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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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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Business Analyst Role In Data Warehouse Projects

The Business Analysts Role In Bringing Data Warehousing To Your Office

Today’s business executives spend a ton of cash on data warehouse projects because that is a big, key, strategic business initiative; the success of which weighs heavily on their minds.

Data warehousing is important because it saves or aggregates information in a manner that allows executives, management or office users to make strategic business decisions faster, better and more easily!

No More Silos In The Workplace

Data warehousing is critical to business success because it presents a way for executives or management to view or manage their corporation as a whole unit instead of in silos.

What data warehousing offers decision makers is the ability to break out of departmental information silos and see the big picture.

One of the key objectives facilitated by business analysts in data warehousing roles is that of bridging the gap between enterprise databases (marketing, finance, inventory, customer relationship management, etc.) so that decision makers or office users can ask questions or get a comprehensive, 360 degree insight across corporate / departmental databases with one query or question!

Introducing OLAP, Business Intelligence (BI) Or Data Warehousing To Business Analysts

Business Analysts assigned to data warehouse projects may be surprised to know that traditional, day-to-day relational (online transaction processing (OLTP)) databases are not optimized for querying or reporting of data for business or decision making purposes.

Databases that are actually optimized for data analysis, reporting and business intelligence are known as Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) databases.

So, another key benefit of data warehousing is that it provides decision makers with real-time business intelligence at optimal speeds through the used of OLTP systems.

Finally, Data Warehousing is important from the standpoint of facilitating forecasting trends or getting performance metrics for the entire organization.

Data warehousing provides senior management with intelligence required to see the company’s performance from a 30,000 foot level instead of being buried under a mountain of data at sea level.

Will The Real Enterprise Business Analyst Stand Up Please?

Organizations implementing business intelligence or data-warehousing projects are looking for a significant boost in their business intelligence or decision making capabilities.

Savvy business analysts pulled into data-warehousing / BI projects would fare well to keep this at the back of their mind from the git-go!

So, here are some key roles for business analysts in data warehouse projects

• The Data Warehouse Business Analysts role includes helping the business team identify key opportunities for boosting revenue, increasing sales, decreasing operational costs or achieving some other important organizatioinal or business objective.

• The Business Analyst bridges the gap between the business or executive management office and the data warehousing / BI Implementation Team.

• The Business Analyst identifies the business intelligence needs of the organization. This includes eliciting BI requirements from executives, managers or office users and then working with the data warehouse project team to identify, define or implement these business requirements.

The Enterprise Business Analyst Role In Data Warehousing Projects

Data warehousing projects are all about building, integrating, analyzing or reporting on large, complex, corporate databases.

So, Business Analysts working in such domains will be well-advised to fortify their database skills as that is the real-world domain or context of data warehousing.

Because of the strategic importance or the scope of data warehousing / business intelligence (BI) projects, the business analyst typically functions as a key member of a larger data warehouse project team.

The data warehouse project team may include the Project Manager, Data Modeler, Data Architect, Data Analyst , Tester, Report Writer, Database Developer and last but not least … the data warehousing / business intelligence (BI) business analyst.

With that in mind, here are the business analyst’s roles in the context of an enterprise data-warehousing project implementation team.

• Management Role: working with executives, management or the business team, the business analyst identifies the gaps in corporate intelligence / reporting capabilities.

• Data Analyst Role: working with data analysts, the business analyst identifies, understands and documents the sources of data discrepancies or gaps in business intelligence.

  The actual work of identifying data sources may be assigned to the data analysts or Extraction, Transform Load (ETL) developers while that of documenting or modeling the data transformations assigned to a business analyst comfortable with creating data models.

• Data Modeler / Data Architect / Database Developer Role: The business analyst works with the data modeler, data architect or database developer to create the logical or conceptual data model.

  The business analyst also validates that the data model meets business requirements before it is implemented.

The Data Warehouse Business Analyst Skill Sets

The enterprise data warehouse business analyst is not your traditional business analyst. so, here are some of the skill-set requirements for business analysts in a data warehouse project.

• The business analyst needs a thorough understanding of Extraction, Transform and Load (ETL) processes.

• The business analyst also needs a strong understanding of the logical database design process, data modeling, data-mart design and a good understanding of OLAP compared to OLTP systems.

• The business analyst needs to be comfortable with the business intelligence tools used in delivering corporate intelligence to decision makers which may be as simple as a Microsoft Excel-based Business Intelligence (tool).

• The business analyst also needs a good understanding of data warehousing terminology as well as the corporate data being analyzed by the business.

  In other words, familiarity with the data is important whether one’s eliciting requirements from the business team or validating data models and ETL processes with the Data Warehouse implementation team.

Bringing Business Intelligence (BI) To The Office

An increasing number of organizations are either planning or implementing BI projects with the objective of improving the quality of corporate intelligence available to decision makers.

As a business analyst, it’s your duty to assist your organization with their BI / Data Warehouse endeavors.

You can achieve this by learning as much as you can about databases, data warehousing, business intelligence, data analysis and decision making processes.

