How To Jumpstart A Stalled Career!

It has been said that to “keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results is the very definition of insanity.“

On the other hand, “if you want something you have never hard, you must do something you have never done!“

So, if your career is stagnating, step back and take an honest look at your work.

Is your work everything you had hoped for?

If the smell of fresh-brewed coffee is the biggest reward after you walk through the office door each day, it’s time to truly perk up your daily grind and reboot your career.

Broaden Your Horizons

One way to jump-start your career is to volunteer for assignments that are outside of your comfort zone or take on additional roles that are valuable to your organization.

For example, you may take on some project management responsibility if you are in a more technical role, so that you can become a better-rounded candidate.

And as a project manager or a business analyst nothing stops you from getting more technical skills, because this makes you more hands-on than your contemporaries.

Adding more skills, both technical or management, can only help you in the long run.

• Read this post “Do Business Analysts Need Computer Programmer Skills?“.

• Read this post “What Software Skills Do Business Analysts Need?“.

Upgrade your Skills

One of the areas that all professionals need to stay on top of is; “their skill-sets!“

Like it or not, information technology skills are susceptible to losing their value because technology is always changing or evolving.

Read this post … “The Most Important Thing on Your Resume“.

Do What You Love

One of the reasons why your career is stagnating may be that you’re not doing work that you are passionate about. So, you’re bored, and it shows.

But your managers probably don’t realize the problem; and so, instead of working with you to get to the right place, they keep you in the same job, afraid to give new assignments and responsibilities to someone who, quite frankly, doesn’t seem to want to be there.

So the question to you is, “are you doing what you really want to do with your life?” If you find that you’re not, you need to figure out what makes you happy and do it!

Perhaps what you love to do involves working with a new technology, or on another team / company, or taking on a new role / career.

It’s likely that, you’ll need to re-train to learn the required new skills, but you should never let something like that stand in your way.

It may take time and effort to change your career, but it is likely that you will continue to under-perform or be unhappy until you start doing something you love.

Are You In The Right Place?

Studies have shown that, usually, a person’s workplace is not the reason they are not moving up – quite frankly, it usually has more to do with them, rather than the place where they work.

But some organizations are better suited for certain career paths than others.

For example, if you’re a computer programmer, your greatest challenge comes from developing new software applications.

If the work given to you is mostly that of maintaining software systems, you may find yourself getting bore as you repeat the same maintenance tasks over and over again.

Does your company have a technology focus?

That isn’t to say that your company needs to be a technology giant or software development company; because we can’t all work for companies like Microsoft, Google or Apple.

Rather, what you should ask yourself is, “does your company recognize the value of technology or leverage it extensively for the day to day operations of their business?“

Do You Have A Career Path?

Everyone wants to have the opportunity to grow in some way in their work.

Even if you don’t want to move into management, you may want to move into a project management role?

Asking yourself what it is you want to do long-term, and then examining whether or not your company is going to be able to help you get there is something everyone needs to do at some point in their career.

In the end, only you can determine what it is that will jump-start your career.

It might take new skills, or new responsibilities, or even a new job altogether, but there’s not much point in delaying the inevitable.

Other challenges may be phrased with questions like “how can I promote myself”, “what should I do in life”, “what career I should choose” because professionals frequently rethink or regret their choices in these areas.

Here are some of the tips for overcoming regrets and getting more control over your career.

BOOST YOUR CONFIDENCE

If you have lost your confidence, you can take it back. Irrespective of your profession, you can regain your confidence any time.

Change your statements from “I can’t do it to I can do it or I can at least try“.

Change your statements from “I did wrong to I did better than before and I’ll do better again“

Change your statements from “Will this idea work? to No idea is bad“

You should replace your pessimistic thinking or talking with a more optimistic apprach or conversation.

Think of yourself as a professional in your department and your confidence will start growing.

