This Type of Experience Will JumpStart Your Career!

Not all experience is created equal. Some types of project experience count as being more relevant than others simply because employers place a higher value on them. Here is why:

Getting experience in areas that require innovation or cutting edge skills for example counts more because that is where a lot of money is being spent and where there is more exposure or risk!

Employers hire those with experience in the types of projects they are financially vested in, so they can increase their chances of success or mitigate risk, makes sense right?

Here is some common sense advice … “Go Where The Money Is“!

The Web & Software Development Industry employs / hires a lot of web oriented professionals because companies are constantly investing in their web / software development projects

Information Technology / Software Development projects are funded with the belief that they can reduce costs, increase efficiency, streamline operations or business processes and increase sales.

In the article titled: How To Get Extensive Hands-on Experience In Information Technology I discussed the make / break role that hands-on web / software project experience plays in your career regardless of whether you are a business analyst, project manager, software developer, software tester, technical writer, database developer or data analyst.

In part 2 of the article series, I will discuss the types of hands-on project experience that are likely to jump-start your career!

Get Leadership Experience

You may be aware of the need to get hands-on experience in technical skills (UML, Use Cases, Object Oriented Design, Manual Testing, etc.) but are you aware of the need to get leadership experience?

Even if you are technically qualified, without demonstrating or showing some leadership experience, you may still fail to impress hiring managers.

Here is an example of a question that you may get at a job interview about your leadership experience:

“When was the last time you demonstrated initiative and how did your actions significantly or positively affect the outcome of your project?”

Get Database Experience

Enterprise software development projects incorporate a significant amount of database functionality.

Regardless of whether you are a business analyst, project manager or software tester, database experience will stand you in good stead in your career.

For Example, As a project manager assigned to Information Technology (IT) projects, your role may be that of a Technical Project Manager (TPM), which means that you are expected to get your hands dirty, especially with databases.

As a TPM, hands-on database skills will help you supervise the completion of important software features, troubleshoot data migration issues or research ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) problems.

Database skills are now regarded as sine qua non, an essential ingredient of your job description, regardless of whether you are a business analyst, project manager, data analyst or software developer!

Get User Interface (UI) / Design Experience

The User Interface (UI) is key to the success of software development projects because customers typically care more about how their software or websites look than how it is constructed.

However, it takes a diverse set of skills to create the right user interface design / experience.

As a salesperson, you can help the web design / user interface team adhere to your organizations marketing goals while achieving their aesthetic goals.

As a business analyst, you can be intimately involved in the design of screens and page flows used on a website / software development project.

Web Business Analysis / User Interface (UI) Business Analysis is a real-world job / specialization for business analysts who cater to or specialize in front-end, user experience / user interface requirements.

As a project manager, user interface testing experience will look good on your resume and as a software developer, user interface design / development should be part of your core skills.

Get Software Testing Experience

Since the success of software projects sometimes depend on defects or bugs discovered by customers after a walk-through, your project will do well if all team members and not just software testers, take part in hands-on User Acceptance testing.

I am not saying that you must become a professional software tester. I am saying that some level of software testing experience will help you look like a well-rounded candidate regardless of whether you are a business analyst, project manager or computer programmer.

In closing, try to work on software / web development projects because there is typically a lot of work for professionals with experience in those sectors.

Regardless of your professional background (business analysis, project management, data analysis, computer programming, etc.), work on getting leadership, database, software testing and user interface (UI) hands-on experience so that your profile will be that of a well-rounded candidate who has taken the time to align his / her career with the current hiring needs / trends in the Information Technology industry.

Thanks & Best Wishes, IT Career Coach

This article is #2 of a 2 article series. The first installation of this article (part 1) may be viewed here …

You may review the references for this article series below.

References

1. Learn more: The Most Important Thing on Your Resume
2. Learn more: Which Courses or Certifications Guarantee A Job?
3. Learn more: Can Certifications Take The Place Of Experience?
4. Learn more: How To Get Computer Programming Experience
5. Learn more: Stuck in a College Mindset After Graduation
6. Learn more: Which Software Development Life Cycle Is Best?
7. Learn more: Can You Perform? Prove It!
8. Learn more: How To Get Extensive Hands-on Experience In Information Technology

What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

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


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


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

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How To Gain Hands-on Experience in-Information Technology

When it comes to the Information Technology Industry, getting more hands-on experience is one of your most important professional development activities.

In this post, I will explain how information technology workers including business analysts, computer programmers, database developers, data analysts, project managers, software testers and infrastructure / networking professionals can gain extensive, high visibility, career defining hands-on experience!

More Opportunities To Get Hands-on Experience

By far, the number one place to find hands-on project experience in the information technology industry is in web or software development projects!

Now, does that mean that you need to become a software developer?

Absolutely Not!

An enterprise software development project employs a diverse set of software testers, project managers, business analysts, computer programmers, infrastructure specialists, database developers, technical writers, etc.

So, dis-abuse your mind of the notion that software development is primarily a coding or programming effort, because it is not!

Business Analysts / Project Managers

Before a single line of code is written, project managers and business analysts have to gather the specifications and then plan the amount of work that needs to be completed at each phase of the project before handing over the coding to software developers.

Infrastructure Specialists

The Computer Networking / Infrastructure team has to plan or architect the servers, computer networks and workstations that will be used by the entire project team.

They may have to install software testing, development or planning software and they will also have to monitor all the equipment used in building or hosting the software, so that they can guarantee that it is up and running!

Software Testers / Quality Assurance Analysts

After computer programmers finish with their coding, software testers, business analysts or quality assurance specialists have to test the code and assure the client or project sponsor that the software being delivered is reasonably bug free and designed according to specifications.

And while all this is happening, the project managers are busy monitoring the cost and resource usage versus estimates.

With all this mind, here is why software development work provides you with the best opportunities for hands-on experience regardless of your career, industry, domain or background.

Following The Money Trail Works

Better Pay / Compensation

Software development project experience is guaranteed to boost your career options because employers pay more for software development experience regardless of whether the project is outsourced, maintained in-house or developed from scratch.

Software development experience also provides you with better career stability. Since there is so much work available, employers are always looking for or hiring motivated, talented, experienced, skilled workers.

Software development projects are readily available because they cut across all domains and industries!

Highly Portable Experience

Regardless of the industry you work in: healthcare, pharmaceutical (pharma), telecommunications (telco), insurance, banking and finance, securities, utility, customer relationship management (CRM) or sales and marketing, you will find plenty of software development projects.

Software development experience is also highly portable because you can move your experience from one industry or domain to another.

For example, as a business analyst, computer programmer or project manager; you may transition from a web project in the CRM industry to another web development project in the Healthcare / Medical Management industry.

You can significantly improve your chance of getting your foot in through the door even when you don’t have the required domain experience by gaining web / software development experience because that is portable across industries, jobs, careers or domains!

For example, even when you transition from a software development career to a business analyst or project management career, your software development background will still be relevant or useful helpful to your new project or employer.

Why Is There So Much Work In The Software Development Industry?

The software development industry employs professionals from a wide, extensive and varied background.

There is a lot of software development project work available because:

1. Software development projects cut across the mobile, desktop, web, system development industry
2. A large number of software development projects fail which means that software development projects last longer than they are expected to
3. Websites are now integral to the marketing and sales functions of many organizations which means that funding website development is a top priority
4. Organizations are constantly retooling or upgrading their websites because of competitive forces, marketplace or technological changes

So, if you are looking for a well-paying, portable, cutting-edge career, start building your web / software development project experience now.

When it comes to the information technology industry, your hands-on experience trumps your certifications or post graduate college degrees.

One Good Reason, Why This Won’t Work For You!

Here is one good reason why you may fail to gain hands-on software development experience … looking for a hands-on position without first taking the time to gain the requisite knowledge or skills that will qualify you !

Hear me now, I do not recommend you walk up to an employer and ask for a position for the purpose of gaining hands-on software development experience … except if you are truly qualified to be on the team.

Look, regardless of the position you are interested in: business analysis, computer programming, project management, software testing, etc., you must first take the time to study for the position before you start working on getting hands-on experience.

Why? because without the prerequisite knowledge, you have little or nothing to offer the employer, who therefore, has no incentive to hire you.

Why Is Knowledge A Prerequisite For Hands-on Experience?

When it comes to gaining knowledge, what matters is whether you have the requisite knowledge and not how you did you gain the knowledge; college, coaching, training, self study, articles, professional textbooks, on the job, etc.

Here is why you must gain the requisite knowledge first before you start focusing on building hands-on experience:

• Can You Perform?: software project teams typical focus on delivering working software and not on mentoring or coaching team members.

  So, without the requisite knowledge, you will be a liability rather than an asset to the team since you won’t be able to keep up with the pace of work.

  Furthermore, you may even slow others down who stop and try to help you or wait upon you to deliver.

• Return On Investment (ROI): don’t assume that an employer will pay for your hands-on software development experience because most employers want a quick return on their investment (ROI).

  This is because of the costs associated with training information technology (IT) professionals which makes employers picky about who gets to work on their projects.

  You are going to be limited in your ability to gain software development experience, if you do not first take the time to learn your discipline: business analysis, computer programming, project management, etc. so that you are prepared to run when the right opportunity presents itself.

This article is #1 of a 2 article series. The second installation of this article (part 2) may be viewed here …

You may review the references for this article series below.

