ITCareerCoach Training - Coaching » coaching 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 Live Up To Your Potential in 3 Steps http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/03/20/live-up-to-your-potential-in-3-steps/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/03/20/live-up-to-your-potential-in-3-steps/#comments Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:28:39 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=3144

Live Up To Your Potential

Live Up To Your Potential

This question was submitted by a very young, exceptionally gifted and talented top performer who wants to know how he can live up to his potential.

Hello,

I am very young (23) and was radically accelerated through college \ graduate school.

By next year, I will have a BA (Math \ Religion), MBA (Management Consultancy), MSc (Business IT), PhD (Computing & Mathematics), and PhD (ABD), in IT from leading universities, as well as 9+ years IT experience, with 5+ years BA experience with stellar recommendations.

I do not want a career in university teaching or research … could you suggest a few viable directions to move my career forward in IT business analysis?

I feel “painted into a corner” and now am not certain which way to go at this point, as a Senior Analyst.

Just a few alternatives would be helpful.

Best regards and thank you.

How To Fulfill Your Potential

The first of the three most important challenges facing talented people is that of identifying their passion.

This is a big challenge because talented folks can do almost anything and succeed at it.

Another challenge facing talented folks is not doing what they love and / or following the money trail!

Because talented people can easily get high-paying jobs and get paid a lot more than their colleagues, they can be easily derailed from their true objectives.

Following the money trail is bad because it eventually leads to mediocrity.

Regardless of how talented one is, it is not possible to achieve your deepest potential if you do not identify your passion and do what you love.

The final challenge that talented people face is not taking their passion to market.

They pick vocations where they are unable to serve their community or their world because of money concerns or because of poor career recommendations.

Discover Your Passion

The first and most important thing that you have to do: “is to discover your passion“.

Your passion is something that you are deeply interested in doing because you love it, you have strengths in it, you enjoy thinking, dreaming or even speaking about it.

Your passion is not necessarily what promises you job security or what promises you lots of money.

Money and Job Security are used as the primary basis of making career recommendations and yet, they don’t truly matter because … guess what?

If you do what you truly love, the money will surely follow!

Discovering your passion is an exercise of the heart and not of the head.

You must be able to dream or envision your passion in your heart first and then use your head to figure out what to do.

Good folks get this heart and head mixed up all the time! Your heart is your instinctive, sensing personality and your head is your rational, logical person.

Do What You Love

The second thing that you must do on the path to self actualization is to: “Do What You Love”.

Doing what you love means working very hard at something that you love.

But it also means more than that … it means training yourself the way that world-class athletes do!

Though you can do several things exceptionally very well, you should concentrate on a few disciplines and hone your abilities in those alone.

You want to become so good in your chosen field, that your work in those areas will stand out in comparison to that of any others in your chosen field.

Think about this for a moment: world-class athletes have to invest considerable amounts of time into just training and honing their skills.

They understand that even through they may be exceptionally gifted, they cannot win unless they are much better than the competition or other equally gifted and talented folks.

And also get this … no world class athlete depends on their exceptional talents or giftedness alone!

Instead they put themselves through the most rigorous, skill-advancing training that they can find so that they can live up to their potential.

The issue is not really whether you are gifted. The true issue at stake is whether you will live up to your potential? I will advise that you read these two books:

  1. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
  2. Talent Code by Daniel Coyle

Amongst other things, these two books point out that to become a world class player, you will have to invest a solid amount of time into just doing nothing else but honing your skills and abilities!

Take Your Passion To the Market

Starting a blog and getting on Social Media is the starting point for taking your passion to market.

The next thing that you have to do with your passion or the work that you love is: “Subscribe to the Publish or Perish” mantra which you are already used to coming from academia.

The main purpose of your blog is to create a market for your passion or connect your passion with an existing market on the internet.

Your market is the readers or subscribers of your blog and what you must do is: help them, talk to them, connect with them using your blog as your premier publishing or speaking platform.

Without sharing your passion with other people who love the topics that you care about, your passion dies with you … which is the definition of being boxed in!

Not having a blog means that you are not others learn or grow. It also means your own growth is incomplete because you are closed off from the feedback of your industry … and no one can develop your passion in isolation

Starting a blog does not mean that you must offer a service or sell a product.

Starting a blog does means that you have decided to make your world a better place by serving humanity with your gifts and talents.

The lesson here is that being wired or connected to others using blogging and social media is now considered essential for success!

One person that comes to mind in that regards is Jacob Nielsen, the world’s numero uno usability expert!

For several years, he has been conducting researches on usability and publishing his findings online.

From those findings, he has written books and he conducts training seminars around the globe.

You can see that Jacob is deeply passionate and extremely knowledgeable in his field and that he publishes more than most people in his field.

Do these 3 things (discover your passion, do what you love, take your passion to market) and you will succeed.

Jonathan, when you break into stardom, don’t stop telling people how I helped you, ok :-)

P.S. I am sending you my new ebook titled “Discover Your Passion, Do What You Love, Take Your Passion To Market“.

Best Wishes and Lots of Success in your Career

This question was published using [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.

If you have a question about your career that you will like me to answer for you, go ahead and submit it using the [Ask IT Career Coach] Career Advice Service.


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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/03/20/live-up-to-your-potential-in-3-steps/feed/ 0 6 Principles That Transform Your Work http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/03/04/6-principles-that-transform-your-work/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/03/04/6-principles-that-transform-your-work/#comments Fri, 04 Mar 2011 07:01:42 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=3132

six principles that transform your career

six principles that transform your work

Are you looking for a transformation in your work situation? Follow these 6 rock solid success principles that summarize what I have learned about building careers or online communities!

Whatever your industry, background or situation, these six principles will help you “Discover Your Passion“, “Do What You Love” or “Take Your Passion To Market“.

The first two (2) principles are designed to help you choose work that matches your strengths, education, training, background, skills, experience, hobbies or interests.

Principle #1 – Choose Work Based On Passion

Work is much easier or more fulfilling when you do something that you are passionate about as opposed to something that stresses you!

On the other hand, when you are not passionate about your work, you will lack the desire to excel or motivation to perform at work!

Some people don’t believe in the “Do What You Love And The Money Will Follow” principle because the picture that comes to their mind is that of starving artists who do what they love and yet cannot pay their bills.