THINK MORE ABOUT YOUR CAREER OPTIONS

Working at different jobs or roles will help you build a better understanding of your skills, experience or the opportunities out there.

Search for new opportunities and don’t restrict yourself to just one conventional or traditional career. Keep your options open and you’ll succeed at work.

Read this post … “Is Tunnel Vision Killing My Career?“.

Consider working as a volunteer to get different experiences as this will eventually help you decide the best career for yourself.

WORK ON YOURSELF CONSTANTLY

One of the best ways to boost your confidence is by updating your resume each time you complete a project.

The next thing is stay up-to-date with changes in your industry using the internet, journals, electronic papers, online classes etc.

If you are preparing for a job interview, first have an interview session with your self; answering questions like “why do I want this job“, or “why am I qualified to do this job“, etc.

Your answers should reflect a strong self confidence, positive mental attitude and personal competence.

Try to practice quick answers; lasting for not more than couple of minutes.

Talk with yourself in front of the mirror and give these answers.

This will surely help you in your interview and it will eventually increase your confidence as well.

PROMOTE YOURSELF

The only way to be successful in a competitive job market is to market yourself constantly.

People with strong marketing skills get the best jobs even when they are less qualified than others.

One way to market yourself is to make a personal, nice looking, business card which you can distribute.

Also, consider using a blog to showcase your skills and expertise.

Finally, join a local networking group that will help you meet people.

GET YOUR FAMILY TO SUPPORT

Many professionals faces obligations and responsibilities related with their family, culture, religion.

But they often find it difficult to spare more time for either their professional or family obligations.

If you are thinking of putting in the extra work that it takes to reboot your career, you should discuss it with your spouse or children in advance, to avoid creating a lot of stress.

Consider asking your spouse for support, because the extra work you may need to invest in your career, may place a burden on your family.

The sooner you can take an honest look at your career, make an objective assessment of your skills and prospects and make the necessary adjustments, the sooner you will begin to experience a more satisfying career.

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Write Better Requirements

Why Do We Need Better Requirements?

The following article is a frank, open and surprising discourse on why we need better requirements.

According to Standish or Gartner reports and other case studies, nearly “two-thirds of all IT projects fail” because of poor requirements and other causes.

Why Do Projects Fail?

Consider that a project fails when it overruns the budgeted allocation of resources, time or money or fails to deliver the intended business requirements or value.

Some teams are so deep into this, that throwing more money, people or extending the shipping date is their default solution to scope creep, budget overruns or project failure!

But project failure doesn’t have to become the norm for you.

With this in mind, the following post on “Why We Need Better Requirements” is designed to help business analysts, project managers, web managers or technical leads make a case for preventing project failure by gathering better business requirements.

1. The True Cost of Fixing Bad Mistakes

   Gathering better requirements helps avoid fixing issues further down in the project when mistakes are guaranteed to be more expensive.

   Consider a product feature that is not developed to the customer’s specifications because of incomplete requirements documentation.

   The incomplete requirement is left to an open or wide interpretation from each member of the development team.

   Depending on when the improperly coded requirements are discovered; (development, software testing or production), the cost of fixing these defects is guaranteed to be much higher than the cost of gathering, validating or documenting the complete or correct requirements at the project’s inception!

2. The Opportunity Cost of Missing Requirements

   Discovering requirements late results in delays to the project or in shipping products that don’t meet or fall below the customer’s expectations!

   This results in missed market opportunities, unhappy customers or an improper allocation of resources, time or money.

   Why because, it costs more money to retool your product at later stages of the product development cycle than at inception.

   And regardless of what you do, you will be late to market or reduce your customers positive experiences of your product.

3. The Cost of Working Incorrect Requirements

   Perhaps, you’ve worked on a project where requirements are dispensed as favors because the Requirements Analyst lacks the authority or training to validate requirements properly.

   This is the practice where requirements are imposed on the project team without meeting the business case or scope.