References

1. Learn more: The Most Important Thing on Your Resume
2. Learn more: Which Courses or Certifications Guarantee A Job?
3. Learn more: Can Certifications Take The Place Of Experience?
4. Learn more: How To Get Computer Programming Experience
5. Learn more: Stuck in a College Mindset After Graduation
6. Learn more: Which Software Development Life Cycle Is Best?
7. Learn more: Can You Perform? Prove It!
8. Learn more: This Type Of Hands-On Experience Can JumpStart Your Career!

What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

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ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES

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


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


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


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


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


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

Visit our Shopping Cart

How To Earn Significantly More Money, When Your Career Hits a Plateau!

Have you you reached a plateau in your career?

If you have, consider becoming a contractor.

As a contractor, you may earn significantly more money (20% to 50% more) and you will find more challenging work for your skill sets.

In this post, I will show how you to minimize the risks while maximizing the benefits of being a contractor so that you end up with significantly more money in your pocket!

Is A Contracting Lifestyle Right For You?

Contractors actually have a corner on the market because they have better, more up-to-date skills, better job exposure, more hands-on experience and better marketing skills which leads to more (and not less) job stability.

Contractors have a refined sense for making money because being a contractor is one step removed from being a business owner.

Contractors focus on learning marketable skills and on staying ahead of the technology curve because the best paid contractors have the sharpest, most marketable skills.

Being a contractor, involves striking a balance between the false sense of security that regular, full-time employees are sometimes lulled into and the fear that sometimes overwhelms business owners.

Contractors also have access to full medical, dental and 401K plans just like regular, full-time employees.

So, my question to you is: have you considered becoming a contractor?

Here are some of the signs that your career has hit a plateau:

• You are not being challenged at work: you have not worked on a project that challenges or stretches you for a long time
• Your skills have stagnated: your skills have stagnated because you no longer work on leading / cutting edge projects
• You have lost your sense of direction: you spend more time dealing with corporate politics and less time getting results
• You are not getting any recognition: you can’t seem to move up in your career or earn more money regardless of how hard you work
• You have a boring job: you dread going to work because you job is boring … boring … boring!

If have been affected by any of these situations, there is good news for you.

Becoming a contractor can lift the ceiling on your salary or provide you with more challenging work, without causing you to lose the best benefits of a full-time, permanent / regular job.

Here are some tips to help you create a successful contracting career

TIP #1: Build Your Contracting Career Around Marketable Skills

Analyze your local economy to find out the sectors that are hiring. Based on these sectors, you can figure out the type of contracting experience that is going to sell.

Note: One industry that hires professionals from all sorts of backgrounds is the “Web Development Industry”.

TIP #2: Manage The Longevity of Contracting Jobs

Contracting positions should be six months or longer. I would advice you to stay away from contracting jobs that are less than 6 months because they are just too short to get anything useful done.

When you hear that a contracting gig is less than six (6) months, you may need to walk away, because that kind of job may come with a lot of pressure to perform or a lot of stress.

Focus on long-term contracting jobs, except if you are starting from scratch or you are willing to work any job, just to succeed.

On the other hand, contracting jobs that last 1, 2 years or more are desirable because they offer just about as much security as regular, permanent, full-time jobs.

Contracting jobs have longevity. They may not last as long as full-time, permanent jobs but they last long enough to be meaningful!

TIP #3: Bill A Lot More!

How do contractors handle the shorter employment periods? They bill a lot more!

Assuming that as a business analyst contractor, you earn $65,000 (USD) or £41,675 (British Pounds).

When you become a contract business analyst, you may earn anywhere from 20 percent ($13,000 or £8,345) to 50 percent ($32,500 to £20,800) more .. without changing your career or going to college for a masters or post-graduate education!

Now, that extra money should not to be invested in your lifestyle, buying a bigger house or more cars. Instead, it should be put away in a savings, retirement or investment account because you will need it!

Contractors have to account for down-times. A down-time is the time between projects, contracts or jobs when a contractor is looking for the next gig, assignment or project.

Contractors may encounter down-times in between their assignments which last up to a month or longer.

A business-savvy contractor will use down-times to learn new skills or sharpen existing skills.

As a contractor, learning a new (marketable) skill or sharpening an existing skill, means that you will encounter less and less of a downtime and that you will be paid more money because you always bring the best skill-sets to your projects!

So, it is not uncommon to see contractors, earn 50% more than their full-time contemporaries because they have better, more marketable, sharper skills!

TIP #4: Contractors Don’t Have To Travel

Contrary to popular opinions, contractors are not really required to travel except when:

• They don’t have marketable skills and because of that, have to travel to different locations to get a good job
• They choose to travel because they like being on the road even though there are contracting jobs that do not involve traveling.

Keep in mind that the majority of employers will disclose any traveling requirements before you are hired.

I won’t advice that you to bring up the question of traveling except if it’s mentioned in the job posting or interview.

If traveling is mentioned, be frank and tell the employer during a face to face job interview, that you don’t want to travel because of personal or family commitments.

Contractors do not have to travel. So, if you find yourself traveling excessively, you either have the wrong skills or you are in the wrong job.

TIP #5: Contracting Does Not Negatively Affect Your Credit

As a contractor, you actually have a full-time job and your bank, financial institution or creditors can call your staffing company and verify your employment history or salary just as easily as if you were a regular, full-time employee.

If you are working for yourself, or you are billing the employer directly, you may have a tougher time getting credit because you are self-employed.

However, most contractors are employed with a staffing agency, so they really have a full-time, regular job just like everyone else.

Getting loans, credit or financing for a contractor is usually just as easy as getting credit for a full-time employee because contractors earn a lot more money and they probably have more savings, which means that their credit is just as good.

TIP #6: Manage Your Contracting Profile

Let’s say that you use the same staffing agency all the time, then your employment history / profile will look like that of a full-time, permanent employee even though you change clients often, because you are still employed with one staffing company.

However, if you change staffing agencies every time you change jobs, your work profile will look less stable and that may negatively affect your employment profile during a job interview or a credit check.

Fortunately, you have a good measure of control over which staffing agency you work for.

For starters, make sure that you work with a recruiter that you like and then stay in close communication with that recruiter throughout the life of your project.

Money Making TIP:Get your recruiter to start looking for new projects at least six (6) weeks before the exit date or the ending of your project and you will be able to transition from one job to another with zero or little down-time.

TIP #7: YES, Contractors Must Be Highly Skilled

Contractors are the most skilled, knowledgeable and experienced professionals on a project. That is why they are paid all those big bucks.

Being a contractor does not mean that you have spent a lot of years in the industry. It does not mean that you have more formal education or more certifications than your regular, full-time colleagues.

You do not need a post-graduate degree, an MBA or a computer science background to become a contractor because college education does not parallel the functional skills required for success in Information Technology jobs.

Being a contractor does means that you are performance minded or that you are obsessed about achieving results.

Read this post titled: “Can You Perform, Prove It!”

This post was written in answer to a question posted by a business analyst

This question was submitted to “ASK IT Career Coach” by a business analyst looking for advice on how to become a contractor.

If you have a challenging career situation, be sure to [Submit A Question] using our Free, Amazing, [Ask IT Career Coach] – Ask A Question Service.

For more information, read this post titled” Do You Want To Become A Consultant?”

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


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


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

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Success Principles: Discover Your Passion!

Do You Want To Live An Inspired Life?

First, discover your passion and work a job you really love.

Second, turn your passion into a set of excellent skills using practice tests or quizzes.

Third, bring your passion to the market using Push (emailing your branded resumes) or PULL Techniques (Social Media Marketing).

Here is a question for you; Do You Really Love Your Job?

In a study of how exceptional, world-class or, successful people are produced, Daniel Coyle in his book “The Talent Code” says that it takes a combination of concentrated, difficult, skill-building practice, motivation or inspiration and master coaching to achieve success.

Coyle’s point is that if a person is going to invest the amount of time and concentrated, difficult practice that produces a high-level of skill, that person will have to be deeply motivated or passionate about his or her work!

SUCCESS DOES NOT COME BY WORKING A JOB THAT PAYS MORE MONEY BUT BY FOCUSED, SKILL BUILDING PRACTICE.

Deep, Skill Building Practice

Deep practice is something most top athletes add to their training.

Deep practice is where they slow down their practice to unbelievably slow speeds just so that they can wrap their brains around the skill required of them and then practice with as much accuracy as possible.

Their goal is to practice perfect!

Think about it: top football teams study their plays over and over, slowly and in great detail on chalkboards in a classroom for hours on end before hitting the football fields.

And tennis camps in Russia do not allow young beginners to hit an actual tennis ball until they have developed a technically correct tennis swing at slower speeds.

Regardless of how much natural talent an athlete appears to have, most athletes will not reach the top unless they deep practice!

Deep practice is an obsessive, but focused, skill-building technique.

Read more on this post; “Deep Practice Journal”.

Passion, Motivation or Inspiration

In his book, Outliers, Gladwell interviewed Bill Gates, whose unique access to a computer at a time when they were not commonplace helped him succeed.

Gates passion for computing, drove him to access a high school computer in 1968 at the age of 13, and spend 10,000 hours programming on it before he was 23.

Without that access, Gladwell states that Gates would still be “a highly intelligent, driven, charming person and a successful professional”, but that he would not be worth US$50 billion.

The Beatles were so passionate about their craft that they performed live in Hamburg, Germany over 1,200 times from 1960 to 1964 and by the time they returned to England from Hamburg, Germany, ‘they sounded like no one else’.

The lesson to learn here is that:

It is only when you love what you do, that you will consciously try to improve your performance or work very hard at becoming very good.