The good news is that you don’t have to be a starving artist because you can actually do what you love and have the money follow you :-)

The first step on this path to success, is choosing work that is at the intersection of something you’re good at, something you care about and something other people in your chosen industry, niche or market need, find useful and are willing to pay for.

Read this article titled: “How The Starving Artist Achieves Career Success Using Social Media“.

Principle #2 – Learn the Most Marketable Skills

Learn the most marketable skills for the work that you have chosen to do.

Your skills are just a means to an end which usually involves meeting the needs of customers in the industry or market.

When it comes to choosing skills that you will learn, be as objective as possible and choose based on facts or data as opposed to emotions or personal opinions.

Remember that the more marketable your skills are, the easier it will be for you to find a new job, earn an income or stay employed.

Read this post titled: learn the most marketable skills

It is easy to learn the marketability of a skill, just count the number of job postings that require that skill!

For your own personal education, after reading this post, “Download the Free Report” below which describes the Top 100, Most Marketable Skills in the Online Employment Industry.

The next two principles described on this post belong to a coaching course titled: “Do What You Love“.

These two principles will take your performance to an advanced level or give you the freedom to do what you love without fear of failure.

Principle #3 – Stay Current In Your Industry

Stay current with the information coming out of your industry by reading a lot of blog posts, articles or books.

Do not neglect to read professional textbooks because the fundamental principles, concepts and techniques are often explained in great details in them.

Subscribe to and read the blog post of the most influential professionals in your industry. Nowadays, the latest, cutting-edge information is often posted in blogs before it makes its way out to industry textbooks.

Invest time and money in learning because ours is a knowledge-based economy and the most valuable currency is your knowledge, skills or experience and not the money saved in your bank account.

In other words, the more you learn and put to work, the more money you will earn … and the less you learn, the more likely you are to lose your income!

Principle #4 – Advance Your Skills By Taking Tests

Study hard but better still, take frequent tests because they improve retention, comprehension and recall and also help you excel at work by sharpening your skills!

Read more about the Benefits of Taking Tests in this post titled: How To Ace Job Interviews Using Practice Tests.

It is important that you become highly skilled because when the economy sheds jobs, the easiest jobs to cut are those employing the least skilled workers and the most likely to get hired again, are the most skilled workers!

In other words, the only safety net for your job is to become highly skilled at your work, career or business!

Remember that you live in a global economy where a job can be outsourced to a professional living in another country simply because that professional is better skilled than you.

An article by Pam Belluck of the New York Times reports a new scientific finding in the “January 2011 Science Journal” which backs up my findings about the importance of taking frequent practice tests.

Click here to read the article titled: “To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test”.

This scientific finding suggests that taking tests is good not only for certification exams or assessing knowledge but for helping people learn new information as well!

The conclusion is that students who read and take a test asking them to recall what they just read perform better than those who use traditional learning techniques!

The next two principles described on this post belong to a online coaching course or web design & web marketing consulting services titled: “Bring Your Passion To Market“.

These last two success principles are important because without marketing your ideas, skills or business, someone else who is less qualified but more visible will take the opportunities meant for you!

Principle #5 – Blog Your Way To Success

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket by depending solely on your resume and online job postings. Learn to market your career with a blog.

Blogging is the process of putting out well-researched, informative or authoritative articles on your industry. When done right, it will keep you visible to a high number of employers.

Blogging can distinguish you in a global, competitive job market by helping you develop and market a unique personal brand, which is something that employers apparently value!

The value of blogging is that it can open the communication doors between you and potential employers or customers.

As you talk or write, yo differentiate yourself from your competitors and potential customers or employers begin to value your expertise.

Principle #6 – Invest In An Online Community

Invest time, effort and money in an online community that incorporates your strengths, your blog posts and your social media networking activities.

Your online community must be built around your passion and your strengths so that members feel energized, inspired, motivated or helped when they interact with you.

If you passionately help out your community members by giving your time and expertise, they will reciprocate the favor by referring customers, employers or new opportunities your way.

Building an online community can only be described as the best publicity or customer relationship management (CRM) tool and in the end all the good work that you do will benefit your reputation, online brand, business or career as well.

Bring Your Passion To Market: regardless of how good your skills are, you must stay visible to employers or potential customers, if you want to get hired.

These six (6) principles are documented in my FREE thirty six (36) page Report titled: “The Survivors Guide To Unemployment” which you can download below.

Click here to discover your passion: or find work that is at the intersection of something you’re good at, something you care about and something other people in your chosen industry, niche or market need, find useful and are willing to pay for.

Or hire our web design & web marketing consulting services: to help you bring your passion (ideas, products, services, skills or business) to market.


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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/03/04/6-principles-that-transform-your-work/feed/ 0 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 How to Prepare for the Real World When College Doesn’t Help! http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/08/22/how-to-prepare-real-world-without-college/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/08/22/how-to-prepare-real-world-without-college/#comments Sun, 22 Aug 2010 06:22:46 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2981

Prepare for Life after College

Prepare for Life after College


How do you prove that you have learned or mastered business analysis or computer programming or project management or any other Information technology career?

Do you demonstrate your competency with a college degree or by gaining hands-on experience or acquiring a certification?

In some professions like medicine or law, there is a rigorous licensing, certification and training process without which you cannot practice practice the profession or get a job.

But in Information Technology (IT), you can become a software tester, business analyst, computer programmer, IT Manager or project manager without any supporting certification, college/post-graduate degree or license.

However, unlike so many other professions, you cannot get a job or succeed in an information technology career without a fair amount of hands-on experience or professional expertise.

As a matter of fact, the IT Industry is notorious for being performance or results driven. This explains why many managers fail to attach extra weight to educational qualifications and the like.

When was the last time your firm hired a web designer based on the web designer’s educational qualifications or hired a project manager with an MBA and zero work experience over a project manager with 10 years of hands-on experience and no MBA degree?

The superiority of hands-on experience over college education or certifications becomes self-evident when computer science or information technology college graduates find it hard to get jobs because they lack practical, hands-on experience or skills!

With that in mind, here is a question submitted by a college student on “how to deal with college”.

… the toughest challenges facing my career includes methodologies that our lecturers employ in teaching IT related topics; being not practical rather too theoretical, lack of competence criteria, difficulties in job seeking.