   The cost of such a practice is that the project resources (people, money, time, infrastructure) are high-jacked to satisfy a few egos to the detriment of the organization’s strategic objectives, goals, missions or success!

Making The Case For Good Business Requirements

Note that when it comes to executing projects successfully you will always have the constraints of time, money or resources (people).

And regardless of who you work for, your project cannot be handled as if your organization has an infinite supply of these inputs.

So gathering incorrect, poor or wrong requirements will result in the improper allocation of resources and at the same time increase the risk of project failure.

Armed with this, don’t be a doormat, make a proper case to your management, stakeholders or project advisory team on the need or strategic importance of gathering better business requirements.

Action Plan: How To Gather Better Requirements

I’ve shown you why gathering better requirements matters and explained how you can make a case for sound requirement management practices at your organization.

Here is how you can help your organization adopt a better requirements management practice.

• Empower your Requirements Analyst

  Hire a capable requirements analyst for your project and then empower the resource to do their job.

  Adding a Requirements or Business Analyst to your team without empowering the resource is a practice in self-deception at best.

  So don’t start down that part, if your organization is not ready to rally behind their Requirements Lead.

• Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way!

  Your Requirements or Business Analyst is there to help your project or organization succeed, so don’t make that resource into the enemy!

  Educate your stakeholders, management team or customers on the benefits of following a sound, documented requirements management plan.

  Find a champion who can lead that effort … then follow your chosen leader or get out of the way!

  The Requirements analyst’s job is not to dispense requirements as favors but to be a custodian of the organization or customer’s strategic vision, aspirations or expectations.

By understanding, communicating, leading or championing better requirements practices, you reduce the risk of project failure and help your organization achieve a better Return On Investment (ROI).

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Competing on Analytics

Microsoft NET Developers are well compensated IT professionals because the workplace demand for skilled Microsoft.NET programmers outstrips the supply.

On the other hand, being a Microsoft .NET programmer can be tough because of the constant pressure to keep up with new technology!

So, this post addresses the challenges facing a Microsoft .NET Developer moving to Business Intelligence (BI) / Data Warehousing (DW):

Considering a Career Move from .NET Development to Business Intelligence (BI)?

I am currently working as a .net Developer (for the last 4 years mostly on contracting jobs).

The biggest problem I am facing is not being able to keep up with new .net components coming out everyday.

On my last project I developed in .net 2.0. Now for new positions, everyone is asking for .NET 3.5 (while 4.0 is looming on ahead).

I have a friend who is working as a Business Objects Consultant, and I am thinking of switching toward Datawarehousing / BI.

Would that be a good career move from my side. I think they get paid more and also do not need to keep reading like crazy.

However I am not sure of how will be the future of Business Objects and is there any chance beyond a report developer.

Hopefully, when the economy is better, I will be able to get a fulltime job and settled in one place.

The Career Outlook for Business Intelligence (BI) / Data Warehousing (DW)

1. High Demand: The demand for Microsoft .NET Programmers is driven by Microsoft’s sheer marketing muscle and corporations customizing various Microsoft software products (like SharePoint and Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Office) for Collaboration, Marketing and Sales. etc.

2. Steep Learning Curve: Microsoft .NET development has a steep learning curve, so you are not alone in feeling overwhelmed.

   .NET programmers have to keep up with multiple versions including .NET 1.0, .NET 1.1, .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5, .NET 4.0 in the works … and perhaps another sequel to .NET 4.0 in some secret Microsoft lab!

   As a Microsoft .NET programmer, you are also expected to keep up with multiple related technologies including HTML, XHTML, CSS, SQL SERVER, JAVASCRIPT, XML and more!

So, what is one to do? On one hand, you have a well compensated .NET programming career and on the other hand, you feel enslaved to the technology because you always have to be learning!

Considering all these, making a career change from Microsoft .NET Development to Business Intelligence / Data Warehousing may be in your long-term interests.