If you do not love your work, you will not be able to make the type of exceptional, disciplined commitment required to be successful and if you are working just to pay your bills … you will never be exceptional!

The SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL people is that they choose the type of work they are deeply passionate about and they develop or perfect exceptional skills for their job using feedback, guidance or coaching.

For me, success means doing work that I love, developing my skills to the best of my abilities and helping or serving other people with my talent.

What does success mean for you? Here at ITCareerCoach, Success is a three part process that involves discovering your passion, developing your passion and bringing your passion to market.

1. Discover Your Passion: identify and focus more on the type of tasks that give you a sense of fulfillment, joy or happiness and that is also very valuable, useful or helpful to others, so you get paid.

   • Doing what you love maximizes the benefit you get from your working hours. Remember that we spend the majority of our waking hours at some type of work!

   • If you don’t do what you love, you will lack the motivation to perfect your skills.

     You will lack the energy you need to find out of the box solutions, you will not have the motivation you need to stay ahead of the technology or marketplace and you will lack the desire to become exceptional at your job.

     In other words, you will only produce “below average to average” results because you lack the passion for excellence.

   • Read more on this post: “Are You Inspired Enough?”

2. Develop Your Passion: sharpen your skills through continuous practice until you become highly skilled or exceptional at what you do.

   • Develop your skills so that they stand out with in the eyes of your clients, customers or employers.

   • Developing your skills through via deep-skill building practice maximizes your strengths and it allows you deliver valuable results or solutions to your customers or employer.

   • If you don’t develop your skill, someone else will become better than you and eventually take your market, job or business.

   • As an information technology (IT) professional, the primary method for developing or perfecting your skills is through the use of practice tests or quizzes.

   • Read more on this post: “Ace Job Interviews Using Practice Tests!”

3. Bring your Passion To Market: Become a leader by continuously sharing your passion with a community using a blog or a website.

   • Sharing your passion allows you to get real-world feedback on what is valuable to others and what is not.

     Even if when you are highly skilled or knowledgeable, you will lack the customer or real-world interaction that rounds off your knowledge.

   • It also helps you get paid for doing what you love. Sharing your knowledge, expertise, insight, skills or services with an online community allows others to get the maximum benefit from your work and it allows you to get the maximum pay or reward for your work.

   Read more on this post: “Become A Leader And Get The Job You Want!”

This is the internet age and you cannot hide behind mediocrity. If you are mediocre at your work, your boss will replace you with someone that is better skilled.

Or, if you are mediocre and you run a business, your customers will find a more passionate provider on the internet.

So the morale is; don’t be mediocre, be exceptional!

I will leave you with a few quotes from that summarizes this process from our participants.

“There is such a wealth of information out there that it can be overwhelming to someone trying to figure out what they need to know.

I mean, when you look in your local bookstore you will see a huge section of books to help, but what you won’t find is the insider information that will teach you exactly is the most profitable and what techniques you absolutely must know.

You also won’t find any resources that will give you the inside information about how to write a specific resume so you stand out from the crowd.

You also won’t find the inside information about what interview questions to expect and more importantly – how to answer them!

ITCareerCoach provides all this information, structured in such a way that it is easy to learn.

Each step builds on what you learned in the previous step so you never get overwhelmed.

What you will learn above everything else from ITCareerCoach is the sequencing … all life is made up of what, the same 6 proteins but it is the sequence that makes everything work and every animal different.

You will learn how to make your knowledge and skills work … that is the secret, the sequence: what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and for how long, so that it all make sense.

What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

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


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


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

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How To Jumpstart A Stalled Career!

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

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

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

Is your work everything you had hoped for?

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

Broaden Your Horizons

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

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

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

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

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

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

Upgrade your Skills

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

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

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

Do What You Love

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

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

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

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

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

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

Are You In The Right Place?

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

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

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

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

Does your company have a technology focus?

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

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

Do You Have A Career Path?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BOOST YOUR CONFIDENCE

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

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

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

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

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

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

THINK MORE ABOUT YOUR CAREER OPTIONS

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

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

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

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

WORK ON YOURSELF CONSTANTLY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PROMOTE YOURSELF

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

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

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

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

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

GET YOUR FAMILY TO SUPPORT

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

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

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

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

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

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what software should you-learn to become a business analyst?

[Ask IT Career Coach] is a Career Advice Newsletter for Information Technology (IT) professionals including business analysts, computer programmers, data analysts, database developers, technical writers, project managers and software testers.

If you, have a challenging question about your career, submit it here and we will answer yours just as we are answering this question submitted by a technical writer titled: What Software Do I Learn to Become A Business Analyst? …

Question

How do I learn or get the software knowledge that would make me a business analyst?

What types of software programs will I have to use on the job; and how do I learn these programs in a visual manner without having to refer to textbooks?

Answer:

You do not understand what a business analyst does and because of that you are mixing software jobs (like that of a computer programmer’s) with the business analyst’s job.

This mix-up is quite common because software oriented jobs are more common and better understood than business analyst jobs.

When you think of a computer programmer’s job, the picture that comes to mind is that of a highly skilled technology savvy professional who spends a lot of time building software programs, creating data entry forms and screens, designing websites or even installing desktop applications.

Unfortunately, when you think of business analysts, you also imagine that their duties or tasks are similar to those of computer programmers!

Because of this, you are wrongly associating the business analyst’s career with more software / technology careers like software testing, technical writing or computer programming.

So, in TODAY'S POST, I will contrast the role of a software tester, computer programmer, technical writer and business analyst to bring the point home.

What Does A Business Analyst Really Do?

The primary skills that business analysts use on the job are communication skills
(both written and verbal) unlike computer programmers, whose primary skills are tied to expertise in specific technologies like C#, Visual Basic, Java, PHP.

Business Analysts are highly-skilled or expert at communicating technology requirements with stakeholders, customer, power users or even technical teams (think software developers, software testers, web designers).

The primary communication tools used by business analysts while facilitating the requirements engineering process are Office productivity tools including Microsoft Word (for documenting requirements), Microsoft PowerPoint (for making presentations) and Microsoft Excel.

However, unlike computer programmer jobs, business analyst jobs are not required to be software or technology centered.

Don’t get me wrong!

Some job postings for business analysts require knowledge of software development languages like C# or Java or a software development background.

The business analysts that apply for these job postings are more accurately classified as Technical Business Analysts.

There are several domains or specializations available to business analysts (mortgage, financial, telecommunications / telco, automotive, healthcare, insurance) and technical business analysis is just one of these domains.

Read more about domain business analysts here:

However, the requirements for domain business analysts are not the same as the requirement for becoming a business analyst.

You are a business analyst first before you become a technical / domain business analyst.

So, don’t apply the role, responsibilities and requirements for the technical business analysis domain to all business analyst domains.

Competence or mastery of Microsoft Office Productivity software (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint) is a requirement for business analyst jobs even when it is not stated on the job posting.

A business analyst who uses Office Productivity software can document requirements with Microsoft Word, make PowerPoint presentations and run what-if analysis using Microsoft Excel.

Focusing on software skills beyond Microsoft Office software makes you more of a computer programmer than a business analyst.

For your information, here are some of the differences between computer programmer jobs and business analyst jobs.

Business Analysts Compared To Computer Programmers

• Business Analysts gather requirements while computer programmers build to specifications.

• Business Analysts document work flows and business processes while computer programmers model and build software programs that follow those workflows or business processes.

• Business analyst are hired for their written and verbal communication skills while computer programmers are hired for their expertise or skills in specific programming languages or technology platforms.

• A computer programmer's work is deeply invested in learning or using technology while a business analyst’s work is deeply invested in understanding, documenting and communicating business requirements.

• A business analyst’s primary software tool is Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint while a computer programmer’s primary software skill is knowledge of Java or C# or Visual Basic or PHP or other programming languages.

• Business Analysts document the requirements or features of software programs while computer programmers build software programs.

• Both the business analyst and software developer are involved with the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) for different reasons. While the business analyst owns the analysis and documentation of software requirements, the computer programmers owns the building of software programs.

• Read more about the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) here:

I am also going to contrast the role of business analysts with that of software testers and technical writers to bring this home.

Business Analysts Compared To Software Testers

• Software Testers are more hands-on with programming than business analysts.

  Software Testers are more skilled in programming because they sometimes have to write automated tests using scripting programming languages.

  A business analyst should not be required to write scripts or learn programming languages except in instances where they are applying for technical business analyst jobs.

  So, you cannot project the hands-on software skills requirements for software testers onto the hands-on skill requirements for business analysts.

• Software Testers write manual or automated tests that verify that software programs developed by computer programmers were written according to the specifications or requirements documented by business analysts.
• Software Testers have to test or inspect the procedures or functions written by computer programmers.

  For that reason, they may have to learn the basics of the programming language used in creating the software program.

  There is almost no value in business analysts inspecting a programmer’s code or even messing with it because Business Analysts do not have those competencies!

• Read more about Software Tester Careers here:

Business Analysts Compared To Technical Writers

• The skills exercised by technical writers are similar to that of business analysts in some respects.

  Both technical writers and business analysts exercise strong written communication skills.

  However, while a technical writer’s skill is useful for documenting the features of a software program after it is built, a business analyst’s skill is useful for documenting the features of a software program before it is built!

• A technical writer’s primary role is the documenting of existing software features, business processes, etc.

  Because of this, a technical writer may have to learn specific software programs (apart from MS Word or PowerPoint) to help them with create technical documentation like Help Files, Software Manuals, etc.