Become A Practical Learner

Find a way to build, create or perform the real-world tasks that correspond to the courses you’re taking in college.

If you are learning web design or computer programming, join an open-source project an contribute your code or start one of your own.

If you’re learning technical writing, volunteer to work on a commercial or open-source project where your skills and contribution will be used to create real-world solutions.

That will help you create a portfolio of projects that will open doors for you!

Find the real-world practical tasks that correspond to whatever theoretical skills you are learning from college and get a heads-up on your competition that way!

Take a Lot of Knowledge-Based Tests

Take tests or certifications not to get a job but to sharpen your skills, advance your knowledge or deepen your understanding of the industry.

Do not depend on tests or certifications to get a job because hiring managers realize that certifications by themselves are not necessarily a true test of ability.

Practice tests or certifications are better used for sharpening your skills or improving your comprehension or retention of a subject.

Discover and Follow your Passion

Don’t worry about making money after college. Rather use your time in college to find what you love or what you’re good at.

After college, get a job you’re passionate about at any cost … even if you are under-paid compared to your colleagues.

Don’t go into a career because it is popular or because it pays well.

Rather, follow your dreams, passions or strengths and the money will follow you after a while because you will excel and command the top pay in your industry .. if you are passionate about your job!

  1. Click here to read: Use Practice Tests For Boosting your Skills.

  2. Click here to read: How To Start A New Career.


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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/08/22/how-to-prepare-real-world-without-college/feed/ 6 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 Don’t Let Your Career Become A Silo! http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/07/03/dont-let-you-career-become-a-silo/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/07/03/dont-let-you-career-become-a-silo/#comments Sun, 04 Jul 2010 00:01:51 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2942

    Is Your Career A Silo?

    Is Your Career A Silo?

    Don’t let your career become a prison. Use it as a launching pad for achieving your dreams.

    If you would like to change career but feel like you can’t satisfy the specialized requirements on job postings, here is some good advice for you!

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

    Why Is Changing Roles So Hard?

    Changing roles is hard because Information Technology (IT), Web, or Software Development Managers want depth of experience in specific, narrowly defined or over-specialized skills.

    For example, you may be a strong HTML developer and yet fail at a job interview because you don’t have HTML5 on your resume even though you will easily learn it, if hired!

    Or you may be an e-commerce business analyst (ba) with 5 years of experience and yet you can’t qualify for an “e-commerce ba job because it requires an agency or advertising background”. This type of job description seems to imply that having an agency or advertising background is essential in a business analyst role!

    Is Your Career A Silo?

    IT careers have not always been silos. Software developers have been known to gather or document requirements for their projects (business analysis), create software manuals or help files using specialized programs (technical writing) or create and execute test plans (quality assurance).

    But because of the siloing of IT roles, our personalities are now limited by our careers instead of being expressions of them.

    Don’t Let Silos Stand In Your Way

    Transitioning careers is harder than it needs to be because of this narrow, over-specification of skills.

    • Your career is not bound to your college education. You are better of assuming that college is a training ground for improving thinking, probelm solving or analytical skills. College does not dictate your life work!

    • You are more than your resume. You succeed at work because of your intrinsic personal abilities which transcend job descriptions. Your resume only proves that you can get things done. Your resume does not determine what you can or cannot do!

    The ability to succeed at a job is within you. It is not limited by over-specialized job postings. This means that you should believe in yourself and let that confidence drive your career transition.

    For example, if you are a software developer used to gathering requirements for your team, believe that the same intrinsic personal traits (good communication or documentation skills) will help you transition into a full-time business analyst or technical writer job.

    I am saying that you musn’t let your current job become a silo. Use it as a launching pad to your dream career.

    Software Development As A Launching Pad For IT Careers

    Believing in yourself means that you focus on building bridges between your current and dream career instead of focusing on the restrictive or limiting words frequently used on job postings.

    with all this in mind, here is how you can transition from a software developer to a business analyst role.

    Expand the scope of your day to day computer programming tasks to take on more business analysis tasks.

    A good number of software development projects lack full-time business analysis resources. Take advantage of this opportunity to become a business analyst. Here is how:

    • Volunteer to gather, elicit or document the requirements for your software development projects. Don’t stay within the silo fo a typical software developer job role.

    • Learn UML and Use Cases which are skills that are common to both business analysts and software developers. This helps you build a bridge between your current and desired skills.

    • Bridge the gap between your current programming team and stakeholders. Become the go-between who interprets requirements to software developers or explains the programmers’ concerns to stakeholders.

    • Distinguish yourself by studying or training to be the best informed business analyst on your team. Many software developers have fragmented or incomplete knowledge of what business analyst do. Don’t be one of those.

      For example, some software developers know a little bit of Use Cases or UML, But having fragmented or incomplete knowledge doesn’t get the job done.

    • When an opportunity for a full-time business analyst resource opens up in your company apply for the position and ask the same stakeholders you are working with to recommend you.

    • If a business analyst position does not open up in your firm, document all the work that you are doing and apply for a full-time business analyst position at another company.

    Don’t let your career, education or job postings become your silo. You have to believe in yourself and learn how to build bridges between your current job and the career you want.


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/07/03/dont-let-you-career-become-a-silo/feed/ 1     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     What Is The Most Difficult Challenge Facing Your Career? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/12/what-is-the-most-difficult-challenge-facing-your-career/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/12/what-is-the-most-difficult-challenge-facing-your-career/#comments Sat, 13 Feb 2010 02:33:53 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2820

    The Most Difficult Challenge Of My Career

    The Most Difficult Challenge Of My Career

    Hello,

    “What is the most difficult challenge facing your career right now”?

    Your most difficult challenge may be about how to get a job or how to improve your skills or how to get promoted on the job

    Perhaps your most difficult challenge is about how to transition out of or into a business analyst or computer programming or database developer career.

    Whatever your challenge is, just go ahead and post it as a comment on this page and I will deal with it for you.

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

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

    Thank You,


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/12/what-is-the-most-difficult-challenge-facing-your-career/feed/ 70     How To Change your Career In 5 Easy Steps! http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/12/05/how-to-change-your-career-in-5-easy-steps/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/12/05/how-to-change-your-career-in-5-easy-steps/#comments Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:18:00 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2731

    How To Change Careers

    How To Change Careers


    You are brave, if you are considering leaving your career. Most people make themselves stay at jobs or careers they hate because they are afraid of the unknown.

