challenge of picking or choosing the right information technology career.

    If you have a question or a challenge about this, you may post it as a comment on this page or send it in using our contact form!


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/01/what-career-is-right-for-me/feed/ 2     #3 Success Principle: When It Comes To Experience, Beggars Can’t Be Choosers http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/01/07/3-success-principle-when-it-comes-to-experience-beggars-cant-be-choosers/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/01/07/3-success-principle-when-it-comes-to-experience-beggars-cant-be-choosers/#comments Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:17:52 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2753

    Beggars Can't Be Choosers

    Beggars Can't Be Choosers

    One of the bigger issues facing IT professionals is: “the challenge of building experience“.

    This challenge exists because employers still require experience for hiring, even when you need their jobs to build experience!

    It’s the classic Catch-22: “chicken or egg which came first challenge” that may be solved through internships or full-time jobs.

    However, internships are getting increasingly competitive (Read More …) and employers are still insisting on handson experience before making job offers.

    Why Internships Are Hard To Get

    For a while, internships helped provide the missing handson experience to IT professionals learning new skills or transitioning careers.

    Now internships are hard to come by because employers are refusing the burden of hiring or managing interns. And here is the reason why:

    1. Productivity: interns need to be managed by experienced employees meaning that productive time will be lost to employers.

      Productive time is lost when experienced workers have to show interns the ropes, supervise or assign work to them.

    2. Risk: employers are unwilling to invest in interns because they are more likely to fail at completing their assigned tasks or duties.

      There is also the added risk of redoing the work done by interns when it fails to meet expectations!

    3. Money: employers hesitate to pay interns because there aren’t sure of the immediate economic benefits and they refuse to hire unpaid interns because unpaid interns also cost money and time to supervise or train!

    How To Build Experience From Scratch … Without A Job

    The challenge facing those that fixate on getting experience through internship programs or full time jobs is that of becoming stumped … when they can’t get either.

    Really, when it comes to getting experience, the key is to stay flexible, creative or open minded because full-time jobs and internship programs are getting harder to come by.

    How To Build Experience From Scratch By Keeping An Open Mind

    • Focus on Smaller Projects: don’t fixate on finding big projects because you are more unlikely to get big project exposure with little or no experience.

      Start with smaller projects first, because that is where your current background, skills or experience is likely to be needed or appreciated.

    • Build Up Experience Gradually: don’t expect to get a ton of experience in a short time. Instead, spread your efforts at building experience over a longer period of time.

      Overtime, the cumulative effect of all your project based work will begin to show and you will be rewarded for your hard work.

    • Don’t Fixate on Money: don’t be too picky about your income when you’re still building up your experience because the ticket to getting paid more money is more experience!

      Start by building your experience first and then work towards a better compensation afterwards!

    • Don’t Think Too Highly of Yourself: don’t be looking down on smaller projects because you’re thinking they’re beneath you and don’t be fretting over the size of your role, task or opportunity either!

      Always put your best foot forward and build up your experience at every turn. Because that is how to ensure that you qualify for bigger projects or even a full time job!

    • Stay Flexible, Creative and Open Minded: be on the lookout for experience building opportunities that don’t fall under traditional internship or full-time jobs.

      For example, you may signup for unpaid, volunteer work or start your own consulting business (yes, you can consult on almost any subject) or register for Hands On IT Career Training (click here for more information)

    Expect that you will always be learning new skills or transitioning careers because of the constantly changing face of technology.

    Understand that staying open minded will help you discover more ways to build handson experience without a job or an internship program.


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/01/07/3-success-principle-when-it-comes-to-experience-beggars-cant-be-choosers/feed/ 1     #2 Success Principle: Learn How To Self Study Effectively http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/01/05/learn-how-to-self-study-effectively/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/01/05/learn-how-to-self-study-effectively/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:23:18 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2748

    Jack Reacher Gone Tomorrow

    Jack Reacher

    This series is devoted to the principles required for success in Information Technology (IT) careers.

    Technology is always changing so IT professionals have to stay ahead of the technology curve or risk losing their jobs or careers!
    So you have to constantly update your skills through self study, coaching or training.

    This post discusses how you can stay ahead of the technology curve using self study.

    Contrary to what you may think, self study requires a considerable investment of time, money and effort.

    If you are not aware of this, you may plan to upgrade your skills through self study and only come to a realization of this truth … say after a year or a longer passage of time.

    Not to worry, because this post will help you prepare a more effective self study plan.

    Why An Effective Study Plan Is Needed

    In the IT Industry, approaching self study as if it’s an easy, inexpensive or a quick solution is a recipe for disaster!

    Studying information technology books requires considerable personal effort or discipline because tech books are typically not easy to read, follow or understand.

    Even when you have a lot of personal discipline, it is still hard to say that you have actually learnt a new skill … because you are accountable to no one else but yourself!