The data warehouse business analyst job description includes a cross-functional suite of skills in Relational Database Development, SQL Query Writing, Data Analysis and Business Analysis.

You can get more information on this from both the Data Analyst Boot Camp and the Business Analyst Boot Camp.

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Competing on Analytics

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Competing on Analytics

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

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

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starving artist wolfgang amadeus mozart

This article is one in a series on creating or establishing your personal brand and becoming a leader in your industry.

While creating your personal brand is not easy, the benefits speak for themselves; other professionals begin to seek you out, ask for your assistance or offer you compensation in exchange for your help, services or advice.

Creativity is sometimes frowned upon in the workplace because you are expected to follow orders!

Perhaps you’ve neglected using your creative forces in the past because it forces others to think or so that you can keep your head down and stop others from following you!

Becoming a leader or creating your personal brand is not about following others but about using your originality and creativity!

Don’t repress your imagination in hopes that it will get you ahead in the business world because it will actually do the opposite … ensure that you have a mediocre career.

So, get those creative juices flowing, throw away the stiff, boring, compliant, plan persona you adopt for the workplace and let the funny, considerate, original, witty, unabashed, unrestricted, simple, effective, direct, unafraid you come to life!

Here are some tips, tricks and techniques that can help your personal creativity efforts:

1. To become an expert or a leader, publish or produce useful information in an appealing way using content that is worth your audiences’ time.

2. Start creating a layout for website to get your creative juices flowing. Think of a funny or interesting blogging topic for your industry. Introduce your topics using witty content titles and don’t be afraid of your creative side.

3. If you’re insecure about how your ideas come across, get a proofreader or test-audience but don’t stop writing

4. Involve your friends and family as critics, as long as they remain honest in their response and you don’t react to their opinions?

5. Getting in touch with your personal creativity is as a fun and exciting project, so don’t stress out if it doesn’t blossom overnight

Establishing a reputation as a leader in your industry helps you get better job offers, consulting engagements or career assignments.

Remember that on the road to becoming a leader, you will have to stand out by letting your personal creativity show through.

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756 – 1791

Have you ever heard of “The Starving Artist”? It’s an often used cliché that describes talented, skilled or creative folks like writers, painters, musicians or others who starve while doing what they love.

The idea behind the Starving Artist is “an individual who works for pennies and then dies broke doing what he or she loves”.

Some of history’s renowned or talented artists like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Vivaldi and Van Gogh lived in poverty, misery or debt because their society didn’t care for or reward them.

But wait a moment, do skilled, talented, creative folks like you and me, have to work for pennies all our lives … just because we want to do what we love or is that just another myth?

Long Live the Media Age

On the contrary, talented, skilled or educated folks run the world because the media age, the internet and social media has changed the way we do business forever.

In the media age, anyone who’s skilled can making a living by leveraging the full power of Social Media Networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook.

In the era of the Starving Artists, the creative or common folk couldn’t afford to show, present or air their works to mass markets because that investment required the purse strings of a King, Queen or Financial Baron.

However, in the Media Age, you can communicate your resume, your profile or your brand with the push of a button called “Publish”.

Many professionals including those in academia use the “Publish or Perish” strategy in furthering their careers and now you can too!

Publish or Perish, Which Do You Choose?

Your career is bigger than your job, employment or paycheck because your career is the problem you’re solving or the value you’re creating at an intrinsic personal level.

Don’t make the mistake of always looking for the next job or the next employer or the next hot career.

Look inside of you and identify the core problems you’re willing to solve or values (goods, services, solutions) you’re willing to create for society on a long-term basis.

Then use Social Media to communicate your new mission to the mass market.

That is how to achieve career success using PULL techniques as introduced in the post “Become a Leader“.

Here is how to get the job you want or stay employed using PULL rather than PUSH techniques:

1. Become a Leader in your Industry: Identify with your Industry outside your 8AM to 5PM work day. Start solving a thorny business problem or creating a valuable idea, good or service that benefits others.

2. Build your Brand: Create a message around the value you’re creating for everyone. Let your message transcend your day job. Build your identity around your core message and include that in your resume.

3. Market your Brand: Distribute your brand using the full power of social media networks. Don’t wait till you need a job before you start marketing because you need to build your social network before you need it.

Becoming a Leader is a powerful PULL technique that advances your career for the following reasons:

1. Industry Recognition: Being constantly visible in your industry sends subtle reminders to hiring managers that you’re the best person for current or future employment needs.

2. Better Positioning: Staying in constant contact with colleagues or decision managers using Social Media puts you in a better position compared to an unknown professional whose only contact is an application for a job.

3. Power Networking: You own or belong to a social network, the members of the network are your friends and you care about their business or solve their problems. Your social networks are in your debt and are willing to return favors by getting you hired.

Learning how to become a leader is important because it actively protects you from layoffs or downsizes and does more by actively promoting or advancing your career behind your back.

Don’t be a “Starving Artist” … a professional whose only communication with hiring managers is when a job is posted.

You can do better that a “starving artist” by building your own brand and your own network of potential employers using the power of Social Media.

Leveraging the full power of social media protects you from becoming a starving artist, an un-employed professional whose career is at the mercy of the job market!