    However, knowing the difference between leaving a job and leaving a career can make your transition smooth and easy or painful to say the least.

    You change careers when you are in the wrong profession or you are in a career that you’re not suited for. And, you do not change careers simply because you are unhappy at work!

    Change your careers by first facing the reasons why you’re leaving, identifying the kind of work you are suited for and following through with a career transitioning plan.

    The rest of this article presents 5 easy steps for changing your career:

    1. Do you like your job?Be honest about the reasons why you’re leaving your current employment.

      Is it because you have lost or never had passion for your work or is it because you are looking for a better pay?

      Are you changing careers because you hate your boss or employer or because you consistently get low performance appraisals at work?

    2. Change careers for the right reasons: Some of the issues you face at one job are likely to show up at other jobs.

      For example, if you are a business analyst who hates talking to senior management and you change to another business analyst job, you may find yourself facing the same issue again.

      However, if your issues are specific to your current boss or employer and you can’t resolve them … then changing jobs and not your entire career may help.

      For example, I once interviewed for a job and I asked the team lead the question: “how do you to communicate to a team member that, he or she is not doing a good job?“

      To which the team lead replied saying that he simply YELLS and SHOUTS at anyone who is not meeting his expectations.

      My reaction was simply to turn down their employment offer, since I could see that the team had management or personnel issues peculiar to them.

    3. Take an inventory of your skills, interests, abilities, educational background and experience: If you have worked for at least a year, you already know a lot about yourself.

      So, start by taking an inventory of your personal abilities, strengths and aptitudes.

      • Do you like putting together a lot of technical documentation?

      • Do you like make presentations to team members, stakeholders or management?

      • Are you accustomed to and do you use a lot of SQL queries at work?

      • Do you like working on customer support issues?

      • Do you like writing small code snippets to fix buggy software products?

      It is important that you itemize all the skills and abilities you’ve used over your working life so you can get a better picture of what you are wired do.

    4. Explore alternatives career paths before choosing: One of the issues facing IT professionals comes from having little to no knowledge of the career alternatives available to them.

      Simply said, there are a number of good IT career alternatives out there and there is no one career that is better for everyone.

      Some of the IT careers with good prospects include:

      • technical recruiting

      • pre-sales support

      • technical writing

      • software architecture

      • database development

      • software development

      • report writing

      • web analytics

      • customer relationship management

      • business analysis

      • project management

      • business intelligence

      Before deciding what career best suits you, first prepare the comprehensive skills evaluation mentioned in the last point.

    5. Get hands-on experience outside work; Don’t be expecting to get a job without strong hands-in experience because that is like gambling with your time.

      You need to first improve your skills and hands-on experience while working on your resume.

      Determine exactly, how you will get the training, skills and hands-on experience required for each career you are interested in.

      Don’t be a professional whose effort at getting a job consists only of rewriting resumes to match job descriptions.

    Remember, the IT Job Market is a numbers game that plays in your favor like a rigged lottery if you have the right skills, experience and background and not just a souped up resume!

    Okay, we are interested in answering questions on how to change careers … to get yours answered,, just post it below as a comment!


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/12/05/how-to-change-your-career-in-5-easy-steps/feed/ 10     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?

    Limited Time 2 for 1 Discount

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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/10/24/discover-your-inner-hero/feed/ 0     How To Solve Chicken or Egg Career Problems http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/09/10/how-to-solve-chicken-or-egg-career-problems/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/09/10/how-to-solve-chicken-or-egg-career-problems/#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:37:59 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2416

    Ask IT Career Coach

    Ask IT Career Coach

    Here’s a question on “how to get the experience neccessary for career advancement opportunities!” from a professional who has an MBA in Information Security.

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

    Please, send this post to your friends using the “Tell a Friend” Button button below. You earn points or cash each time you refer an article to your friends using the Tell a Friend Button.

    The question … How Do I Advance My Career?

    I have been in IT for a number of years.

    I have a BS in Electroncs Management and two years ago recieved my MBA in Information Seecurity with a 3.85 GPA.

    I also have several Microsoft and CompTIA certifications.

    Despite my background and education, I am unable to advance or gain additional experience.

    I am currently employed and there are no advancement opportunitoes available. Any suggestions?

    The Answer … How Do I Get Experience?

    Scott, this’s the classic “chicken vs. egg, which comes first” situation facing many professionals.

    You want to advance to the next level in your career but you can’t find employment or career advancement opportunities because you lack the required experience!

    Yes, you can’t get the required experience because no-one wants to hire you without it … what a dilemna!

    How to Overcome the Classic Chicken or Egg Which Comes First Problem!

    1. Set clear and specific goals:

      First you must be clear on the goals you want to achieve in your career.

      What type of jobs or careers represent career advancement opportunities for you?

      Do you want to be a consultant, a freelancer, or a manager?

      What sort of industry or skill do you want to specialize in?

    2. Don’t be vague … specialize in an Industry:

      Clarity is critical for career advancement.

      Clarify your goals or vision by choosing specific industries to learn or master.

      Do you want to specialize in the Information Security industry or do you want to specialize in the Information Technology industry? These are two different considerations.

    3. Become a leader by solving problems:

      You’ve chosen a specific industry and now you have to choose the problems within the industry which you are interested in solving!

      That’s how you start building up your experience. You don’t really need a job to get experience and advance your career. You just need to be pro-active enough and you’ll get what you want!

    Don’t Limit Yourself By Thinking In A Box

    There are career advancement opportunities in every profession! If you can’t see them, then you’re probably thinking within a box!

    Educational Qualifications Are Not Enough:

    You’re expecting too much from your educational qualifications because your MBA, BS and IT Certifications are just enough to get you a job.

    To advance in your career, you have to use your education by identifying and solving problems in your industry or profession.

    That’s how you get better career advancement opportunities.

    For example, if you want to become a CEO, you need to solve problems facing CEOs. You aren’t likely to get a CEO job through a certification or an MBA. You’re more likely to get a CEO job by working in roles that require CEO skills!

    If you want to be an Information Security consultant, then you need to identify the sorts of problems facing Information Security professionals and start solving them. It’s really that simple!