  The technical writing industry is such that job postings require knowledge of specific software documentation tools.

  However, this must not be confused with the software requirements for business analysts.

  Business Analysts are not technical writers and the business analyst’s job does not require knowledge of specific software programs apart from the ubiquitous (Microsoft Office, MS Word, MS Excel or MS PowerPoint).

• While the technical writing industry is componentized along the lines of software documentation tools (Adobe PageMaker, Adobe Frame Maker, Adobe Acrobat, Quark Xpress, Corel Ventura), the business analyst industry is segmented along the lines of domain specialization (financial, utilities, web / user interface (UI) business analysts, etc.).

• Read More about Technical Writer Careers:

What Does It Really Take To Become A Business Analyst?

The requirements for business analysts’ jobs are primarily documentation, requirements analysis and communication (both written and verbal).

While it is common for a business analyst to spend his / her time, preparing PowerPoint presentations, taking meeting notes using Microsoft Word or writing Use Cases in plain-old Microsoft Word, it is common for a computer programmer / software tester / technical writer to spend the same amount of time coding new program features / documenting bugs / documenting the features of a software program.

A business analyst must be 100% comfortable in his / her role as a communicator, presenter, leader, facilitator or analyzer without feeling the need to learn more software tools!

How To Get Hired For A Business Analyst Job – Case Study

Some time ago, I was hired to help an Information Technology (IT) director put together a software development team for a financial software project in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.

In that role, we posted a senior business analyst job opening and then started interviewing qualified business analysts.

The business analyst I interviewed and recommended got the job because she did something different from the other business analysts who applied for the same job.

She walked into the interview with a bound, spiral document that showcased the comprehensiveness, thoroughness and versatility of several business documents she had created for one automotive client in the Greater Saint Louis region.

She did not get hired because of what she said at the business analyst job interview or because of the software experience listed on her resume.

She got the business analyst job, by showcasing her hands-on business analysis skills.

What differentiated her was a compilation of various types of business analysis documents she had worked on for an automotive client in the Greater Saint Louis area.

The financial client hired her as an Information Technology (IT) business analyst for a financial software project because they connected with the hands-on, visual depiction of her business analysis skills exemplified by her Microsoft Word based portfolio.

My final advice?

Don’t approach the business analyst industry based on how the software testing, technical writing or computer programmer industries work.

Remove false associations between the business analyst’s role (primarily written and verbal analysis or communication of requirements) and the hands-on skill requirements for software testers, technical writers or computer programmers.

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Tapping Into Your Magical Hiring Powers

As a Career Coach, I come across questions or discussions from job seekers “looking for recruiter who can get them a job“.

From the way these statements are worded, it seems that all it takes for the job seeker to get a job is finding a recruiter with magical hiring powers.

But, is it really true?

Do recruiters have hiring powers and how much of the success or failure of the job search depends on the recruiter’s magical hiring powers?

In this post, I will clarify the recruiter’s role and show you how to tap into the magical hiring powers available to job search candidates!

1. Recruiters Are Gatekeepers
   

   Recruiters, staffing agencies or placement services simply screen and then forward resumes to employers / clients.

   A placement service will forward your resume to the client / employer if you have performed jobs in the past related to the job posting.

   If the employer is picky about resumes or complains about the quality / number of job candidates, the staffing / placement service will raise the requirements for submission.

   But keep in mind that recruiters do not exclusivity to job postings in a broad sense because you can always forward your resume to employers, have a staffing agency do it for you or do both.

2. Recruiters Are Lie Detectors
   

   Generally speaking, many recruiters in the Information Technology (IT) industry do not have a technical background.

   They have not worked with or used the tools listed on your resume / job posting and cannot really say whether you are qualified or not.

   So, what they do is check your resume to see if it will pass a very basic, unsophisticated lie detector.

   Recruiters want to know such things like: where you have worked, what titles you held and whether you are eligible t work for the client.

   Note: when working with recruiters, take the extra step of convincing them that your resume and background is a good fit, because they may not be able to tell the difference!

3. Can Staffing Agencies Claim Exclusivity?
   

   Generally, employers will use multiple staffing agencies and then use their own internal hiring team to narrow the pool of resumes down to a few candidates who would be interviewed or hired.

   An Employer may also decide to be discreet about the hiring process and use only one staffing agency.

   But even in this case, the staffing agency does not make a hiring decision. All the placement service can do for you is forward your resume to the employer.

4. Who Makes Hiring Decisions?
   

   In all cases, it’s the employer’s internal hiring team / manager that makes the hiring decision and not the placement / staffing agency.

   Recruiters do not have magical hiring powers and you cannot base your job search on claims of exclusivity by a recruiter.

   Remember that the job search process is a democratic process and that you, the staffing agency and the employer all participate or play active roles in the process.

Discover Magic In A Law Of Numbers

One of the most important laws in the hiring process is the law of numbers.

This law says that “the more resumes you submit and job interviews you take, the greater your chances of getting hired!”

The law of numbers gives you magical hiring powers because the more recruiters, staffing or placement agencies you submit your resume to … the greater are your chances of getting hired.

So, my advice is, don’t look up to recruiters, staffing / placement agencies instead, look-up to yourself by tapping into your own magical hiring powers!

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How To Learn .NET Programming In Six (6) Months And Get A Job

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

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

Hi My name is Josh Kemp I am 26 married and self employed currently, I have read almost half of “Learn .Net 3.5 in 24 hours” by SAMs.

I like it so far I’ve also done a very little of python and enjoyed that.

I am going to be done the 3.5 .Net book by July 4th doing a chapter a day after my day job.

I am willing to work hard and study and take your software developer bootcamp.

I like your website I love all the information. When should I take the Software Developer Bootcamp?

After I finish the current book? Where do I go after the Bootcamp?

Is it possibe to land a job here in the Northern Virginia area …I would obviously have less then 2 years experience.

Thank You for your advice, and all the very informative articles. Josh Kemp

Is It Possible To Get An Entry Level .NET Programmer Job In Six (6) Months?

The answer to this question is YES because of the high demand for competent or skilled Microsoft .NET Software Developers in the Information Technology (IT) Industry.

The demand for skilled computer programmers is so high that the US for example uses a unique H1B Visa program to fill Software Developer job vacancies.

Unlike what obtains with other careers, even within the Information Technology industry, a lot of software developer positions go unfilled and to fulfill the backlog of Computer Programmer Job Vacancies, a lot of foreign national are hired to work in the USA as computer programmers every year!

Now I want to stress this … the current demand for skilled computer programmers does not extend to every programming language under the sun.

I mean, some programming languages like Perl, Python, Cobol, Foxpro, Clipper are not in demand.

In other words, you have to choose the right programming languages otherwise you career will end up being as dead as the Dodo.

Even though Microsoft .NET Software Developer Jobs can pay between $60,000 – $100,000 for less than two (2) years of experience, they are still hard to fill because computer programming as a career has been mystified.

It is the misconceptions or myths and the computer programming career that stops people like you from pursuing a rewarding career as a computer programmer …

Do You Believe The Myths About Computer Programming

Do you believe the myths, half truths or outright lies about the computer programming career? They read like this:

1. You need a formal Math, Computer Science or Technology background to become a computer programmer

2. You need to learn computer programming in a formal college environment

3. Computer Programming is difficult to learn because it involves mastering low-level programming languages like C/C++, Assembly Language, etc.

4. All the computer programming jobs in the USA are either outsourced or about to be outsourced

5. It takes years to become a competent computer programmer because mastering programming languages is difficult

6. All programming languages are equal, in other words, it doesn’t matter which programming language you learn

If you think that any of these myths is true, then your career is headed for deep waters.

While these myths may be true for careers in medicine, law, etc. they are not true and they do not apply especially to computer programming careers.

Let me start by debunking these myths one by one.

1. You don’t need a formal math, computer science or technology background to learn programming

   There are lots of computer programmers with Music, Arts, Humanities, Social Science or Business backgrounds because becoming a computer programmer is not tied to understanding computer science but to learning specific software tools like Microsoft Visual Studio or Languages like PHP, C# or Visual Basic .NET or even Office Productivity Tools like Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access!

2. You don’t need to learn computer programming in a formal college environment

   Colleges are focused on teaching the science of computer programming which is not what makes you a computer programmer.

   What makes you a computer programmer is acquiring practical skills & handson experience in specific software languages especially does that are in high demand.

   For example, high school graduate who spends 4 years building websites with HTML, XHTML, CSS, ASP.NET, Csharp (C#) is a computer programmer regardless of the lack of a formal college degree.

3. Computer Programming Is Easy To Learn!

   Back in the days when computer programming languages like C/C++, Clipper, Foxpro, Cobol or even Assembly Language where the only viale options for building software applications, learning computer programming was a long, painful task and the image of programming as a tedious, boring, geeky job was perhaps justified!

   But with the advent of Microsoft Visual Basic and Microsoft Access, computer programming became a fast paced, exciting, cutting edge job.

   Computer Programmers now work on fashionable, high profile projects like designing and coding Blogs, Social Media Networks and E-Commerce Websites.

4. Computer Programmers now have multiple career options

   Computer Programmers may focus exclusively on designing websites using only HTML & CSS, building databases using Microsoft Access, customizing Office Productivity Tools like Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) or on building enterprise, highly scalable and reliable websites using ASP.NET, Csharp (C#), Sql Server, HTML, CSS !

