Episode 21: Laura Brandenburg bridges the gap

This is part One of a two-part interview with Laura Brandenburg of http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/

Time / Topic
1:30 Howto podcast interviewing via Skype.
2:20 Laura introduces her blog and website at http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/
4:00 Blogging as a marketing tool for yourself.
7:00 Legitimate ways of getting contact with enior Business Analysts.
7:50 Laura reveals career career progress from Philosophy to "glorified data entry".
9:30 Aquiring Business Analyss skills from a developer background.
12:45 Starting a Business Analyst Career book publication.
14:00 BA vacancies requires BA Experience. Exploit oppertunities!
15:30 Examining job specs as guideline for gaining experience.
16:45 How long does it take to become a BA?
17:00 Communication skills for techical software developers.
19:15 Introducing leadership through communication.
21:00 Achieving success by helping your team.
23:00 Advancing your career being considerate of your team.
26:15 Empathy as leadership.
27:15 Building trust, in a new job environment.

CONTACT Laura: http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/
CONTACT The Business Analyst Podcast: thebapodcast@gmail.com

http://twitter.com/bapodcast

http://linkedin.com/in/MichielErasmus

Duration: 32mins 01 seconds

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Episode 20: Nog meer kennis van Joe Newbert in Suid-Afrika

This is part 3 of my interview with Joe Newbert.

Time / Topic
1:30 change cycle for advancement in life -- http://mindtools.com
4:40 not being a shit analyst
6:15 pro-activity advances your career
8:05 IIBA setting up shop in kaapstad, business analyst jobs http://careerjunction.co.za
9:35 Companies asking skills which lacks in your skills portfolio.
10:35 Explaining Agile methods RUP, DSDM and its components.
15:33 Horstman's 5 laws of interviewing
17:20 making a first impression at a job interview
18:58 Recap topics covered during the interview
19:09 Asking feedback from my interviewee
20:02 Being critical about yourself
22:30 Catchup with fellow BA-guru Jonathan Babcock
23:15 My reasons for doing this podcast series

Follow Joe on http://twitter.com/newbert ENJOY the interview!! :)

CONTACT: thebapodcast@gmail.com

http://twitter.com/bapodcast

http://linkedin.com/in/MichielErasmus

Duration: 26mins 32 seconds

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Direct download: TheBAPodcast0020_Nog_meer_kennis_van_Joe_Newbert_in_Suid-Afrika.mp3

Episode 19: New on the job? part 2

Joe Newbert -- New on the job? Part TWO

This is part 2 of my interview with Joe Newbert.

The conversation continues in a general way touching on various subjects.

The highlights:
* What is requirements engineering to you?
* Differentiating your type of stakeholder and involvement.
* Who can translate business talk to tech talk. The BA!
* How to prototype using a Proof of Concept
* The typical working day of a business analyst
* Explaining a user Acceptance test.
* Joe tried to use a Buzz-word in a job interview..
* My way of learning.. just start doing it!
* Tell me abot your current work at a tellcomms company.


Follow Joe on http://twitter.com/newbert

ENJOY the interview!! :)


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CONTACT: thebapodcast@gmail.com
http://twitter.com/bapodcast
http://linkedin.com/in/MichielErasmus

Duration: 35mins 10 seconds
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Episode 18: What makes a BA a really exceptionally good BA with Joe Newbert in Kaapstad, Suid-Afrika

Joe Newbert -- Interviewing a BA candidate. MULTIPART interview. Part ONE.

Joe newbert is a Business Analist residing in Kaapstad (Cape Town), South Africa. Joe contacted me regarding the podcast after which i used the oppertunity to interview him on his experience. Joe has a M.Sc in computers science also he has extentsive BA experience in both the United Kingdom and since a few years in South Africa too.

Did you love the with Guy Beauchamps interview? (Episode 009: how to become a BA, and getting interviewed for a role) First sit down because you are about to be rocked of your feet even more! :)

The highlights:
* Can a truckdriver make a careerchange to being a BA?
* Recruiting a BA. What behaviorial things do you consider?
* How do you know if a candidate is bullshitting?
* The use of NLP (Neurolistic programming) during job interviews.