    Market your Competencies Better:

    Assuming that you understand what I’ve been saying about identifying and solving industry problems proactively, the next thing you need is to tell people about them!

    You need to look into using PULL vs. PUSH techniques for marketing your competencies, skills and expertise.

    Work on your branding and positioning so others will recognize your value and seek you out!

    I recommend that you read my post titled “Become a Leader And Get The Job You Want” for more information on solving industry problems and positioning your career using PULL vs. PUSH techniques.

    Scott, I hope I answered your questions. Please let me know if you need additional clarification and I will be glad to provide it for you.


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/09/10/how-to-solve-chicken-or-egg-career-problems/feed/ 1     How To Become A Highly Paid Corporate Programmer http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/08/02/how-to-become-a-highly-paid-corporate-programmer/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/08/02/how-to-become-a-highly-paid-corporate-programmer/#comments Sun, 02 Aug 2009 18:49:37 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2138

    highly paid corporate programmer

    highly paid corporate programmer

    Becoming a corporate software developer is not the same thing as becoming a freelance programmer or a systems programmer.

    • Corporate programmers are hired for coding skills in programming languages like Microsoft .NET (ASP.NET, C#, VB.NET, SQL Server) and they tend to work regular, office jobs as contract or full-time programmers.

    • Systems programmers tend to work with programming languages like C/C++ and they also work for companies like Microsoft that build operating systems or systems software.

    • Freelance programmers work on their own hours and they tend to focus exclusively on web development, web design and user interface (UI) jobs using programming languages and platforms like PHP, WordPress or Microsoft .NET.

    Microsoft .NET is the recommended programming language for Corporate Programmers.

    However, transitioning careers to Microsoft .NET programming may seem like a daunting or impossible task because you need solid Hands-ON experience which is hard to get without a full-time Microsoft.NET job!

    So, the question is, “How Do You Gain Hands-On Experience For Microsoft.NET Corporate Programmer Jobs Outside Regular, Full-Time Employment?“

    How To Get An Entry Level Corporate Programming Job

    Start by transitioning into a Microsoft.NET Software Developer Career in manageable steps or phases which allows you to achieve career success.

    Your first step in becoming a highly paid corporate programmer is to learn Microsoft.NET Programming.

    The next step after that, is to gain solid hands-on programming experience!

    Both steps must be completed before you can achieve the goal of becoming a corporate programmer!

    First Step: The first step in your career transition is to learn the ins and outs of Microsoft .NET Programming. This would include learning ASP.NET, C#, SQL SERVER and the Microsoft.NET Framework.

    You can’t bypass the requirement to learn Microsoft.NET programming because you’ll be asked programming questions at your technical interview which you will have to ace before you are hired!

    Second Step: The next step involves getting solid, hands-on Microsoft.NET programming experience.

    Handson experience is a requirement for information technology jobs because this is a handson, practical industry where what you can do is valued even more than your educational qualifications.

    Click here to read more about how to get handson computer programming experience!

    1. Become a Freelance Microsoft.NET Software Developer:

      You may consider starting your career as a freelance programmer before you get hired for corporate / full-time programming jobs.

      The experience or skill-level required for some freelance jobs is not as extensive as that of full-time programming jobs because clients can easily work away if they don’t like your job or try your services and see if they like working with you first before hiring you on a longer-term basis.

      Freelance Programming Jobs are not necessarily as lucrative as full-time or contract programming jobs but they do allow you to gain the mandatory hands-on programming experience by working on real-world software development projects for real-world clients.

      Becoming a freelance programmer while in training as a Microsoft.NET Programmer may also provide you with additional income, which is helpful whether you’re just transitioning careers or looking for a full-time programming job.

      Your initial focus should not be to earn a high income but to gain the hands-on programming experience which is required for programming positions.

    2. Become a Highly-Paid Corporate Programmer:

      After you’ve completed learning Microsoft.NET, C#, ASP.NET, SQL Server and worked on some freelance computer programming projects, you may transition into a regular full-time or independent Contract Programming job.

      Independent Contract Programmers are highly paid corporate programmers with billing rates ranging from $45/hr. to $60/hr. and even more!

      However, Independent Contract Programming is not for everyone because you have to pay your own employment taxes or provide your own benefits or face some downtime in-between projects meaning that your income may fluctuate.

      As an independent contract programmer, you also have to market your skills consistently to compensate for any downtime in-between programming projects.

      The good news is that “the demand for contract programmers is quite high” and each programming project usually lasts for a while (between 6 months and two years).

    3. Become a Full-Time Computer Programmer:

      Finally, after you’ve gained strong freelance or contract programming experience or you’ve worked on a number of corporate consulting gigs, you may be ready to become a full-time, salaried computer programmer.

      The upside of a full-time, permanent, salaried computer programming job is that you’re guaranteed medical benefits, a good paycheck and some stability in your employment.

      You won’t have to pay your own taxes or be on the look-out for the next consulting gig or wonder where your next paycheck is going to come from!

      The downside of a full-time, salaried programming career is that you may not earn as much as a corporate programmer because you don’t handle as much risk.

      Also, you don’t have the flexibility of deciding who to work for or the ability to switch programming projects or teams when you want!

    If you’re interested in learning more about the differences or distinction between full-time and contract programming jobs, read this article titled: “full time programming compared to contract programming jobs …”

    How To Overcome Hurdles In Transitioning To A Computer Programming Career

    1. Transition your Career in Phases

      Break up your career transition into phases and set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable and Realistic) goals for each phase.

      Transitioning your career in steps helps because you set achievable goals and build up the momentum that helps you follow though on a plan that leads to career success.

    2. Take Your Software Developer Training

      Transitioning to a new career begins with learning new skills.

      So, don’t neglect to acquire the required skills and don’t be looking for alternatives that promise a career transition without learning or acquiring new programming skills!

    3. Give Employers What They Want!

      Employers require hands-on programming experience which may seem unfair because you need their jobs to gain experience.

      However, don’t waste time hoping that employers will change their requirement for hands-on programming experience because you will be more successful at giving employers what they want than at getting them to change their minds.

    So, you may transition into a highly paid computer programming career by following this step-by-step plan that allows you to build on past successes or achieve your goals in stages!

    You may also enroll for the Software Developer Boot Camp Training and the Sql Boot Camp Training, since both SQL and Microsoft .NET programming skills are required for Software Developer Jobs.