   With programming languages like Microsoft C#, ASP.NET and Sql Server, the time to market for Computer Programming Projects has now been shortened to weeks instead of years and competent computer programmers have no shortage of clients, projects, opportunities or work as long as they are willing to work very hard.

5. The Outsourcing of Programming Jobs Is Not An Issue!

   It is true that some companies are outsourcing computer programmer jobs since highly skilled developers in the USA can command as much as six (6) figure salaries.

   However the cost of hiring competent computer programmers living in developing nations is rising because these software developers are either immigrating back to the US or asking for bigger salaries in their home country thereby raising the cost of doing business with them.

   In addition, outsourcing costs are also increasing because US employers have to continue investing in the administrative, project management, business analysis and software testing facilities required to make outsourced projects work.

   And there are several cases where outsourced projects are brought back to the US because the projects were not managed properly because of language, time or cultural differences between how we do do business.

   With all this in mind, the future for computer programmers living anywhere in the world including the United States is bright and the job outlook is comparable or better than what obtains in many other careers.

6. Computer Programming Languages Are Not Equal

   Computer Programming languages are not equal in the number of career opportunities they will provide you with.

   For example, while Mainframe Computer Programmers are currently experiencing a shortage in the demand for their skills, Microsoft .NET Developers with real-world web development expertise are currently in high demand.

   If you don’t waste your time learning languages like Python, Cobol, Perl and instead focus on becoming highly skilled and experienced in Microsoft ASP.NET, Csharp (C#), SQL Server and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET … you will be able to get a well-paying job in the current economy even if you only have six (6) months of experience.

Tips For Getting A Microsoft .NET Developer Job In 6 Months

Here are some practical tips for getting a Microsoft .NET Developer Job with as little as six (6) months of strong hands-on experience:

• First learn everything that you can about these programming languages: Microsoft ASP.NET, SQL Server, CSharp (C#), CSS, HTML, XHTML

• Work on completing at least one (1) Web Development Project started by you or someone else using the programming languages: Microsoft ASP.NET, SQL Server, CSharp (C#), CSS, HTML, XHTML

• Take a lot of practice tests on the following programming languages: Microsoft ASP.NET, SQL Server, CSharp (C#), CSS, HTML, XHTML

• Market your resume to a lot of recruiters and staffing agencies when you start your job search.

  Use a website like Dice.com to research the number of programming jobs in your city and if there isn’t a lot of them, consider relocating!

That is it! Follow these few simple steps to get a Microsoft .NET programming job in as little as six (6) months ...

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This post was submitted by joshkemp.

How To Overcome Lack of References

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

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

Here Is A Job Search, Resume & Job Interview Coaching Question

Worked for a private company for 12 years. All 18 other employees quit through time and I was left alone the last two years with the CEO trying to save the company.

I had finally to quit under bad terms. The CEO spoke very highly of my abilities, but I do not dare name him as a reference under the circumstances.

My references are mainly European companies we did business with but no specific individuals.

Any ideas as to how I can address the lack of business references in my resume and interviews?

• When Are References Needed In The Hiring Process?

  Do you realize that you don’t need to provide references for verification purposes until you actually have a job offer?

  It is kind of putting the horse before the cart to focus on or worry about references before you actually have a job because that is the last step in the hiring process.

  Now, some recruiters and staffing agencies will try and reverse the hiring order by asking for references when you submit a resume!

  You have a few options: You may ask the recruiter to verify the references only after you are given a job offer and you accept it.

  This is important because if you manage to get a few references and then submit your resume to 20 jobs, you don’t want your references to receive 20 phone calls each!

  If you subject your references to that number of phone calls … you are allowing recruiters / staffing agencies to abuse the hiring process and your references will probably feel harassed and ask you to desist from using their names before you even get a job offer.

  So my advice is: treat your few references like they are gold and don’t subject them to unnecessary harassment, abuse or phone calls.

  The other route that you may take with recruiters who ask for references before they offer you a job is to tell them that you will provide that when you have an actual job offer!

• Don’t Over Think The Reference Process

  From your question, I think that you may be putting an undue burden on yourself and over-thinking the reference and hiring process.

  It used to be that job candidates will include their references in their resume or use a line like … “references available upon request“.

  I would say that is really old school to use that line.

  Don’t mention your references on your resume and don’t even bother to say that you will furnish references upon request because that is just too early in the process.

  There is one exception to this rule. If you are filling an employment application form and you are not using a staffing agency, you may have to include a few references.

  In this situation, I will say that you may include anyone you know professionally.

• Work Your Professional Contacts

  Do not focus just on managers, include your co-workers and even subordinates in your search for references.

  Join LinkedIn, and take the time to get in touch with every company that you have worked for in your professional life or who you provided services to at any point in time in your career.

  Once you get your contacts sorted out, call and talk to each of them or e-mail them for a reference and you would be surprised how many people will be ready to give you a job reference

  If you work through all your contacts, you will find a few people that will give you references, unless you are an absolute, total jerk … and I know you are not one because jerks don’t hang out at my blog

  I believe that if you work through all your professional contacts, you will find at least three (3) people who will be willing to give you a good reference.

• Don’t obsess over the quality of your reference.

  If your CEO spoke highly of your abilities, you should used him except if he is standing trial for crime, fraud or something crazy like that.

  If the reason why you are hesitating to use your CEO is that your company went bankrupt or became insolvent and then I will say that you should use him because companies go bankrupt all the time and those same CEOS will be hired to start a new company by another group of shareholders … that is how business gets done!

  So, don’t shut yourself out of the hiring game by taking things too personal.

My final advice is this .. don’t carry the responsibility for the failure of your company around with you.

If your CEO wants to give you a good reference, be very grateful for that because a CEO’s reference carries a lot of weight even in the circumstances that you described as long as your CEO is not facing charges for illegal conduct.

So, that is it my friend … free yourself from all that false responsibility and go get the job you want!

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This post was submitted by mina_g.

How To Become A Faster Programmer?

This post answers the question of “how to write or code faster in ASP.NET, C#, .NET Framework or Visual Studio” or any computer programming language.

If you have a question about your computer programmer or software developer career, post it here and I will answer it for you, just like I am answering this computer programmer’s question today!

How To Become A Faster Computer Programmer

Compared to PHP or classic Visual Basic Programming, the .NET Framework (C#, VB.NET, ASP.NET) is a big, enterprise class library.

The sheer size of .NET Framework, makes it hard to master or wrap your head around easily, which can create a feeling of insecurity or instability.

In this post, I will coach on programming practices that will help you write ASP.NET and C# Code faster, resulting in you feeling better or more secure about your programming career!

Coding Under Pressure Will Not Make You Faster!

Your inability to code fast may starts from you not taking the time to study or master the .NET Programming Language before getting a job.

As a result, you are forced to study the programming language at work where you are constantly under pressure to produce results!

Computer programmers with a computer science or engineering degree may fail to master the .NET Framework Programming Language because they assume that their college education is enough for a real-world programming job!

Don’t let your formal education cause you to underrate the complexity of a modern, enterprise programming language like the .NET Framework!

If this describes your situation, STOP whatever you are doing right now and make a concerted effort to study or master .NET Framework for at least 6 months or you will get completely discouraged or even quit altogether because of the complexity of the language!

Staying Ahead Of Technology Will Make You Faster!

While a computer programming career pays well, it is also a fast paced career that is constantly evolving because of new technology.

The only way you can stay ahead of the technology curve, is to develop a reading and studying habit that is second to none.

Listen, regardless of how much pressure you face at work, you will never be able to code code faster or more confidently, if you don’t dedicate a serious amount of time on a daily or consistent basis to mastering the .NET Framework Programming Library!

As a programmer, you are expected to have sharp skills or stay on the edge of the technology curve.

The only way that you will be able to keep up, is to dedicate consistent, serious blocks of time to mastering the .Net Framework Programming Language instead of trying to wing it at work!

Writing More Code Will Not Make Your Faster!

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that you can master a programming language like .NET Framework by writing more code or working on lots of projects because you will end up repeating all of your bad coding practices or mistakes all over the place!

It is a mistake to assume that you can just jump into coding with an enterprise programming language like .NET Framework and become a fast programmer without careful thought, planning or taking out the time to study or master the programming language.

Here is my advice; make it your #1 priority (not your #2 or #3) to study everything that you can about the .NET Framework Library.

Keep in mind that this library is large and that there are several parts to it : (CSharp, ASP.NET, .NET Framework, etc.).

Taking the time to master the library used in any programming language will actually help you code faster or better.

Writing more code will not make you a faster programmer. Studying and understanding a programming language to the point where it’s usage is committed to your memory will make you a faster, better and more confident computer programmer!

Taking Lots Of Practice Tests Will Make You Faster!

Here is another technique that will help you learn or master C#, ASP.NET, .NET Framework or any programming language extremely well … practice tests!

Click here to read more about how Practice Tests Can Boost Your Skills

That is why in our Online Software Developers Boot Camp Training, we use Practice Tests to coach or train the software developers enrolled in the program.

Practice tests are useful for boosting your retention, recall and understanding of programming languages and not just for certifications!

So, you have it … how to become a better, more confident or expert programmer!

Follow the coaching advice in this post and your self-confidence will improve as you start writing better, faster code!

Click here to read the original question submitted by Anil titled: “How To Write C#, ASP.NET Code Faster?” or Click Here To Submit A New Question about your Software Developer Career.

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Make your Knowledge or Skills Work

There is such a wealth of information out there that it can be overwhelming to someone trying to figure out what they need to learn.