So, the question is, what are the career prospects or job outlook for business intelligence and data warehousing professionals like?

1. Competing on Data: Organizations facing increasing marketplace pressures are turning to business intelligence (BI) projects for solutions.

   Better data and better analytics are needed for faster, more-informed decision making and that is where business intelligence and data warehousing professionals step in to help!

2. Job Outlook for Business Intelligence (BI) and Data Warehousing Professionals: Leading industry analysts including Gartner and Forrester Research rank Business Intelligence (BI) and Data Warehousing (DW) as top technology priorities for Chief Information Officers (CIOs).

3. In plain words, there is gold in business intelligence and data warehousing careers and you can tap into it!

4. How to become a Business Intelligence (BI) or Data Warehousing (DW) professional: Changing careers from Microsoft .NET Development to Business Intelligence shouldn’t be too hard for you.

   Data Warehousing is built on the backbone of strong relational database design, database development and SQL skills and Business Intelligence integrates analytics, database technology and yes, some Microsoft .NET programming.

5. Leverage existing skills; If you decide on a Microsoft BI / DW Career Path, you can still build customized BI and DW projects using your familiar Microsoft .NET Programming and SQL Server Database Development skills and if you go with other vendors, you can learn their particular Business Intelligence (BI) programming / scripting tools and their database technology, too!

The good news for you, is that you can leverage or reuse your Microsoft .NET Programming background and your SQL Server database development skills in the BI / DW Market.

I recommend that you stop looking at business intelligence (BI) and data warehousing (DW) as a reporting job because it is more than that … get a copy of the book titled Competing on Analytics, ok?

Competing on Analytics

This post answers a challenge facing a .NET Developer changing careers to business intelligence and data warehousing.

If you have a question or a challenge facing your career, post it as a comment on this page and I will answer it for you!

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Have you noticed the increasing demand for business analysts with stronger software skills or a wider range of skill sets?

Because this is a top hiring trend, business analysts have expressed concern about the range of skillsets requested for on job postings.

Some of these strong concerns are often worded as:

• What software skills do business analysts need?

• Should business analysts be made to learn computer programming?

• Which software programs are required for business analysis jobs?

Along the same lines, one of the concerns expressed is; should business analysts have in depth knowledge of SQL, Access, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and Reporting writing software?

This article provides the needed guidance for the questions bordering on “what software skills are required for business analyst jobs“.

And while you are reading this, you may also want to read this article on why IT Managers are looking for business analysts with a wider range of skill sets.

Are Software Skills Required For Business Analysis Jobs?

The answer to the question: are software skills required for business analyst jobs … is yes and no.

Some companies hire only for the core business analyst competencies, while others include a wider range of software skills in their job description.

The core business analyst skill sets does not include knowledge of specific software skills. However, in the current job market, IT Managers are cutting costs by hiring business analysts with a broader range of software skills.,/p>

Traditionally, business analysts have had to learn the specific software used by a business after they get hired. Now, IT Managers are changing track by making some of these software skills required for hiring!

Which Software Skills Are Required For Business Analyst Jobs?

I will divide the software skills needed for business analyst jobs into three groups.

The first (A) group refers to the software skills required for ALL business analyst jobs.

The second (B) group includes the software skills that are a nice to have or frequently asked for.

The third (C) group represents the software skills that are not usually required.

1. Software Skills Required For ALL Business Analyst Jobs (A List):

   These include office productivity software tools like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint and Outlook.

   These software tools are frequently used in the day to day tasks of a Business Analyst.

   These software tools are also required for a business analyst position whether they are stated clearly on the job description or not.

2. Nice To Have Software Skills For Business Analyst Jobs (B List):

   The nice to have software skills include Relational Database Skills, SQL skills, Data Analysis skills and Report Writing skills.

   Next to office productivity software skills, database software skills are in-demand for business analyst positions.

