Career Forums

Hi there all,

I've read other posters' messages here, most seem to come from an role which would or could eventually lead to a BA/Project Anaylsy/Project Coordinator-like role.

I am 37 years old, I am currently not working as my last contract has expired some months ago abd I am not working at the moment. I have some money (saved for my rainy day  fund)  but not enough for a full-time tutor-led course. My preference is learning on the job, and being mentored.

I am ITIL Foundation V3 certified. I have degree in Business Management (earned 14 years ago). Between leaving Uni and starting in I.T. I worked on our family farm as rancher/farm hand. I grew up in a very religious (Christian) conservative and closed society without much contact with outside world, and no internet in country of origin, South Africa.

I started my IT career at the age of 30 in the U.K.on a Working Holiday Visa (Special visa for Aussies, Kiwi's and South Africans) as Helpdesk Analyst. I managed to Progress to Desktop Support.Over the last 5 years I've worked as Desktop Support Analyst  where I am currently stuck. My previous experience are all working for multinationals, primarily financials(JP  Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of N.Y Mellon, Morgan Stanley, BP British Petroleum, London Clearing House). one of the reason for working in financials was my personal interest in learning about trading and how a business operates. I have gained a very good understanding of financial markets, financial instruments, trading, economics. I'm a student and supporter Austrian Economics. I read extensively, especially with regards to economics and the social order.   Think I know much more about economics, trading and financial instruments than desktop support. What I have learned from being a DA was to be very analytical, methodical and where to find answers.

My initial interest was to try to progress from Desktop Support ==> Unix support as, since my years as a teen, was the nuts and bolts of inner workings of PCs. I had no interest in programming but rather building powerfull PC gaming rigs. I came to realise that, even as Unix support, I would still be doing the same thing as desktop support, whci is to be very technical and also provide support for current designs.

I became interested in workflow/process design and analys, with a few on cost savings. I am sure there must be a standard framework or method that can be applied in just about any project. PRINCE2 ?

I am interested in learning the framework that can be applied on any project, from building stables on Dad's farm to planning a desktop PC replacement project. Example: An entrepreneur wants to expand his Hotel,to build another x-amount of rooms. I'm interested in learning how to carry out a feasibility study, demand for services, personnel requirements, profit & loss estimates, dealing with contractors, negotiations, design of the systems, continuing service improvement, etc. I'm talking here from the vew of a small family-owned business. I know what I want to do. I just need to get a foot in the door so that I can learn in a commercial environment.

Based on what I've learrned (by self-study) from the PRINCE2 method). Through selfstudy, listening to BA podcasts on iTunes, In my previous two contracts I even tried to apply techniques from the www.Manager-Tools.com podcast. I am also reading blogs & forums I am aware of UML, requirements and some basics. As a desktop Support analyst I never even came close to any of that what I wish to learn. I've spoken to someone who has advised me to try to implement BA-like functions into my role as DA(Desktop Analyst) in  my activities as DA. My manager at previous contract confirmed to me that an DA’s only function is to do ‘incident management (pick up and close/resolve faults). And that is basically the primary way to measure a DA’s performance.

I’ve been applying for loads of BA-like functions lke BA itself, Project analyst/coordinator, ITIL Config analyst, etc. I  have had zero success. Not even a phone call. Part of the problem is that my CV is written for a Desktop Analyst. And I would need some help to rewrite my CV to attract attention to the roles I have in mind.

Any help with regards to rewriting my CV/online mentoring would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Willem Erasmus

Thank you very much for the reply Guy ! I'm heading over to the links you've provided :)

1. Move away from techo stuff. Age counts against you. The Desktop Support people are mostly under 30 and IT entry level people (remember that’s how you got the job in the first place). Entry is easy, which means you have lots of competition and your resale value is “zulch”. Hence no replies for job applications; there are too many of you out there. (the old economics of supply and demand)
2. Differentiate yourself from the rest. What will make people/business seek out Willem for his expertise? Use you business smarts and refocus on business issues. Eg. Focus on specific domains – Trading, Finance, Transport, Logistics, Contract Labour etc.
3. Food Production/Farming is a domain that you have lots of experience in (farming, food production, investment, economic). It encompasses all the domains listed above. – You’re an OUTLIER Willem. Read Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book on Outliers.
4. For process management and starting a new business – I’d like you to read the “EMYTH –Revisited” by Michael E Gerber. In essence it all about standardising process and replicating process commonly known as Franchising.
5. Spend some time with Business Process (input, process, output). Read docs on IDEF0 (see http://www.idef.com/IDEF0.html) for some background, then swing on to BPMN (see http://www.omg.org/docs/formal/09-01-03.pdf).  Create a few high-level processes using BIZAGI (see www.bizagi.com) its free!