I mean, when you look in your local bookstore you will see a huge section of books to help, but what you won’t find is the insider information that teaches you exactly the most profitable techniques or what you absolutely must know.

You also won’t find any resources that will give you the inside information about what you need to know so that you stand out from the crowd.

You also won’t find the inside information about what to expect at information technology job interviews and more importantly – how to answer them!

Our online online career coaching or online training classes provides this information and more.

And not only that, but it is structured in such a way that it is easy to learn. Each step builds on what you learn in the previous step so you never get overwhelmed.

Here is how we help make knowledge and skills work.

Learn Whenever – Why Not Learn At Your Own Time?

You may login to our learning management system (LMS) and take your training at a time that is convenient for you.

And you don’t have to worry about following our timetable or rearranging your schedule to meet our class schedules ever!

Open Enrollment – Let the Scheduling Work for You

Registration for our online classes is always open and because of this, you may enroll at any time.

This is quite unlike other vendors that force you to enroll on specific days or restrict enrollments to their own schedule.

Pause & Resume – Take A Break When You Want

You may pause or resume your training at will and you will never be penalized for doing that.

Use this to catch up with pressing work or life commitments and for taking vacations or time off.

This is in contrast to rigid classroom training that forces you to start or finish your at the same time as everyone else!

Progress Monitoring – How Are You Doing?

As you complete learning activities like quizzes and assignments, your grade is recorded in real-time on an online report card that doubles as your virtual transcript.

Your online report card gives a measurable, objective assessment of how you are doing at a glance.

Virtual Coaching – What Do You Want To Learn?

Your ability to post questions for your course instructor as you learn or progress through your material differentiates our training from other vendors that dump videos on you or leave you to figure it out by yourself!

Our instructors do not walk away because online collaboration is built right into our learning management system (LMS) as part of our core service offering and not as an afterthought!

Real Learning – Resources For Work

Did you know that you still retain login access to our learning management system even after your training is completed?

This access allows you to watch your training videos as often as you want or use those videos as a reference resource on the job!

For Utter Beginners or Experienced Professionals

Our classes take you from novice or utter beginner to advanced level topics in a step by step fashion with each lesson building on the topics taught in previous lessons so you don’t feel overwhelmed or dumped on!

We make no assumptions about your background and that is why we also teach all the pre-requisite knowledge as part our classes.

Practice Tests – Better or More Effective Online Learning

Use the online quizzes integrated into our learning management system (LMS) to improve your retention, comprehension or recall for work or job interview purposes.

Retrieval based tests have been scientifically proven to boost your ability to learn new information and that is why we recommend or use them.

In other words, taking our practice tests will help reduce the learning curve typically associated with mastering new concepts.

Assignments – Bridging the Gap Between Knowledge and Practice

We provide assignments similar to those performed on the job so that you get handson practice at solving problems.

Assignments matter because they help you practice putting your knowledge or skills to work in a safe, virtual environment before you tackle them in the real world.

Bridging that gap between what you know and what you can do, helps you become better, more confident and successful at work!

Comprehensive Learning – Stay Ahead of the Technology Curve

Information Technology (IT) skills easily become rusty or out-dated because of the rapid pace of technological change.

Besides, information changes so quickly and so often that keeping up with is a challenge for everyone.

But now, with our comprehensive online curriculum, you may enroll and catchup with what you really need to know just by signing up for a class!

Social Learning – Research Best Practices

While our private discussion groups are for you and the course instructors only, our public study groups are for you and other participants registered for the same course.

Use our public discussion groups for researching best practices employed at other organizations or for learning from other participants who may contribute helpful solutions challenges or problems facing you at work.

Affordable, Convenient & Effective Learning

Our online coaching or training offers are all based on the same premise:

Anyone (regardless) of their background should be able to learn from any location in the world at any time of the day or night that fits their geographic, life or work commitments.

• We make learning more affordable by combining the information you need including both entry level and advanced topics in one course.

• Our private, web-based, learning management system allows you to enroll when you want or pause and resume your training at your own convenience.

• Using practice tests which have been scientifically proven to boost your ability to retain, recall or understand new material, we make your learning more effective.

Right now, we are fulfilling coaching and training services for a world-wide information technology audience which includes course participants from USA, Canada, UK, Australia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, South Africa and several other countries … so why don’t you join us?

Let us help make your knowledge or skills work. Our secret is the sequence: what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and for how long, so that it all make sense.

So, why not enroll right now in an online career coaching or online training class and learn how to make your knowledge or skills work?

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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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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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Learn a Top 100 Most Marketable Skill

As a career coach one of the challenges that many of my clients face is that of learning the most marketable skills in the current job market.

An example is a client that I will call John who has been looking for a while even though he has an advanced management degree (MBA).

He wonders why he’s constantly getting turned down for business analyst jobs even though he is certain of this: most of those getting hired are less educated than him!

John is having a hard time seeing why despite his impressive educational qualifications, his skill sets are still not in alignment with business analyst job postings.

John’s problem is that he is still viewing the job market from his perspective and not from the employers. If he can just change his perspective, his situation will improve dramatically!

John is not alone in this regard because just like him, we also hold on to our cherished opinions until a personal crisis forces us to objectively evaluate them.

However, if John does not confront his personal beliefs or change how he approaches the job market, he may not fulfill his potential career wise!

He will have to either leave his traditional way of thinking for a more modern, objective view point or remain in his comfort zone with nothing to show for his beliefs!

New Research Data On the Top 100 Most Marketable Skills

I start off my career coaching for some clients by asking them to take an objective look at the demand for their skills in the current job market.

This is because the constantly changing face of culture or technology causes a misalignment of skills in the employment market.

So market research is needed to highlight those skill gaps which must be bridged for one to become an in-demand professional again.

In today’s career defining post, I will show you how to research the skills that are most currently in-demand so that you can get back into your game.

Did you know that the last recession and resulting layoffs was a big boost to the online job market?

To survive the financial downturn, both employers and job candidates turned to the online employment industry in record numbers at a time when the traditional employment market was grinding to a standstill.

In the fourth quarter of 2010, a report produced by an online employment agency shows that the four (4) biggest industries employing online workers were:

1. The Information Technology (IT) / Software Development Industry

2. The Creative / Web Design Industry

3. The Internet Marketing Industry

4. The Office Administration Industry

Which Jobs Are Most Indemand Online?

This report is important because it shows the most indemand skills that employers are hiring for in the fourth quarter of 2010.

This type of report will help you make decisions based on real-world data and not based on opinions or subjective interpretation of the job market.

Here are the jobs that are most in-demand based on an analysis of hiring in the fourth quarter of 2010.

#1 In-demand Job: Information Technology Industry

The information technology / software development market is the biggest employer of labor.

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of online job postings are in the Information technology / Software Development industry which primarily employs web developers, web designers, computer programmers, sql query writers, database developers and mobile phone developers.

Keep in mind that this industry also traditionally employs Information Technology (IT) business analysts, project managers and software testers who are charged with the success of software development / information technology projects.

The online employment market is weighed in favor of the Information Technology (IT) Industry and of computer programmers with PHP, MySQL, C#, ASP.NET, .NET Framework, Sql Server, Sql, HTML/XHTML, CSS, Javascript skills.

#2 In-demand Job: Creative / Web Design Industry

Creative jobs are the second most popular jobs (24%) posted by online employers.

Creative jobs may require skills in web design, illustration and graphic / web design software packages like Adobe Photosho, Flash, ActionScript, Adobe AfterEffects, etc.

The creative or web design industry traditionally hires professionals who can create logos, banners, website themes, illustrate comic books or websites, create cartoons, comic characters, interactive elements of web pages, animations or even movies.

The web design industry also traditionally employs web business analysts, project managers or software testers with strong handson domain experience in the web design / web development industry.

#3 In-demand Job: Internet Marketing Industry

While the software development / information technology industry is the highest employer of labor, the online internet marketing industry is experiencing the highest growth surge because of the increasing investment in social networking projects for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

What this also means is that the marketing department in many organizations are employing or spending money on social networking / social media platform projects.

So strong skills in this sector of the indusstry can put your career back online because that is where the marketing dollars are going right now!

The combined spending on online branding, media and customer acquisition, affiliate marketing, search engine marketing and social networking places the Internet Marketing Industry in the third position in the list of the biggest online employers of labor.

#4 In-demand Job: Office Administration Industry

The Office / Administration industry provides about six percent (6%) of the jobs posted in the online employment job market.

This industry hires for data entry, general office and computer skills, customer service and telephone services amongst others.

So How Do Begin To Learn A Marketable Skill?

You have read my analysis of the online employment job market based on the 2010 fourth quarter report from one of the online employment agencies, right?

My Free Report which you may download below contains more of my analysis of the top 100 most marketable skills and how to position your career to take advantage of them.

Next, practice the first of three (3) success principles that will align your skills with the online hiring needs of employers.

Success Principle: Learn a Marketable Skill

You may have your own ideas about which industries you want to work for ... but it is better to consider the industries that are most likely to hire you!

This is sometimes a question of whether you want to stay idle until your perfect job opportunity opens up or do what it takes to align your skills with the current job market and start earning an income?

Here is something to consider: learn skills that closely matches your personality, background, interests, education or training from the list of the top 100 most marketable skills online.

Download and read the FREE Report below … and if you need help with learning one of the top 100 most marketable skills, get in touch with us here.

For example, if you learn skills that align you with the software development / information technology industry, internet marketing, creative or office / administrative industry, you are making an informed decision based on data.