    While in College, I discovered that self study is more challenging than it looks. Since I was interested in transitioning to a tech career, I started studying some recommended computer science textbooks .

    Unfortunately, the books were written in a boring, tedious, technical style and after a while, I abandoned my self study plan out of frustration at my slow pace of progress!

    The sad part is that today, many tech books are still written in the same boring, tedious, technical style, which makes is hard for beginners to follow.

    Here is the problem; If you work in an office with other IT professionals like project managers or business analysts, you may look at how they use skills like UML in solving business problems and say to yourself: “I bet that I can learn UML easily by myself”.

    Having decided that, you may then shop at Amazon.com or any bookstore for some text books on how to learn UML.

    Six months later, you may have abandoned your self study plan because the UML text books were hard to read or understand. You will have lost the time, money and effort you invested in your self study plan or find yourself unable to use UML effectively on the job!

    The point is; to succeed at updating your skills, you have to realize that self study is not cheap or easy!

    Realizing that self study requires hard work, diligence or careful planning will help you succeed by preparing you for challenges.

    Why Self Study Is Harder Than You Think

    Reading a novel like the Jack Reacher series is one thing. Studying through a tech textbook on Cloud Computing or Heuristics Design or any tech topic is another!

    Why is that you ask? Because Novels or works of fiction like; Jack Reacher – Gone Tomorrow are like the adrenaline packed Fox.com 24 TV show (starring Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer) on paperback … they are written to entertain, thrill and please you.

    Tech text books on the other hand are written to inform, and the authors do not care if it comes across as dry, abstract or boring!

    To succeed at self study plans, you have to plan for prepare ahead for the challenges. So, here is what you need to know about self study;

    1. Self Study can be boring: It is like having a conversation with yourself, which you can only do for so long.

      Self Study can become boring because tech textbooks are usually not written in a friendly, conversational or easy to follow style.

    2. Self Study is not an accountable process: You can skip the topics you don’t like or understand even when they are useful.

      The danger is with ignoring or skipping hard to understand but important subjects or focusing on easy to read but unimportant topics!

      That is why when you tell a manager or co-worker that you learnt a skill through self study, you may be asked to prove it.

    3. Self Study is not always goal oriented: because it is like driving a car in a foreign country without a roadmap.

      You may buy a good textbook, read it through and yet find yourself unable to retain, recall or reuse that learning at your workplace!

    4. Self Study is not always effective: you may think that you understand a topic, only to fail at answering questions based on the same topic at a job interview!

    5. Self Study is really not cheap: on the contrary, you lose time and money when you fail to qualify for job or employment opportunities because your self study plan is ineffective!

    6. Self Study is not easy: if you are reading a fiction book or a novel like the Jack Reacher Series by Lee Child, you will probably have a good time.

      On the other hand, if you are reading a technical, career or skill oriented book, you may not have a good time because it is written in an abstract, boring or technical style!

    7. Self Study costs more time: because you are not accountable to anyone, you may start studying because you need a job and then stop studying immediately you find one.

      Studying in fits and starts will hurt your career because of its lack of consistency!

    Learn How To Study Effectively

    Self Study is not the cheap, easy or quick path to upgrading your skills.

    Knowing this, here is how to really improve your chances of success using self study plans.

    • Make Self Study Accountable: become accountable to someone other than yourself.

    • Make Self Study Effective: become effective by learning how to retain or recall new facts.

    • Make Self Study Goal Oriented: ensure that your learning results in new skills or the ability to perform new tasks.

    • Make Self Study Practical: incorporate hands-on assignments or exercises in your self study plans.

    • Make Self Study Objective: include some objective feedback using practice tests or quizzes. Click here to learn more about using practice tests or quizzes.

    Assuming that self study is easy, cheap or effective is a recipe for disaster, because it is none of these.

    To succeed, be accountabe to someone, be goal oriented and learn the secrets of effective study skills.


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/01/05/learn-how-to-self-study-effectively/feed/ 7     Harvard Business Review: How To Get A Job Without Experience http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/01/02/harvard-business-review-how-to-get-a-job-without-experience/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/01/02/harvard-business-review-how-to-get-a-job-without-experience/#comments Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:31:24 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2746

    Finding Jobs for College Graduates

    Jobs for College Graduates

    Whether you’re launching your career or trying to change its direction, you can get around the Catch-22 issue (“You can’t get a job without experience, and you can’t get experience without a job.”) with humility.

    The solution is to get some humility because today’s shifting job market requires everyone incuding young job seekers and older workers with years of experience to continously reinvent their careers in order to stay marketable in a competitive global economy.

    The lesson is that careers, skills and workplace environments will continute to transition and there is nothing we can do about that because what is marketable and in-demand today may not be wanted tomorrow.

    However, we can succeed if we learn how to transition our skills or careers with humility.