So, what are you waiting for? Click here to get more information on How To Become a Leader” or learn how to get the recognition or type of employment (coaching, consulting or full-time) you deserve!

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

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

Some of these strong concerns are often worded as:

• What software skills do business analysts need?

• Should business analysts be made to learn computer programming?

• Which software programs are required for business analysis jobs?

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

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

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

Are Software Skills Required For Business Analysis Jobs?

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

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

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

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

Which Software Skills Are Required For Business Analyst Jobs?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More Information On How To Improve Business Analysis Skills

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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If you want to excel in an information technology career, you need to make a career plan or plot a career road map that will take you from your current skill level to a professional, highly skilled or expert level.

You will also need to create a plan for maintaining your skills at the level of
top performers or experts in your field when you get there.

Whatever your current career (business analyst, data analyst, software
developer, report writer, database developer, web designer, etc.), you need to
sharpen your skills using one or more of the following training options:

1. Self Learning

2. Online Training

3. On The Job Training

4. Coaching or Mentoring

5. Classroom Training

The best training programs I have found include a combination of two or more of
these training options.

Personally, I have invested a lot of time and money in self learning, online
training, on the job learning and coaching or mentoring. I have also
invested in class room training, but not to the same extent as the other
training methods.

What is really important, is that you create a definite goal for what
you want to attain and then define the specific training you will use to
achieve those goals.

This is important because without constantly training your skills, you will
begin to lag behind your colleagues.

When that happens, you will find it hard to ace your technical interview or
get hired, you will be passed over for promotions and you will be one
of the most likely to get fired on your team. Your job performance
will also suffer and you will begin to show signs that you lack the
confidence to do your job well.

How to choose the best training program for your career

Here are some tips that will help you choose the best training program for your
career:

Choosing Self Learning or Teach Yourself Programs

Self Learning or teach yourself programs are usually the cheapest programs of
studying. All you have to do is buy a book on the subject or topic you
are interested in learning. For example, there are books on Amazon.com on almost
any subject under the sun. You can also purchase e-books written by subject
matter experts (SMEs) on any skill you want to learn.

The advantage of self study is that it is the cheapest way to learn a topic.

The disadvantage of self-study is that you may still not understand a topic
after reading a book on it. Also, the books you buy may end up collecting dust
on your shelf because it takes a lot more personal discipline or effort to buy a
book and read it.

Choosing Online Training

Online training also known as e-learning, virtual classroom training or distance
learning is growing in popularity because online training is cheaper than
physical class room training.

Online training is usually location independent which means that you can
in theory take an online class from any location in the world as long as you
have a computer and an internet connection.

Online training is also more convenient for working adults who cannot afford to
take out time from work and family commitments to drive to a physical training
class.

Online training is more self-paced and more convenient than classroom training
because you may attend a virtual class at a time (evening, morning, afternoon).

The disadvantage of online training compared to to physical class room training
is that you don't have the physical, intimate bonding experience of being in the
same class with students and course instructors. For some, the lack of physical
proximity with other students and class instructors is intimidating, so they
will not enjoy an online training class.

Choosing On The Job Training

Learning with or mastering "on the job training" is a necessity requirement for
today's information technology careers. This is because no matter how much
online training, or self-studying or class room training you take, you will
always have to learn something new on your job.

For example, you will need to learn the business processes of every company you
work for, on-the-job. Also, it is not practical for your employer to send you to
a class, each time a new software program or technology is installed at your
place of work.

What this really means, is that you need to be adept at learning on the job to
survive in today's fast-paced and highly competitive information technology job
market.

Choosing Coaching or Mentoring

You need to have at least one coach or mentor at every level of your
career.

Your coach should be someone who is more experienced than you and can help guide
you through the challenges you will face on the job.

As you progress in your career, you will be faced with decisions that you
will not be able to find answers for in an online training class or book or
classroom.

Successful people in every career or discipline can easily name coaches or
mentors who influenced, inspired or guided them to greater success than they
where capable of by themselves.

The question "you should be asking" is not whether you need a mentor, but
"who is best suited to be your mentor"?

Adopting a mentor can be as simple as asking someone who is much higher than you
at work to be your mentor.

You can also read the publications, articles, books and informational products
published by professionals or experts that you recognize in your industry.

Remember that you need a mentor and that you also have complete freedome in how
you go about selecting or choosing a mentor … so choose wisely

Class Room Training

Class room training is one of the more traditional programs of learning a skill.

The advantage of classroom training is the physical proximity between you and
your teacher.

The disadvantage of classroom training includes the cost of attending it.
Classroom training usually requires more of your time and costs more money.

My advice to you is to constantly sharpen and improve your skills, your career
and your life using two or more affordable and flexible career
training programs. If you do that continuously, you will become one of those
people who succeeds in developing their personal talents and skills in their
career or life.

About The Author

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Studying Top Performers

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks,

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

About The Author

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to find and hire competent software developers

1. Telecommuting:

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

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

2. Software Development Tools:

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

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

3. Train your programmers:

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

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

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

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

About The Author

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

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

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