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/08/02/how-to-become-a-highly-paid-corporate-programmer/feed/ 0     Did I Mess Up My Career? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/07/16/did-i-mess-up-my-career/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/07/16/did-i-mess-up-my-career/#comments Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:40:21 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2064

    Ask IT Career Coach

    Ask IT Career Coach

    This question was posted by a reader who needs advice on “what to do about making wrong career choices”.

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

    Please, send this post to your friends using the “Tell a Friend” Button button below. You earn points or cash each time you refer an article to your friends using the Tell a Friend Button.

    Here is the Reader’s Question:

    I think I did myself well careerwise by reading for a degree that bears no inclination to what I am trying to aspire to in life.

    The programme entitled: Degree in Computing with Management Studies is embeded with C++, COBOL and Report Programme Generator (RPG) courses.

    The final year I underwent a gruelling course in Artificial Intelligence that I haven’t started to utilise in anyway in my career path.

    What I strongly desire is a competence in database management and its integration with records management and design.

    Regards

    Here is my Answer

    Hello,

    I feel your pain because I have been in your shoes – in a similar situation.

    I’ve had to transition career several times from Chemical Engineering to IT Sales to IT Consulting to IT Career Coaching!

    I’m reasonably sure that my last transitiion is permanent … but that doesn’t mean much because I expect my IT Career Coaching skills to change so much that I would literally be re-inventing myself every year!

    Think about it for a moment. The world around us is constantly changing and we have to remain flexible and adaptable or we become as dead as the DoDo!

    Fact is … “career transitions are a part of life“!

    What I’ve learnt that I would like to share with you is this: “march boldly in the direction of your dreams!“

    Start by forgiving yourself thoroughly.

    Forgiving yourself is really not as easy as it sounds … put some effort into giving yourself a break because you did the best that you could based on the information you had.

    Don’t be too hard on yourself, make sure you take out some time to love on yourself before you do the next big thing.

    Now, having done that, “follow your call wherever it leads without any hesitation“!

    Since your heart is saying that you need to become a database professional, do exactly that!

    “Jump into the water with both feet and don’t be afraid of getting your feet wet. “

    What I mean is: “pursue your dreams fearlessly, follow your heart wherever it leads and don’t be afraid of making mistakes”.

    You owe yourself the pursuit of “life, liberty and love”.

    Let me know if I can do anything to help.

    Regards,

    Kingsley Tagbo – Your IT Career Coach

    This post answers a question posted by a reader who needs advice on “what to do about making wrong career choices”!

    If you have any Question about your career, Post IT as a comment on this page and I will be sure to answer it for you!


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/07/16/did-i-mess-up-my-career/feed/ 9     Why Can’t I Find A Job? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/07/13/why-cant-i-find-a-job/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/07/13/why-cant-i-find-a-job/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:21:11 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2002

    Beat the Recession

    Beat the Recession

    You’ve got a college degree, a good looking resume and an impressive listing of Information Technology (IT) skills but can’t seem to find an IT job.

    Finding a Job doesn’t have to be a traumatic, nerve racking or frustrating experience filled with rejection, fear and pain!

    Just follow this article series to find out what’s wrong or get back in control of YOUR job search.

    1. Do You Have a Marketable Skill? Did you assume that because your skills were in-demand a few years ago, they are relevant today?

      The market doesn’t lie! … If your phone isn’t ringing or you aren’t getting job interviews then your skills need to be updated!

      What looks like a minor skill gap to you is a major skill gap to hiring managers because that’s what they’re paying for!

    2. Is Your Resume Killing Your Career? Your resume screams “hire me because I need this job” and says little about what you can do for the employer!

      Get a clue, no-one cares about you until you prove that you care about them!

      Put yourself in the employer’s shoes by re-writing your resume to say: “here is what I can do for you” and you’ll get a job paying surprisingly more than you asked for!

    3. Are You Flying by the Seat of Your Pants? Your failure to plan your job search is the reason why your job search is falling apart!

      Start your job search with a competitive analysis of your strengths and weaknesses in the current job market (SWOT Analysis) and then create a strategic job search plan that addresses your findings!

      Applying for every online job doesn’t work because everyone else is doing the same thing and you must differentiate yourself to succeed.

    4. Do You Suck at Job Interviews? You need to learn “how to interview properly” because something you’re doing is freaking out potential employers!

      Face-to-face or phone interviews are make or break opportunities that can’t be treated casually or left to chance.

      So learn “how to slam dunk job interviews” to improve your job search or get hired fast!

    5. Can You Perform? Prove It! Performers get hired wherever they go!

      Everything about your resume, job interviews or attitude must prove that you’re a performer because that’s what potential employers wants to hear!

      Remember that IT Managers view: your past performance as the best indicator of your future performance.

      So, get your act together and differentiate yourself from the competition. Prove that you’re a job candidate worthy of hire!

    Remember that Employers are still hiring for Information Technology (IT) jobs despite the economy … so, if you can’t find an IT Job, you’re doing something wrong!

    Finding a job doesn’t have to be an emotionally demanding, long-drawn out process. Just learn the process outlined in this series of articles and you will be in-charge of your job search.


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/07/13/why-cant-i-find-a-job/feed/ 6     What Software Skills Do Business Analysts Need? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/03/25/what-software-skills-do-business-analysts-need/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/03/25/what-software-skills-do-business-analysts-need/#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:29:43 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=1292

    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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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/03/25/what-software-skills-do-business-analysts-need/feed/ 19     Choosing Between Contract Or Full Time Business Analyst Job Offers http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/03/04/choosing-contract-full-time-business-analyst-jobs/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/03/04/choosing-contract-full-time-business-analyst-jobs/#comments Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:11:03 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=1239

    How To Achieve In Your Career

    How To Achieve In Your Career

    I am dedicating this article to answering a question posted by an independent contract business analyst. If you have a question or challenge about your business analyst career, post it as comment at the end of this article and I will answer it for you:

    Here is the question posed by the independent contract or consulting business analyst:

    … I got hired by a consulting firm. I was under the impression that I was with a company with a team-oriented environment. By this I mean that I thought I would be working with project teams etc.

    I shortly realized that the company operated much like a ‘body shop’- I was put on contracts on my own. I shortly realized that I was operating almost like an independent contractor.