   Organizations looking to cut costs or reduce It staff may combine the business analyst job role with the data analyst job role or report writer as the IT Manager or Director sees fit! When this happens the IT department will post business analyst job descriptions listing software packages traditionally required for data analyst or report writer type jobs.

3. Highly Specialized Software Skills Needed For Business Analyst Jobs (C List):

   IT Managers are also hiring business analysts with the specific skills needed for custom or specialized software packages!

   The list of software skills in this list is infinite as it depends on the personal decision or needs of the hiring manager.

   An example is the IT director who wants to hire business analysts with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software skills or computer programming skills!

   Now, it is impractical to worry about or focus on this list when preparing for the business analyst job market because the expectations and needs are diverse, wide and unpredictable.

   If you are a business analyst with a specialized software skill wanted by a hiring manager, you should highlight that in your resume. If you don’t already have a specialized software skill, you are better of working on the business analysis skills in the nice to have software skills (B List)!

Should IT Managers Hire Business Analysts with Highly Specialized Software Skills?

Since only office productivity software skills are required for all business analyst jobs, why do IT Managers then include specialized software skills in business analyst job descriptions?

1. IT Managers are looking to cut costs by combining the job descriptions for business analysts, data analysts, software developers and report writers.

   With this in mind, business analysts need to be flexible in their approach to the job market.

2. IT Managers and staffing specialists may write up business analyst job descriptions based on an imperfect knowledge of the core business analyst roles and responsibilities.

   If your boss writes up an imperfect business analyst job description based on misconceptions, about the roles and responsibilities of business analysts, you may providing some guidance by sending your IT Manager or Director the business analyst professional development curriculum downloadable here.

Who Are The Business Analysts With A Broad Range Of Software Skills?

Some business analysts really want to stay out of computer programming or data analysis or report writing or learning specialized software programs.

If a business analyst with that mindset is hired for a role that requires learning or working with a broad range of software skill sets, that business analyst will under-perform.

If you are an employer hiring for business analysts with software skills, you may want to first hire for business analysts with SQL or Relational Databases or Data Analysis skills and then train the new business analyst hire on the list of highly specialized software skills needed by your company.

More Information On How To Improve Business Analysis Skills

The Business Analyst Boot Camp training is a practical, job-focused, web-based, instructor-led, video-based training program for business analysts.

The Business Analyst Boot Camp training is a complete, end to end training program that covers both beginner and advanced business analysis courses including requirements analysis training, UML training, Use Case training.

The Business Analyst training program is designed for the practicing Business Analyst who wants to learn or master business analysis skills for the day-to-day job requirements.

The Business Analyst training program has an in-built diagnostics, testing and certification process and an online reporting tool that features your grades or scores as you (the Business Analyst) work your way through practical business analysis activities or watch the various business analyst training videos.

The Business Analyst training provides real savings and return on investment (ROI) for individuals or corporations looking to manage business analyst training costs.

The cost of business analyst training is easily $5,000 or more for a series of business analysis courses that only covers one core skill or business analyst competency (e.g. UML Training).

Therefore, an IT Manager or business analyst looking for business analyst training that covers all the core business analysis competencies will have to invest in excess of ten thousand dollars.

That is why, we are only guaranteeing the current price of the Business Analyst Boot Camp for a limited time!

Right now, you can get the complete, end to end, beginner to advanced training across all business analyst competences in the Business Analyst Boot Camp for a discounted price.

We also have a discount program for corporations sending 2 or more business analysts for training. Click here to learn more.

