The last couple of months have been interesting for me on various fronts:
- My ‘trial’ mentoring programme has continued. It’s not been as rapid as I or probably he would like. However, our expectations were perhaps a little unrealistic based on spending no more than a couple of hours mentoring per week. I’ve learnt a huge amount about mentoring for which I’m very grateful and I think we are really making some headway. I’ve got a course outline that we’re roadtesting and refining as we progress.
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- As a result of my free mentoring offer, I’ve spoken/emailed a number of you and, I hope, been of assistance. I’ve contacted a variety of people from college graduates through to experienced business professionals, all looking to become business analysts. They have had no experience or some experience on projects but in a piecemeal fashion and are looking for advice on how to become ‘official’ business analysts!
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- I’ve spoken to fellow bloggers (Laura), active BA contributors on the net (Thanks Doug) and been provided articles (Thanks Adriana)
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- Researched eLearning vendors as potential course suppliers to newbie BA’s
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- Researched routes into the industry through contacts in the IIBA and outside to help new starters (not easy this one!)
Anyway, the reason for the article (as indicated in the title!) is that I have decided to capture some of this advice and knowledge and make it available as an eBook. This is not a new idea as Laura Brandau is busy doing the same thing and I know of other websites where similar things have been done.
However, there is plenty of room for healthy competition and I am confident any newbie will find it an incredibly valuable reference. I will be very keen to hear your feedback so I can improve it.
I have other things in the pipeline on the training front but I will be concentrating on this in the short term.
There is some GREAT NEWS – I will be giving this eBook away for FREE! Also, there will be some courses which I think are ideal for the new business analyst to get the basic grounding which are relatively inexpensive ($450 to $750) and have been tested by me and selected mentees. I have negotiated some significant discounts on these courses for your benefit.
I want to be quite upfront about this, if you decide to take any of these courses, I will also be getting a referral fee. However, I don’t want to make a quick buck at your expense, my ethos is to provide you with exactly what you need, when you need it and keep you coming back to this site because you value what you get from this site whether it is free or not. This is why I value feedback (good and bad) so that I can understand your needs and serve those needs. I know how difficult it can be to start as a business analyst and I want to be a trusted adviser (or mentor) who will help you on that path. If I give you bad advice, you will leave, never to return to the site and that is bad for both of us.
As ever, contact me directly with your thoughts or add comments to this article so everyone can see them.