If your goal is to start earning an income in the shortest possible time, then learn a marketable skill from an industry that is hiring, OK?

For example, though the Information Technology (IT) industry is the highest employer of online labor, learning a computer programming skill like perl, which is not currently in top demand by employers, puts you out of the hiring game.

Whenever you learn a skill that is not marketable, you make it harder for yourself to get hired … and the less marketable your skills are, the harder you will have to work to get a job.

The Law of Numbers: Don’t put yourself out of the game by doing your own thing.

Make a data based decision by learning one of the top 100 most marketable skills today!

Download the FREE Report below and read my three (3) principles on aligning your skills with job market by learning.

When you download and read the FREE Report below, you will also learn about the top 100 most marketable skills in the online industry.

Click Here To Read the Newly Updated FREE Report

Click Here To Get A Top 100 Online Marketable Skill

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There is a lot of good career advice on this blog. This advice is for all you good people that have been so kind as to listen to me.

I am always interested in hearing from you, especially after you put my advice to work.

Today’s post is just a reminder to put my advice to work because it works.

Here is an email from a reader who got a JOB by doing what I say:

Hi, I kept reading your articles about the IT career to choose.

I was doing Field Service Engineering (Desktop support) and since when I was in school I have always in love with programming.

While I worked, I studied Intro to Java and Advanced J2ee and my wishful java career open right in front of my eyes.

I wanted to evolve from support to development so, I kept reading on how developers are getting paid and what to do to get your first java job without an industrial experience.

A company was looking for java devs and I applied and bam! in my face, my second interview for the java developer and I did my best during my interview and their assessment and got the JOB.

Thankx alot guys, I appreciate your work and your coaching is too valuable …

It’s Not What You Know It’s What You Do

Dear Friend,

When you read my article, take your pen and paper and jot down either things that you will do differently or questions that you want to ask me based on the information I’m given you.

Remember that reading all this precious advice is not enough. You’ve got to put it into practice and REAP the benefits in your career!

Thanks again for hanging out on my website, reading my blog posts daily and using my advice

I appreciate you

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Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses

That being said, there are pros and cons to attending college and a right / wrong mindset that you need to be aware of.

In a new book, “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses,” sociologists Richard Arum of New York University and Josipa Roksa of the University of Virginia, are of the opinion that “College Students in the US are not learning Much“

Reporting on a study of more than 2,300 undergraduates they discovered that 45 percent of students show no significant improvement in the key measures of critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing by the end of their sophomore years.

Based on the findings of the report, it looks like students who work hard, drain their personal or parent’s savings and take on a huge debt to go to college … are not getting what they paid for!

Click here to read the article titled: College Students Not Learning Much

I believe that college is worth the money, if you know how to get the best out of it.

Here is my advice on the matter:

1. Go to college to expand your mind: Study a topic that you are really curious about and intellectually invested in.

   While you are at college, seek to understand or learn or acquire knowledge as a means to personal enlightenment and not as a means to making more money or finding a job.

2. Go to college to study your passion: Study a science or art that you genuinely want to make a heartfelt contribution to.

   The process of trying to make a contribution to your industry will let you know if you are passionate enough about it or if you have the goods to succeed in that industry.

   If you can’t think of a way to improve the industry while you are surrounded by volumes of books and some of the smartest folks in the world, then you may be studying for the wrong career!

3. Go to college to connect with your industry: Use your time in college to connect with or network with potential employers.

   Get a real-world part-time or full-time job and do something practical along the lines of your career regardless of whether you get paid for it or not.

   The feedback that you get from a real-world job is invaluable! It allows you to get the type of handson experience or practical skills that results in a good offer after graduation.

4. Do not go to college to get a job: Going to college solely for the purpose of getting a job is a waste of your time and money.

   You will not learn any real-world skills from college and you will probably not learn much from your college studies either as the authors:p Arum and Roksa point out.

5. Going to college does not entitle you to a career: I have hired, worked with and advised college graduates who are basically adrift in their careers because they assume that they are entitled to a career because they have for example a computer science college degree.

   These group of people find it very very hard to empty themselves of their preconceived notions of what society owes them and they typically have too high an opinion of themselves to start from the bottom or build their career up!

   They are typically very opinionated, very low in practical skills or experience and very high in expectations of what they will earn or what their skills will command in the market.

Going to college can be worth the money, if you have the right set of expectations about what it offers or will not offer you.

While in college, endeavor to widen your mind, your horizons and your vision.

Finally make the best use of your time in college by working on real world projects so that you can build the relevant skills or experience before you graduate.

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Oracle Or Microsoft Access, Which Is Better For Me?

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

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

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

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

My goals were:

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

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

Business Analysis

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

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

Network Administration

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

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

Systems Programming

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

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

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

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

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

Enterprise Database Software

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Low Cost of Learning

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

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

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

Low Learning Curve

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

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

Accelerated Time To Market

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

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

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

Dear Friend,

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

So, what works and what doesn’t?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. Learn a marketable skill

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Survivors Guide To Overcoming Unemployment

I realized right away, that what she lacked was an understanding of how the IT job / career market works. The sort of information that is generally omitted in schools because no one thinks it is important enough.

So, after she shared her story with me, I did some research and came to the startling conclusion that she was not alone.

I discovered that there was a big gap in our educational system and I am not just talking about schools, but staffing / recruiting / training agencies as well.

The problem was that all the players were in a hurry to make ends meet and no one really cared about the professional whose career or job was at stake.

For example, recruiters / staffing agencies will only work with you when your skills and experience matches that required on a job posting.

They will not think of helping you bridge the gaps in your skills, resume or experience or advancing your career further through coaching and mentoring.

So I started educating people on how to thrive or succeed in the Information Technology (IT) world and as a result this website (www.it-career-coach.net) was born.

Today, I have been giving another unique opportunity to help because a number of you are talking to me about their unemployment situations or asking for my advice or suggestions along those lines.

I want to say, thank you to everyone who has been talking to me about their unemployment situations.

I appreciate the trust you place in me and more importantly, your courage in talking about it!

I am dedicating the “FREE Survivors Guide To Overcoming Unemployment” below to those of you who are out of work..

Please download and read this career guide and learn how to survive unemployment or get productive by earning an income again.

I retain all the copyrights to this career guide. However, you have my permission to distribute it or share it with anyone (friends, strangers, colleagues, etc) or post it anywhere.

Download The Survivors Guide To Overcoming Unemployment Below

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

Here is a question that illustrates the challenges facing us as we try to find a worthwhile career.

I am a recent college grad who has come to the realization that I wasted time and money in a psychology degree with nothing to show for it.

I have always had an interest in computers, and recently developed a strong desire to possibly move into the computer industry (mainly b/c of google android and my passion for cell phones).

The problem is, i have no formal background, I don’t know where to start, and most articles I’ve read say don’t ruin your hobby by making it your job.

I respectfully seek more information about how to transition into this industry (really into cell phones) regardless of time, money or energy (seeing all I do at work and home is play with roms on my cell phones and dismantle them to discover their contents).

What I have though of so far is going and getting another bachelors (i love to learn; actually what I do best), going to a trade school (ITT, DeVry, etc.) or getting some type of certification, but I don’t know whats best. Any help would be appreciated.

Do You REALLY Need a College Degree to Get a Programming Job?

Congratulations, you have just made an important discovery; which is that it is more important for you to discover and develop your passion than to postpone it for a college degree.

However, don’t lose heart because your time has not been completely wasted.

While you do not absolutely need a college degree to get a computer programming job, some managers will view your college degree as proof of your ability to set a goal and achieve it.

According to Esther Schindler, having a major in a non-computer science discipline can actually work in your favor.

Read more about this in this article titled “Do You REALLY Need a College Degree to Get a Programming Job?“: http://bit.ly/2XKgEM.

The real issue here is not that you have a college degree but that you postponed doing what you love.

You should never put off following your passion for something else … at the very least, you should have worked hard at getting a college degree and also getting handson learning in cell phone application development at the same time.

Is A Computer Science Degree Worth It?

Is a formal background in computer science required for a career in mobile phone application development? The answer is absolutely not!

Again, you are making the mistake of looking for a solution in a college degree.

Don’t you see the trap that you are again falling into? You’ve already spent a number of years in college and all you got is a degree that you consider worthless … though I disagree with you on that.

And again, you are hoping that investing time, money and effort towards another degree will fix your career situation!

You are caught in a maze and it is time for you to wake up or get yourself out of it!

The problem is that most computer science colleges, trade schools or diploma providers will not teach you how to program on mobile phones.

They will most likely teach you just pure computer science and all the theoretical stuff, which is why you won’t be helped.

Even if you hit a homerun and you find a college where you can learn mobile phone programming, by the time you graduate, whatever you will have learned will have become ridiculously obsolete and you will be back at the starting point again!

Should You Turn Your Passion Into A Career?

Absolutely yes! The best career you can have is the one that you love, the career that interests you, the one that you do as a hobby or for fun.

Yes, I am asking you to do what you love and turn your passion or hobby into a full-time job.

The best reward you will get out of work is not the income that you make but the pleasure you get from doing your job.

Tell me, if you are not going to have much fun at work, why on this green planet will you do it?

How Do You Become A Mobile Phone Programmer?

You will become a mobile phone application developer by continuing along the path of getting your hands dirty with real-world mobile phone application development … and this is how you do that:

1. Look into the cost of developing for each of the mobile phone platforms (Android, iPhones, Windows Phones) and then choose one of them to begin with

   .