For a limited-time, we are running a special for Business Analysts who want to broaden their skill sets or learn more software skills. For example, with the current special, you can register for both the Business Analyst Boot Camp and SQL Boot Camp for close to the price of one (2-for-1 special). A number of people like yourself are now taking advantage of this offer so, click here to get more information

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Business Analyst Boot Camp Training Curriculum

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS ANALYSIS COURSE

1. INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS ANALYSIS

REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING COURSE

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

CREATING THE BUSINESS CASE COURSE

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

RISK ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION COURSE

1. RISK ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION STRATEGY

ELICITING REQUIREMENTS COURSE

1. STAKEHOLDERS & REQUIREMENTS SOURCES
2. ELICITATION TECHNIQUES

ANALYZING REQUIREMENTS 1 COURSE

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

ANALYZING REQUIREMENTS 2 COURSE

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

SPECIFYING & DOCUMENTING REQUIREMENTS COURSE

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

VALIDATING REQUIREMENTS COURSE

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

MANAGING REQUIREMENTS COURSE

1. CHANGE CONTROL
2. ATTRIBUTES & TRACING

MODELING WITH UML 2.0 COURSE

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

INTRODUCTION TO OBJECT-ORIENTED CONCEPTS COURSE

1. OBJECT-ORIENTED CONCEPTS

Click here to request the detailed business analyst training curriculum

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Secret To Staying Employed Even In A Recession

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

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

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

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

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In every information technology discipline, there are people who outperform
others.

You probably know some of them; computer programmers who write better
code, faster than their colleagues or data analysts who can research and
identify trends in data faster, easier and better than their colleagues or
business analysts who are ten times as productive as their colleagues!

I have been studying top performers ever since I left high school and I am
now starting a free online study group on top performers with the goal of
identifying:

i. who are top performers?
ii. how do you become a top performer?

If you interested in this topic, read on: Top performers in every
industry can out-perform their colleagues by as much as a factor of
ten-to-one and so they are recognizable by their productivity.

Top performers are experts, smart, focused, passionate,
energetic and talented people.

Top performers are found in every profession including software testing,
business analysis, software development, IT management, recruiting, web design,
internet marketing, etc.

Studying Top Performers

1. Do you know someone who is a top performer at work? Please post a comment
saying why you think the person is a top performer.

2. Do you have any criteria for choosing or selecting top performers? Please
post a comment saying what your criteria for nominating or selecting someone as
a top performer is.

3. Do you have any idea on "how to become a top performer"? Please post a
comment here saying how ordinary people can grow their skills and become top
performers in their industry.

4. Do you have managers at work who will be interested in discussing why they
consider one employee or the other top performers, please contact me with their
name and email address and I will email them a brief questionnaire on the "top
performers" on their team.

I am starting a study group on top performers and I would like your
participation in the discussions on the topic. All you have to do is post a
comment, question, feedback or nominate someone you know as a top performer and
tell us why you choose the person.

Thanks,

Kingsley Tagbo, IT Career Coach – http://www.it-career-coach.net

About The Author

My name is Kingsley Tagbo and I?m a technical expert living in Saint Louis,
Missouri. I write about the training, coaching, mentoring
and personal development of software development professionals including
business analysts, computer programmers, testers, project managers, web
designers, data analysts, report writers, software developers and other
information technology professionals .

My firm, Exacticity, performs software development consulting and training for
clients throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New
Zealand. If you are in need of software development consultants or training,
target="_blank"
title="contact the author">click here to get in touch with me.

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ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES

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• Data Analysts Boot Camp - Online, Web Based, Instructor Led, Hands On, Data Analyst Video Training


• Get Hired Fast - Online, Web Based, Resume + Job Search + Interview Video Training


• Become A Leader Coaching - Develop hands-on experience, gain domain expertise, solve industry problems, Stand Up and Be Noticed, market your career using PULL instead of PUSH techniques!

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One of the questions submitted by a reader to the

target="_blank" title="it career questions and answers">Myths Debunked
Burning IT Career Questions Answered post deals with "how to get your
employer to pay for your computer programming courses" and I want to answer
that question in detail on this post.

Let me start by asking you "have you ever thought of asking your employer or
manager to pay for your professional training at

title="the software developer boot camp">the software developer boot
camp?"