    In an interesting post on Harvard Business Review, Larry Stybel (co-founder of the global career management firm Stybel Peabody Lincolnshire and Executive in Residence at the Sawyer School of Business at Suffolk University) writes on how staying humble helped him transition his career and become a business consultant.

    In reading about Larry’s career transition, you will see that he did not just:

    1. Keep sending resumes out hoping that he will get lucky

    2. Ignore or hope to beat the requirement for experience

    Larry, offered his skills for nothing in exchange for getting the required hands-on experience in his industry.

    He humbly offered his skills for nothing by working two days a week for two months, in exchange for experience.

    His advice: “You’re too proud to offer your services at no charge? Get over it. If you choose the right opportunity, you’ll gain industry or functional experience that has immeasurable value – and will ultimately lead to a real paycheck.”

    Click here to read Larry’s Post: How To Overcome the Catch 22 Dilemna

    After reading the post, here are some exercises that will help you overcome the Catch 22 Dilemna

    1. List companies that have good ideas in your industry and need help with executing them

    2. List how much personal time you can invest on helping others achieve their goals

    3. List the skills that you will offer to executives, companies or employers in excange for hands-on experience

    4. Take action by approaching the companies or executives that you listed and offering your time for paid or non-paid work in exchange for hands-on experience


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/01/02/harvard-business-review-how-to-get-a-job-without-experience/feed/ 0     #1 Success Principle: How Lack of Education Affects your Career http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/11/22/how-lack-of-education-affects-your-career/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/11/22/how-lack-of-education-affects-your-career/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:19:30 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2719

    Is Education Affecting My Career?

    Is Education A Problem?

    This series is devoted to those who want to learn the principles required for success in Information Technology (IT) Careers.

    While the IT Industry is a goldmine for those who have learnt to navigate it, it is a maze for others trapped by myths, half-truths, outright lies and misconceptions.

    Not to worry, in this series, I will uncover the myths and presents the principles required for success in every situation.

    Get a Job Regardless of your Educational Qualifications

    So, one principle is this: don’t let your formal education or the lack of it, stop you from pursuing your dream IT career.

    For some, the thought that they have already invested so much time or money in their current career, stops them from pursuing a better, more fulfilling, rewarding career.

    For others, the fact that they don’t have formal educational qualifications makes them conclude that they are unattractive to employers and helpless about their situation.

    Both positions are extreme. They come from a fundamental lack of understanding of the IT job market. Folks that think like that, have no clue that the IT Industry is driven by functional skills and hands-on experience rather than formal educational qualifications!

    Don’t worry about the time or money invested in your current career because it’s a sunk cost.

    And don’t obsess over your lack of formal educational qualifications because that’s not the reason why you can’t get an IT job!

    Remember that while one employer may not hire you for lack of formal educational qualifications, many more employers will hire you for having the right skillsets or hands-on experience!


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/11/22/how-lack-of-education-affects-your-career/feed/ 6     Discover Your Inner Hero http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/10/24/discover-your-inner-hero/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/10/24/discover-your-inner-hero/#comments Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:20:09 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2634

    Become your Hero

    Become your Hero

    Randall Jones, founder of Worth Magazine and author of The Richest Man in Town, says that in regard to Personal Branding, “the most successful, wealthy people had very successfully branded themselves in relation their industry”.

    In an interview by Dan Schwabel, Randall says that all RMITs (Richest Man In Town) have found their “perfect pitch”- the thing that they are most personally gifted at doing and secondarily they have found a way to monetize their perfect pitches“; Click here to read the rest of the interview

    The key is to find, what Jones calls, your “perfect pitch” … what you are best thing at doing in relation to what you love doing.

    An example of those who found what they are good at doing is Hartley Peavey of Peavey electronics who loved music, but lacked the talent to play, so he ‘wired’ himself to create the equipment musicians depend on the most (amplifiers, microphones, etc).

    Another example is that of the famous investor Warren Buffet, who said; “I was wired to allocate capital.”

    The lesson here is: once you’ve found what you love to do and what you’re great at doing, run with it!

    Personal Branding is all about projecting to the world; who you are, what you’re capable of doing, and making sure others within your industry are responsive to your efforts.

    While it is okay to brag about yourself considering you are your Personal Brand, it is far better to be known or recognized by others as a hero in your industry.

    Start evaluating what you’re really good at doing by answering these questions:

    1. What truly motivates or inspires you?

    2. What do you love doing?

    3. What are you good or exceptional at doing?

    4. What do you do efficiently or what do you produce easily?

    5. What do you like to read, research or study on your own time?

    6. What are your hobbies and what do you do with your spare time?

    7. What work will you do if money wasn’t an issue?

    8. What work will you do if you weren’t trying to please anyone in you life?

    9. What do you get paid to do?

    Take a moment to discover the hero in you. Don’t spend your entire life working just to pay bills. Be smart and start taking stock of what you’re really good at doing!

    Consider this: a world of bystanders, villains, and heroes, who would you rather be?

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