2. Get a good number of books on the platforms that you’ve chosen and start learning everything that there is to know

   .

3. After you learn how mobile phone programming works on any of these major platforms, start building at least one mobile phone application project.

4. If you find yourself being overwhelmed by all the information on mobile phone development technology, find a training provider or a course that you can subscribe to and learn mobile phone development in under a year.

And regardless of whether you are learning mobile phone development through self-study or through a training or coaching provider, keep building real-world mobile phone applications.

The biggest challenge that you will face with any Information Technology Career regardless of whether it is mobile phone programming or business analysis or project management is that of finding practical, real-world knowledge.

For overcoming that challenge, I would recommend that you read the book listed here: http://www.it-career-coach.net/book/

Are you facing a challenging career or job situation?Submit your Question to [Ask IT Career Coach] and we will answer it for you.

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What Is Your Personality Type?

One of the reasons why professionals struggle with their careers or under-perform at their jobs is that their work or career does not match their personality!

When hiring someone to do job, it’s easy to see what skills and training they have acquired or what types of jobs they’ve previously performed from their resume.

What is not so easy to see is how that same person’s personality traits will fit in with that of other employees or how their personality will thrive on a daily basis after you’ve have hired them.

That is why you need to take a personality test … an instrument that is used to measure or assess the characteristics of your personality.

Personality tests are sometimes more accurately referred to as a personality inventory since the use of the word “test” implies a right or wrong answer must be given.

However when it comes to personality test, there is no right or wrong assessment but rather an objective, independent assessment of suitability for a career or a job.

Personality tests are simply a series of questions designed to gather information used in assessing general personality characteristics.

When administered properly, personality tests are effective for building successful teams.

The results from a personality test can give you good insight into what personality types work best together and what type of work is more effectively done by certain types of people.

Please note that: personality tests are not guaranteed to be accurate and people can change or adapt overall personality … even though that is not easy!

So, Is there a personality test that is accurate?

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality test was first developed in 1943.

During the more than 60 years it has been used, it has been perfected as an accurate personality indicator and when the more accurate, complete version of the test is administered, the results can be alarmingly accurate.

The MBTI groups uses 4 Type letters to distringuish16 unique and different personality types based on the answers to a Myers-Briggs personality test.

What are these 4 Type letters and what do they mean?

• (I)ntrovert/(E)xtrovert
• (S)ensing/(I)ntuivite
• (T)hinking/(F)eeling
• (J)udging/(P)erceptive

The idea that someone is an introvert vs. extrovert does not necessarily mean one is extremely outgoing and the other extremely shy. But rather, it implies from which perspective they tend to view situation: From within, or from without.

Sensing vs. Intuitive is similar to the introvert/extrovert in that it implies whether decisions are made based upon the physical senses or an intuitive knowing from within.

Thinking vs. Feeling suggests the process of thought and decision making as to whether it is done by concrete thinking or logic or based upon a feeling.

Judging vs. Perceptive describes if a person comes to conclusions based upon a logical criteria or based upon an inward perception.

Here are the 16 personality types based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator for use in determining how suited you are for a career or job:

ISTJ Personality Type – Introvert Sensing Thinking Judging

To the ISTJ personality type, order and schedule is of utmost importance. and no sacrifice is too great to an ISTJ when it comes to keeping unity.

Even though they tend to have difficulty expressing emotions and what they think and can come off as being uncaring, they tend to develop strong and loyal relationships with others.

The ISTJ easily takes on responsibility. Because of this, they fit in well with any aspect of the IT profession in planning and inspecting, management, scheduling, auditing or accounting.

Spontaneity and abstract thinking is not a plus to the ISTJ personality and the ISTJ will remain consistently strong in everything they attempt.

ISFJ Personality Type – Introvert Sensing Feeling Judging

To the ISFJ, work is very important.

In terms of the IT Professional, they effectively fill the roles of protecting and supporting though they will work hard at any position as they have a strong sense of duty.

They may even remain silent or let others take advantage of them just to avoid conflict. This can be beneficial in business as they tend to put up with complaints for the sake of harmony.

INFJ Personality Type – Introvert Intuitive Feeling Judging

Inspiring and insightful, the INFJ personality tends to do well as a developer.

INFJ often inspire others and tend to succeed in creative situations.

This personality type does not enjoy tension and can come off as quiet or even disinterested. But, don’t be fooled. Beneath this unassuming exterior is a ton of ideas waiting to come forth and when these ideas are properly tapped, they come alive.

They will also jump at any chance to learn and broaden their horizons.

INTJ Personality Type – Introvert Intuitive Thinking Judging

The INTJ is very independent and may be perceived as being arrogant.

They may even appear to be argumentative, but this is the way they learn.

They like to see change for the better and can be intolerant of stagnation.

They do well in work environments where systems are set up to achieve maximum output.

They do well in management, consulting, computer programming and as Directors.

ISTP Personality Type – Introvert Sensing Thinking Perceptive

The ISTP personality may take charge in fixing a problem.

They are ready to try anything at least once.

They are spontaneous and do not like others to control them.

They do not enjoy routine work such as that of an administrator or researcher.

They shine in problem solving spontaneously with a tangible goal such as Analyzer or Operator.

ISFP Personality Type – Introvert Sensing Feeling Perceptive

The ISFP personality tends to be non-imposing.

They fear standing still and enjoy a challenge when working with people.

They do well when they can produce new thought patterns.

They do well in fields that involve composing and producing.

INFP Personality Type – Introvert Intuitive Feeling Perceptive

The INFP Personality type tends to bring harmony and clarification to the table.

They do not like conflict at all. In fact, there’s very little an INFP won’t do to avoid conflict.

They do have a desire to help others. Teaching and training is an excellent position for the INFP.

They also do well with research, design and human resources and they tend to crave working hard in whatever position they are placed.

INTP Personality Type – Introvert Intuitive Thinking Perceptive

The last-minute planner, the INTP adapts well to fast changes.

They need to find a challenge in their work. If they don’t find a challenge, they will grow discontented and depressed.

They are excellent at problem solving and theorizing.

They are excellent at strategic planning, writing, computer programming and design.

ESTP Personality Type – Extrovert Sensing Thinking Perceptive

The ESTP Personality thrives on being the center of attention.

They have a lack of order and tend to never plan as they see planning as a waste of time.

They love daily changes and refuse to get stuck in a rut.

In terms of the IT profession for the ESTP, they do well as an executor or in a role where they can be the promoter.

ESFP Personality Type – Extrovert Sensing Feeling Perceptive

The ESFP personality lives in the moment and does not make plans easily if at all.

They can be viewed as hyper or shallow as they push for excitement.

They do not like confrontation. They do, however, make great motivators or presenters or any position that provides instant gratification.

ENFP Personality Type – Extrovert Intuitive Feeling Perceptive

The ENFP personality tends to be extremely loyal and will look for the best in others along with always looking for new possibilities.

They can appear to be over positive or insincere.

They have a need and a desire to work with people and they want to have fun in their work.

They make for great human resource development trainers, designers, and advocates.

ENTP Personality Type – Extrovert Intuitive Thinking Perceptive

The ENTP personality thrives on enthusiasm.

Though they will become excited enough about ideas to promote them, they don’t always follow through on these ideas.

They like to be challenged and stimulated in their work. Computer science, financial advising, teaching, computer or systems analyst are great career choices for the ENTP.

ESTJ Personality Type – Extrovert Sensing Thinking Judging

The ESTJ personality is a born manager.

They are dependable but tend to volunteer for more work and responsibility than others.

To an ESTJ, everything must have a plan.

They tend to fix what is broken and do a job correctly.

They tend to be loyal to the company. They make great managers as well as supervisors.

ESFJ Personality Type: – (Extrovert Sensing Feeling Judging):

The ESFJ is seen as a scheduler.

They are usually neat and enjoyable to be around.

They do well where organization is involved and they also make great listeners and are loyal.

They like to serve, facilitate and be the caretaker. Jobs in computers, science or consulting can be stressful to the ESFJ personality.

ENFJ Personality Type – Extrovert Intuitive Feeling Judging

The ENFJ personality tends to be known as a communicator and have an understanding of other people.

They are drawn to situation where they can interact with others who will challenge them.

They do not do well in careers that involve a great deal of detail or paperwork.

They do, however, make great mentors and envision well.

ENTJ Personality Type – Extrovert Intuitive Thinking Judging

The ENTJ is a natural leader.

They even enjoy confrontation and they tend to be the classic corporate type of personality.

They are not afraid to challenge old ways of doing things with more successful methods.

Business consultants and network integrations as well as strategists are careers where the ENTJ thrive.

My Final Thoughts:

Each of these 16 personality types will fit better into some Information Technology careers than others and that it’s where the Myers-Briggs personality testing can help you.

Regardless of how much you want a career or a job, you will find it hard to succeed if your personality does not match that required for the job and you don’t change your personality to match it!

• If you choose to change your personality for a career or job, you can hurt yourself in the process, which will negate the benefits of doing that job!

  so you may be better off choosing a career that suites your personality than forcing your personality to fit in.

• As a manager, director, project manager or human resources professional, you can place people in roles where they’re most likely to succeed alongside based on results from properly administered Myers-Briggs personality test.

  In the end, the proper use of personality testing can lead to more productive work place.

So, What Is Your Myers-Briggs Personality Type?

If don’t know the answer, follow this link to take your Myers-Briggs personality test..

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