Yes, you can ask your employer to pay for any of our online training courses.
After you complete your training, you can present your certificate of
completion or transcript to your human resources (HR) department or
your IT manager and get reimbursed depending on your employer's benefit program.
To get started now all you have to do is ask your employer if you can get
reimbursed for job related training.

Why Would Your Employer Pay For Your Training?

Here is why your employer may want to pay for your computer programming
training. Your employer or manager would pay for your technical training or
reimburse you for it, if you can make a good case for it. I will help develop
the case for you and you can adapt it as you want and present it to your
employer for feedback.

1. Job Related Training

If you are an IT professional, the technical training we provide to you
is job related and your IT manager or HR department would classify it as a job
related training.

The target="_blank"
title="online computer programming classes">software developer boot camp
is a professional level software developer training class covering the
programming language skills a professional software developer needs. Since your
IT manager has a training budget which needs to be spent before your 2008
training year is over, now is a really good time to have the discussion on "what
you want to be trained on and how much your training will cost your company".

2. Professional Career Advancement

After you complete the software developer boot camp training, you get a
professional software developer certificate which your IT manager will love
to stick in your file as proof that his or her employees are moving ahead with
their career.

You may not realize it, but, you actually make your IT manager or IT director
look good by taking professional software development courses. It proves that
your manager is hiring and working with capable, talented, motivated employees
and guess what, your professional software developer training also improves your
chances of getting a promotion or salary raise.

3. Scarcity Of Software Development Talent

The competition for software developers is high right now. It is by far easier
for your employer to either pay for your software development training or
reimburse you after you complete your training than to hire more software
development resources.

The cost of attending the professional software developers boot camp is
peanuts in comparing to the cost that would be incurred by your IT director, IT
manager or HR department by looking for or hiring additional software
development resources which can be as much as $150,000/yr. per additional
programmer. In other words, you are saving your company a lot of money
by attending the software developer boot camp and the programming class is a
win-win for both you and your manager.

So now you know why your employer may want to pay for your software
development training at the
target="_blank"
title="online computer programming classes">software developer boot camp,
I hope you act on this information and not just sit on it!

If you have a question you want answered on the software developers boot camp,
business analyst boot camp or any of the professional IT career training
programs on this website, submit it to: href="http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/02/21/myths-debunked-burning-it-career-questions-answered/"

target="_blank" title="it career questions and answers"> Myths Debunked
Burning IT Career Questions Answered post.

About The Author

My name is Kingsley Tagbo and I?m a technical expert living in Saint Louis,
Missouri. I write about the training, coaching, mentoring
and personal development of software development professionals including
business analysts, computer programmers, testers, project managers, web
designers, data analysts, report writers, software developers and other
information technology professionals .

My firm, Exacticity, performs software development consulting and training for
clients throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New
Zealand. If you are in need of software development consultants or training,
target="_blank"
title="contact the author">click here to get in touch with me.

What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

Visit the Shopping Cart, Click Here

ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES

• Business Analyst Boot Camp - Online, Web Based, Instructor Led, Business Analyst Video Training


• SQL Boot Camp - Online, Web Based, Instructor Led, Hands On, SQL + RDBMS Video Training


• Software Developer Boot Camp - Online, Web Based, Instructor Led, Software Developer Video Training


• Data Analysts Boot Camp - Online, Web Based, Instructor Led, Hands On, Data Analyst Video Training


• Get Hired Fast - Online, Web Based, Resume + Job Search + Interview Video Training


• Become A Leader Coaching - Develop hands-on experience, gain domain expertise, solve industry problems, Stand Up and Be Noticed, market your career using PULL instead of PUSH techniques!

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There is a high demand by IT managers for good, competent and skilled software
developers right now.A good number of software development job postings for
leading or cutting edge software development skills are taking longer and longer
to fill.

1. The demand for experienced, skilled software developers in Java, C# .NET,
Visual Basic .NET, SQL Server, SharePoint and ASP.NET exceeds the supply of
available, skilled and competent computer programmers.

