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New Post 4/24/2014 11:51 AM
User is offline sammy2014
2 posts
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Volunteer opportunity? 
I am a business analyst hired by a company, that could not find a project for me. I was let go after a few months, after told that the company could not find projects for me. It happened with a few other business analysts who got hired around the same time. I am more of a front end, rather a functional business analyst. I have excellent communication, documentation and facilitating skills. As a business analyst , most of my work was in the area of gap analysis, six sigma, process improvement, and a couple involving developing solutions for a telecom company. I would like to volunteer my services for any project, preferably one following an agile methodology. I will be committed to any volunteer opportunity that is available. I live Dallas TX but will travel/relocate within a reasonable area. At this time, getting more experience and sharpening my skills are the most important. I have a masters degree in business, and have excellent communication, facilitation and documentation skills. I would appreciate any help or advice that one can offer.
 
New Post 4/24/2014 12:08 PM
User is offline Chris Adams
323 posts
5th Level Poster






Re: Volunteer opportunity? 
Modified By Chris Adams  on 4/24/2014 2:08:43 PM)

Volunteering is an excellent way to acquire new skills and expand into different areas.  There are some limitations however.

Most organizations that would benefit from volunteers are small and have no formal business analysis structure or methodology.  This means getting strong Agile experience can be difficult, unless you find a start-up of just the right size (maybe 40-50 people).  However, at this size they start wanting more than 10 hours a week from a volunteer.  So it can be difficult while trying to hold down another job.  That doesn't mean the opportunity don't exist, just that they may be tough to find.

Smaller start-up organizations will be more open to 10 hours of volunteer help a week as long as you can be reliable and commit to a stretch of 6 months or so for business continuity.  The nice thing is you can literally steer the experience in whatever direction makes sense for you.  So this might be the path for you to pursue.  For example, you may be able to help put formal process management in place with an inexpensive process management software solution.  This would be a big win for a small company.  You also could try to establish your own agile development project.  Even if it's not adhered to 100% you could get hands on experience with createding a product backlog, a few user stories, and planning sprints.  Just realize that in such a small company adhering to an actual sprint schedule is unliklely.  But still great experience, just be flexible [or agile ;) ]


Chris Adams
Core Member – ModernAnalyst.com
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New Post 4/24/2014 12:41 PM
User is offline sammy2014
2 posts
No Ranking


Re: Volunteer opportunity? 
At the onset, my heartfelt thanks for the response. I may be wrong to mention Agile methodology as my preference. I did not realize that small organizations may not follow a formal business analysis or methodology. At this time, it is more important for me to gather more experience, and skills - the methodology or the size of the organization would not matter. I would be able to volunteer 20 or more hours per week. Thanks again for your inputs.
 
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