    I read your article on independent consulting and lets just say that was my role but with very little experience. I have survived this environment … but now Im exhausted cause I never feel “caught up”. Im trying to make a career plan, but with the last few years I feel like I have lost the vision…??

    I think I’m looking for some mentorship/direction…!

    Here is my answer to the challenge facing the independent contract business analyst:

    Not All Business Analyst Job Offers Are Good For You!

    Years ago … in the middle of the last tech crisis when all tech jobs were gone, I was living in Madison, Wisconsin and had 3 job offers to choose from. One of the job offers was a full-time job offer from a consulting firm.

    The full-time job offer looked good on the surface. I was new to Madison, Wisconsin, the job offer promised me a steady source of pay, zero bench time, a career path, a competitive salary and lot’s of opportunities to grow my career!

    However, I did some research on the job offer and here is what I came up with:

    Business Analyst Consulting Jobs Cloaked As Full Time Job Offers

    Doing due diligence on the company and full-time job offer, I asked the interviewer, how many hours I would be working on a full-time basis?

    The answer really surprised me … I was told anywhere from 55 to 60+ hours or as much work as it takes to get my work done!

    That is when the first alarm bell went off … you see it is not uncommon to be asked to work a 45 hour week. But to work a 60 hour week, indicates a 12 hour work day! That sounded unusual for a full-time job offer.

    Full-Time vs. Contract Business Analyst Salary, Wages and Compensation

    Then I asked my second question .. How would I be compensated for the extra hours I would be investing in the position?

    At that point, the interviewer paused and then answered that it depends on how the company does at the end of the year. If I do very well, I may get a bonus, etc. So, I did a quick mental calculation. Working 20 extra hours per week, 80 hrs. per month equates to 1,000 overtime hours. I then realized that in a true or real contracting position, I will be getting between $25,000 to $75,000 for that extra amount of overtime work!

    How To Evaluate Business Analyst Contract Or Full-Time Job Offers

    1. Are You Compensated Fairly? Are you working for a business analyst consulting firm that hires you as a full-time employee and then sends you out to work an extra 15 to 20 hours in overtime pay for a promise of end of year benefits, compensation adn a better life? If you do, are you then compensated at the end of the year at a rate commensurate or better than what you get paid … if you work those overtime hours as a contract business analyst?

    2. Are You Trained To Do Your Business Analyst Job? If you work for a business analyst consultancy, you will be thrown into whatever work your employer finds. Employers are not that picky when it comes to accepting work from clients because they need to pay bills as well .. and I know this because I have been on the receiving end of both, first as an employee and then as an owner of a consultancy firm! However, an exceptional employer would give you work that is challenging but does not lie too far outside your skill sets without re-training you.

      The challenge here is that you if you work as an independent contract business analyst, you are really in control of your own career and your own destiny. By this I mean that you can pick and choose the contract jobs that match your skill sets or that you are trained to handle. If you work as a business analyst for a business analyst consultancy, you may not be able to choose the assignments that match your background, skills, training and aspirations. You have to depend on your employer to make that choice for that.

      If you find yourself working for a business analyst consultancy and being placed on projects that you are not prepared to handle, here is a quick solution:

      • Get More Hands-On Business Analysis Training: You can take a look at the core skills required to perform the projects frequently assigned to your business analyst consultancy. Find the overlapping skills that are needed for the majority of projects, and then ask your employer for training on those skills
      • Research Your Business analyst Job Offer Before Getting Hired: In my story, I asked the consulting firm, a few questions to determine if the position being offered was a good fit! I had three job offers and each of them paid better than the offer from the consulting firm. However, that is not the reason why I did not accept the job offer from the consultancy. I realized during the interview that the business consultancy firm was asking me to invest about 1,000 hours per year in overtime labor without a fair compensation plan. For the plan to have been fair, my base pay should have factored in all those extra over-time hours or I should have been offered an hourly pay after 40 to 45 hours of full-time work.

    Is Your Business Analyst Job What You Signed Up For?

    So, here is the action plan. You need to evaluate if your current business analyst job is a good fit for you … career wise! You are probably feeling over challenged about your current business analyst job because you knwo in your heart that it’s not quite what you signed up for!

    You are missing the feeling of belonging to a real business analyst team. That is because your business analyst consultancy moves you from one project to another and from one client to another … because that is how consultancies generally operate! If you are lucky, you get to stay on one client or project for a long-time and build relationships with team members … but that is an exception and not a rule.

    However, in a real full-time business analyst position where your employer is not a consultancy, you will have a much better chance to build relationships with team members, work as part of a team versus working in a solo fashion!

    Also, why it is true to say that most business analysts need some form of training to do their job … since the range of required skills is generally wide, business analyst consultancies and business analyst contractors may need even more training … because they are expected to bring an expert set of business analysis skills to each client engagement!

    What Is The Challenge Facing Your Business Analyst Career?

    I hope I answered your question. If you have any question or challenge about your business analyst career, go ahead and post it as a comment at the end of this article and I will be glad to answer or solve it for you!


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/03/04/choosing-contract-full-time-business-analyst-jobs/feed/ 9     How To Gain Handson, Web Programming Experience http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/02/08/how-to-gain-handson-web-programming-experience/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/02/08/how-to-gain-handson-web-programming-experience/#comments Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:47:05 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=906

    How To Become A Web Programmer

    How To Become A Web Programmer

    The post which you are just about to read answers the question of:“what is the most compelling thing on a web programmer’s resume or how do you gain the type of resume that will make you standout in the web development industry!“

    Let me begin by saying that, the key thing that hiring managers are looking for on your resume is not your programming certifications or your college degrees or computer science education but your handson web programming experience.

    It is only after software development managers are satisfied that you have the required experience that they will start considering other things like your training, certification, degrees, education or qualifications.

    So the real questions here are:

    • How do you get strong, hands on web programming experience?
    • How do you document web programming experience on your resume?

    How To Gain Compelling Web Programming Resume

    • Build ASP.NET Applications for you own personal use: Begin by developing asp.net web applications that have some real world, practical and personal benefit.

      An example would be a web application that stores and catalogs links to useful ASP.net articles that you find on the web

    • Volunteer for open source ASP.NET projects: There are several open-source ASP.NET projects on sites like http://www.CodePlex.com.

