CAREER ISSUES IS 342

1. CAREER ISSUES IS 342 Chandra S. Amaravadi

2. PRE-REQUISITES

3. ANALYZE YOURSELF DO YOU LIKE: • communications? coding? • working with people? • working individually? • working with numbers? • wrestling with problems?

4. GETTING THE JOB CHOOSE A CAREER PATH • Systems analyst • Microcomputer specialist • Business analyst • Database analyst • Data warehouse analyst • Technical sales & support • Help desk • Programmer analyst (IT analyst) • Network analyst • Security analyst

5. EXAMPLE JOB DESCRIPTIONS

6. PC SPECIALIST FBI, WASHINGTON D.C. GS 7/9: Provides technical support concerning implementation and daily operations of computer systems and individual microcomputer functions within a field office. In this capacity performs a variety of duties, in support of users located through out the Field Office, resident agencies and/or other off-site locations. (40-58k)

7. PC SPECIALIST VOLT SERVICES This position will be under the general direction and supervision of the IT Area Lead. The PC Systems Specialist will perform analytical, technical and administrative work in the planning, configuration and installation of new and existing PCs.

8. BUSINESS ANALYST UNITED HEALTH CARE, MINNEAPOLIS Description: Gathering and documenting business requirements. Conducting business analysis. Collaborating with key customers and business partners. Translating business requirements Qualifications: Significant experience as a businessanalyst is required. Familiarity with the software development lifecycle is essential. Experience with billing and invoicing systems is highly preferred. Strong computer skills are a must.

9. IT BUSINESS SYSTEMS ANALYST MEDTRONICS, MINNEAPOLIS JOB DESCRIPTION: This candidate will maintain a thorough understanding of the business and appropriate IS strategies. The focus will be support of manufacturing related applications including FACTORYworks, JDE One World Manufacturing and other custom applications.

10. DATABASE ANALYST STANDARD INSURANCE, PORTLAND OR Job Description: In this role, you will provide strong leadership and exceptional data management skills. You will design, develop and deliver end-to-end data solutions, gather and analyze business requirements, develop logical data models, create physical database designs, assess implementation alternatives and formulate overall design approaches……….. Contd..

11. DATABASE ANALYST… STANDARD INSURANCE, PORTLAND OR • Develop data models that represent the business information requirements for particular functional areas, utilize formal data modeling techniques and data centric tools and technologies, recommend and implement appropriate physical database designs. • Determine data source analysis, reporting and analysis requirements, and implement appropriate data centric solutions.   • Develop and deploy metadata management processes to increase business-consumer value of reporting systems and support business by developing and managing processes and procedures for communicating data content and value. • Analyze business requirements, design entity relationship and dimensional data models, and support business application systems, data warehouse, data marts and metadata repository needs. • Provide development and production support and technical assistance in all areas of data management. • Act as a project lead and technical lead.    

12. DATA WAREHOUSE ANALYST XEROX CORP. Seeking a Co op student with Data Base Analysis and Management, Data Mining Experience to assist in analysis of existing data bases for summary analysis and in discovering clusters and associations for service and diagnostic purposes. Work with team to identify areas where better information can provide improved profitability. Utilize data mining tools and work process analysis to identify areas of improvement in current processes. Applicant must be acquainted with basic data mining algorithms. Skills in communication and teamwork are essential. Additional skills in generating SQL queries to transaction formatted relational data bases (e.g. MySQL, Oracle) is also useful. Java programming skills are desirable.

13. DATA WAREHOUSE ANALYST MC LEAN, VA • QUALIFICATIONS: B.S. in Computer Science or related discipline or an equivalent combination of education and experience from which comparable knowledge and skills may be acquired; and one year of experience in data warehousing. • Analyze, develop and evaluate data mining methodologies using data mining and data analysis tools. • Design, develop, test and maintain databases and application projects. • Create data repositories.

14. DATA WAREHOUSE ANALYST.. SOFT SKILLS • Soft skills include: • Solid Analytical skills • Quick Learner • Communication (written & verbal) • Comfortable operating in an environment with ambiguity and frequent changes of direction and/or priorities. • Basic Facilitation • Attention to Detail • Data Analysis • Multi-tasking ability

15. DATA WAREHOUSE ANALYST.. SOFT SKILLS.. Other competencies: • Excel, Word • Knowledge Sharing with other teams members. • Relational Data Base Concepts. • Queries against complex relational databases • Data Quality Standards & Policies • Advanced Data Warehousing Concepts • An Understanding of SDLC - Waterfall, UML, Rational.

16. IT SYSTEMS ANALYST-LOCKHEED JOB REQUIREMENTS Bachelor’s degree in CS or related discipline: OO, Java, c/c++, CORBA, OMI, PowerBuilder, NetView, Motif, Unix, Sun Solaris, Vx Works, full life cycle s/w development Responsible for full life cycle software development and integration which includes the development of requirements, design, implementation, test, maintenance, and customer acceptance of software. Candidate will work with COTS such as databases, operating systems, device drivers, graphical user interfaces and real time systems based on the needs of the program or system.

17. GETTING THERE

18. GETTING THE JOB STRENGTHEN YOUR RESUME • Apply for scholarships/awards • Be active in student organizations • Do summer/part-time jobs • Certifications • Excel in course projects (industry studies if possible) • Take additional course work • Volunteer • on-campus (Dept/CBT/University) • off-campus (elementary schools are receptive)

19. CERTIFICATIONS

20. GETTING THE JOB SHARPEN YOUR SKILLS/IMAGE • Make resume stand out • Prepare portfolio if possible • Prepare answers to interview questions • Practice communications • Review essential ideas in courses • Go to career fairs and talk to recruiters Impress recruiters!

21. ON THE JOB TIPS • Be prepared for self-study • Arrive early and leave on time rather than other way around • Know culture & adapt • Do not be an individualist, be a team player • Communications are important • network • beware of colleagues! • Display initiative • Know when you are up against a wall

22. IF UNEMPLOYED • Consider Master’s degree • M.S. • MBA • Work on strengthening qualifications • Be on the look out for opportunities • Try to maintain positive outlook

23. TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL CAREER AND HAPPY LIFE • Job satisfaction important • Adjust to circumstances/go with flow • Some ups & downs • Recognize problematic situations • Accept reality • Prepare for good opportunities • Have balance • Network of friends important • Manage finances wisely

24. BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS • Eric Tolle “The power of Now” • ______ Who moved my cheese? • Robin Sharma “The monk who sold his Ferrari” • Robin Sharma “Who will cry for you when you die?” • Deepak Chopra “The seven spiritual laws.”