2. Software job postings are taking longer to fill. In some cases, they are not
getting filled at all. I have seen IT directors, IT managers and hiring managers
post "job wanted" advertisements for .NET programmers or C# programmers that
take months to fill.

3. When IT directors, IT managers or hiring managers use recruiting firms, they
have to pay a premium to find competent computer programmers. IT staffing
agencies bill $70/hr. or more for finding and placing skilled temporary
Java, C#, ASP.NET and SQL Server computer programmers. Employers sometimes have
to pay as much as a hefty 20% placement fee to convert skilled temporary
software developers into a permanent employees.

Here a few tips that can help you with finding or hiring good, competent or
expert software developers.

How to find and hire competent software developers

1. Telecommuting:

Offer your software developers the option to telecommute as a perk.

I am amazed at how in 2008, not enough IT managers are offering telecommuting as
a benefit. Offering partial or full telecommuting will allow you to attract more
highly skilled and competent software developers because it is getting harder to
compete for and win software developers based on offering better salaries, 401K
or medical benefits. But you can more easily attract the attention of software
developers by offering telecommuting as a benefit.

2. Software Development Tools:

Invest in enterprise software development tools to attract and keep the right
software development talent. If you are an IT manager, project manager, IT
director, hiring manager, software development manager or you have the authority
to hire and manage software developers, make sure that you have a budget for
software development tools such as testing tools, requirement management tools,
database development tools, web development tools, source code management and
versioning tools and software build management tools.

If you don't or you skip buying the professional tools your software developers
need, you may find it more difficult to hire, attract or retain good software
development talent. Good, experienced or competent software developers expect to
use these software development tools for their day-to-day tasks and rank
employers who provide them with professional software development tools higher
than employers who don't.

3. Train your programmers:

Invest in the training of your computer programmers and other information
technology workers who are interested in learning computer programming.

Don't lose sight of the fact that computer programming is a skill that can be
learned just like any other skill. With the shortage of skilled, competent and
experienced computer programmers, you need to explore training employees who are
interested in learning programming knowing that you can get the return on your
investment (ROI) within a year.

Training has the effect of raising employee morale because it demonstrates that
you care and believe in the employee. It also provides you with a means of
standing out in the industry as an employer who invests in their employees.
Training your existing computer programmers also signals to senior, experienced
and competent software developers that you are the kind of employer who looks
after the career of your software developers.

These tips will make it is easier, less expensive and faster for you to find,
hire or retain good software developers. If you need assistance with
implementing any of these tips,
target="_blank"
title="contact the author">click here to get in touch with me.

About The Author

My name is Kingsley Tagbo and I’m a technical expert living in Saint Louis,
Missouri. I write about the training, coaching, mentoring
and personal development of software development professionals including
business analysts, computer programmers, testers, project managers, web
designers, data analysts, report writers, software developers and other
information technology professionals .

My firm, Exacticity, performs software development consulting and training for
clients throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and
New Zealand. If you are in need of software development consultants or training,
target="_blank"
title="contact the author">click here to get in touch with me.

What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

Visit the Shopping Cart, Click Here

ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES

• Business Analyst Boot Camp - Online, Web Based, Instructor Led, Business Analyst Video Training


• SQL Boot Camp - Online, Web Based, Instructor Led, Hands On, SQL + RDBMS Video Training


• Software Developer Boot Camp - Online, Web Based, Instructor Led, Software Developer Video Training


• Data Analysts Boot Camp - Online, Web Based, Instructor Led, Hands On, Data Analyst Video Training


• Get Hired Fast - Online, Web Based, Resume + Job Search + Interview Video Training


• Become A Leader Coaching - Develop hands-on experience, gain domain expertise, solve industry problems, Stand Up and Be Noticed, market your career using PULL instead of PUSH techniques!

Visit our Shopping Cart