      Some of these open source projects need help from volunteer asp.net developers like you, who can design or develop new features or fix existing bugs in the open source project.

    • Volunteer for non profit projects: Find a non-profit organization close to your heart and volunteer to help with creating or improving their websites or software applications.

    • Work on freelance projects on websites like Elance or ODesk. Don’t get hung-up on trying to win the big bids, instead work on winning the smaller bids because you are still looking to build your skills, experience and clients and not to make a lot of money.

      Working on real-world projects will help you get used to communicating with clients or managing project scope, deadlines or deliverables.

    How To Document Web Programming Experience On your Resume

    • Go back and document all the projects or tasks or features you wrote or completed.

    • Describe the technologies you used, the business processes you supported, the type of project you worked on, the positive reviews giving by your clients or project managers or colleagues.

      One of the biggest mistakes that computer programmers make on their resume is that giving too little credence to the tasks they perform on a project.

      This is sometimes due to them because of low self-confidence or self-esteem.

    • Don’t have to wait until you complete a big project before you document your work or results.

      Give a lot of time, attention and effort to documenting the smaller victories (tasks, features or software applications) you either created from scratch or completed.

      Trust me, your resume would look much better than the other folks that don’t do use this highly effective technique.

    One of the folks in our online training bootcamps applied the last technique to his business analyst resume and saw the activity on his resume jump by 300%.

    A coaching participant did the same thing and started getting pulled into business analyst job interviews that he wasn’t even qualified to attend.

    When he saw that recruiters were taking him seriously and that he was getting a lot of calls for business analyst consulting jobs beginning at $30/hr., he decided to run back and complete his training … that is how powerful the techniques posted on this article are!

    Though this article is written for computer programmers, you can adapt these techniques or use them to improve your resumes or get hand on experience for business analyst, data analyst, database or any other information technology (IT) jobs and careers.

    This post is an answer to a question asked by Talibah Coleman on “How to put together a compelling ASP.NET programmer resume from watching ASP.NET software developer videos“.

    You may click here to add your own No Holds Barred Questions, Comments or Discussion on challenges, problems or issues facing your career and i will respond to your question just as I answered Talibah’s question in this post!


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/02/08/how-to-gain-handson-web-programming-experience/feed/ 11     IT Career Coach Named A 50 Best Career Coaching Site http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/01/22/it-career-coach-named-a-50-best-career-coaching-site/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/01/22/it-career-coach-named-a-50-best-career-coaching-site/#comments Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:54:17 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=579

    NAMED A 50 BEST WEBSITE

    NAMED A 50 BEST WEBSITE

    It is official. We (IT Career Coach) has been selected as one of the best 50 career coaching or job hunting sites on the web by Online University Review.

    This selection is important because with the predictions of US unemployment approaching 10% by the end of 2008, there is no more important time than now to take interest in your career prospects and professional marketability.

    The 50 best job hunting sites cover interview tips, resume writing, employee workplace experiences, personal, pertinent and honest advice on very personal experiences encountered while job hunting.

    IT Career Coach was chosen for

    teaching and coaching for computer programmers, data analysts, and software developers.

    Click here to learn more about the top 50 best career coaching or job hunting sites.


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/01/22/it-career-coach-named-a-50-best-career-coaching-site/feed/ 0     How To Keep Your Job In A Recession http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/10/how-to-keep-your-job-in-a-recession/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/10/how-to-keep-your-job-in-a-recession/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:41:03 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/10/how-to-keep-your-job-in-a-recession/

    Laid Of In The Recession

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    The Secret To Staying Employed Even In A Recession

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

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

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

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

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


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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/12/10/how-to-keep-your-job-in-a-recession/feed/ 0     Coaching Or Self Study http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/02/20/coaching-or-self-study/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/02/20/coaching-or-self-study/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:11:14 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/02/20/coaching-or-self-study/

    There are a number of ways you can learn programming or business analysis or any
    other technical skill. I recommend both coaching and self study. I
    am going to compare both modes of learning so you have a better idea of what
    works for you and what doesn't.

    Self Study or Teach Yourself

    Self study is the type of learning where you are 100% responsible for the
    outcome. It involves researching a concept, subject or topic through books,
    online websites and other types of media. You set the learning goals by
    yourself, draw up a lesson plan and then do your own reading and learning.

    1. Self study is the cheapest way to learn a skill. It is cheaper than training,
    coaching, mentoring or distance learning.

    2. Self study is not the most productive or the fastest way to learn a skill. It
    is easier for you to give up on your study goals because you are only
    accountable to yourself. It is easier for you to skip on scheduled lessons
    because you are only accountable to yourself.

    3. Self study is great if you don't care about feedback. The books you are
    reading are not likely to tell you anything about how you are doing or talk back
    to you. So, if you like learning in solitude without any feedback from other
    people, self study may be ideal for you.

    Coaching

    Coaching involves someone else other than yourself walking you through your
    study material.

    1. Coaching is more expensive than self study because you have to pay for your
    coach's time.

    2. Coaching is a quicker, faster, surer way to achieve your learnng goals and
    here is why. When you pay a coach to learn a skill (body building, writing,
    internet marketing, etc.) you are more likely to do whatever it takes to
    complete your program. So, you are more committed and invested in your goal.

    3. Learning a new technical skill can be a difficult or frustrating experience
    at times and having a coach walk you through the process can save you a lot of
    tears, detours and time.

    4. Your coach can show you the shortcuts that shave years off your learning
    curve. There is a limit to how much you can actually learn about a subject just
    by reading it. A coach can supply that experiential knowledge that will take you
    years to learn otherwise. That is why the top performers in almost every
    industry have mentors who are above them.

    5. Since coaching is a one-to-one relationship, you must admire and respect your
    coach and also get along fairly well with your coach otherwise you may well be
    wasting your money and your time.

    I hope this clarifies things for you. On my website, I have IT Career Books for
    computer programmers, business analysts and other software development
    professionals. These books are perfect if you are a do-it-yourself kind of
    person.

    At the same time, I also have coaching programs that provide personalized,
    one-on-one attention or feedback. So, just do what works for you
    … get the ebooks if you prefer self study or the coaching programs if you want
    a guide, mentor or trainer that will walk you through your
    learning.

    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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