NEXT episode in this itnerview series;
* Acting as a project manager
* Interacting with stakeholders
* Your first day on the job
* etc etc.

Follow Joe on http://twitter.com/newbert

ENJOY the interview!! :)


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CONTACT: thebapodcast@gmail.com
http://twitter.com/bapodcast
http://linkedin.com/in/MichielErasmus

Duration: 26mins 22 seconds
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Episode 17: BA combined Project Management - part 2 - closing statements

** I'd like to use this opportunity to promote myself **

Available: immediately.
References: Contact me
hourly rate: first two months for FREE, contact me for info.

---

In today’s episode i will close off which started previously, clsoing of discussion with my toolset and why/how to use them.

In PRINCE2 my toolset are:
* The stakeholders, involving both the project sponsor and supplier.
* Project Initiation Document.
* Endstage reports
* simplified work breakdown structure, with asks and times assigned to team members.
* Lessons learnt
* Risk log
* Directory structure for filing documentation on your organisation' fileserver.

And some more general tips;
* Get out of bed with enough sleep fully rested out. No partying or crap like that the night before.
* Love what you do, your job shouldn’t be a drag, don’t force yourself to go to work. When you feel like that either change career or stay at home.
* Don’t go gossiping about work or other ppl. Listen to episode 13.
* Work towards quality, even if it means producing less, rather allow that what you do make be of excellent highest superior quality. You want don’t want them to throw you out of a project because you could produce much and fast, but nothing useable. What you want is that the client gets a useable product, and you feel proud so they will invite you back even 5 years down the line. I mean, instead of rushing through it.

DOWNLOAD the podcast for the full story.


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CONTACT: thebapodcast@gmail.com
http://twitter.com/bapodcast
http://linkedin.com/in/MichielErasmus

Duration: 27mins 28 seconds
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Episode 16: Mindmapping voor beginners ZA

This exclusive episode is in Afrikaans for South African and Dutch listeners!!

======================================

Welkom,

Een eerste proefeditie van mijn podcast in het Nederlands!!

Een mindmap is een grafisch schema (of informatieboom), dat vertrekt van een centraal onderwerp en daaraan bijzaken en verwante concepten linkt. Een mindmap zou bij het studeren helpen details van hoofdzaken te onderscheiden en informatie logisch te ordenen in het gedachten. -- Wikipedia.



Vandaag bespreek ik Mindmappen en dan wel:
* Voordelen
* Nadelen
* Reden waarom je het zou moeten gebruiken
* Tips
* Software of papier geschreven versies
* Praktijk voorbeeld -- het plannen van je snowboard vakantie :).

VOORBEELDEN:

Figuur 1: Mindmap (kliek voor vergroting)


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CONTACT: thebapodcast@gmail.com
http://twitter.com/bapodcast
http://linkedin.com/in/MichielErasmus

Duration: 14mins 16 seconds
Download: IP-adress filtering in effect Dutch IPs banned from downloading.
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Episode 15: BA combined Project Management - getting started part 1

Guys, i've been planning and improving myself for over 4 years now. Thats how long it took me to be able to present you with 40 minutes of value.

I will disucss how i combined a BA role and got some Project Management experience, and how to communicate effectively to stakeholders.

This podcast is divded into about 5 sections.
* First i tell you about the tooling i will use which are PRINCE2 and RUP.
* Secondly i will explain things to consideration before starting out.
* Thirdly, i will present Case Study for both IT and fictional non-IT project.
* Forthly, use the Case Study and apply all of the aforementioned stuff on the Case Study.
* And last but not least, closing statements.



Figure 1: The project sponsor description (click for larger version)



Figure 2: Reporting back to project board (click for larger version)


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CONTACT: thebapodcast@gmail.com
http://twitter.com/bapodcast
http://linkedin.com/in/MichielErasmus

Duration: 26mins 22 seconds
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