Preparing for first BA/PM/PMO role

[Jog On]

This gig is up at the end of next month and I want to go into a junior-ish PMO/BA type role next.

Only experience is current gig at top tier IB where I originally came in as a project bod and have gradually been doing more and more reporting and calls with the stakeholders. Now one of the junior permy PMs is leaving and for the rest of the gig I've been asked to completely assume her role as a junior PM. It will only be for a month but along with other reporting/customer conf calls I've been doing for months now I think I can safely say I've got some experience. Add to that the senior PMs here say they will have no problems giving me 'PM' references if I need them as I seem to have taken to it naturally.

I'm sure there is a whole host of the role I haven't touched on but what I've basically been doing here is as follows:

The project is an application migration of 3000 apps from the XP platform to the Win7 build. We are in to discover, document (install guides/test plans/PRFs etc), package (MSI), test then deploy.

The business units submit their apps and we take it form there until it's time for them to UAT them. Things have not gone smoothly at all mostly due to them giving us incomplete info which we've chased them for, they've ignored and then had a hissy fit that nothing's happening with their apps and they are going to miss their deployment deadline.

So my task (aside from discovery, integration testing, documentation which is what I was originally here to do) has been to get in contact with said BU stakeholder, get their list of apps, schedule daily conf calls and chase the statuses of all the apps on their list throughout the cycle and move them along while reporting progress each day.

I've done this with 4 different BUs now and they (end clientco) are now requesting me to do this on a regular basis. We start out with a nasty finger pointing atmosphere and end up working together like a well oiled machine and (almost) all their apps across the finish line in time for their deadline.

So - that being recent experience and the final month of full PMO duties - what should I be doing to position myself for a nice entry level PMO/BA type gig in the new year. I've got 2 months left here and will probably take December off and get Prince 2.

I have an MS partner software pack with copies of MS project/sharepoint/Visio I can practice on as well

Any other ideas?

[malvolio]

A good start will be to work out why they are three discrete roles; clearly they are not interchangeable despite using much the same basic technical skills. BAs ask questions, PMs lead and PMO's maintain quality and resources. They require different people skills. Which do you prefer doing?

Tools are useless without understanding the underlying process. Do Prince and ITIL foundation (if you haven't already) to get that side of it tied down. Everybody claims to use both, most never get anywhere near (and don't seem to be too badly off as a result) but you do need to know the language.

Oh and what you've been doing is good background preparation, but it's not BAing, nor PMing and certanly not PMOing...

HTH

[northernladuk]

If you were going for a perm role experience in one could go towards the others and you maybe able to swap and change to some extent as the onus is on the person.

This is not the case in contracting. An experience PM will not get a role as PMO and so on. It can be that specific that even your experience as a PM will exclude you from other PM roles i.e. difference between business change or infrastructure or something like that.

You need to be a master at one not a jack of all to be sure to secure steady contract work.

I am sure someone will come on with differing experience but that will be the exception to the rule.

[Jog On]

Thanks for the replies. I think BA is what interests me the most. I'm not sure how one goes about getting an entry level BA role if such a thing even exists.

Just booked some training for December - doing Prince 2 foundation+ practitioner, ITIL 3 foundation and ISEB BA foundation.

So much for having a month off

[northernladuk]

Thanks for the replies. I think BA is what interests me the most. I'm not sure how one goes about getting an entry level BA role if such a thing even exists.

Just booked some training for December - doing Prince 2 foundation+ practitioner, ITIL 3 foundation and ISEB BA foundation.

So much for having a month off

Do you not think you need to research this a little better? What use is ITIL going to be to you for most BA roles? I would argue the PRINCE one as well but it is generally useful in any large project environment.

What application do you specialise in, what BA skills/experience do you have or need. What is available in the market?

I really don't think getting 2 random qualifications and a desire to be a BA whatever that is is going to be enough to secure you solid work.

You sound much better suited for a stint in permie land IMHO.

[craig1]

certanly not PMOing...

PMO people are just frustrated wannabe PMs

Seriously though:
- the ISEB BA qualification will give you the nuts of the BA's job and act as a good framework for tagging experience onto. I've not done it but those I know who have recommend it.
- the PRINCE2 Practitioner qualification will allow you to understand the chicken-sacrificing lingo of PRINCE2 but won't teach you how to even be an inadequate PM, it's a methodology, not an instruction guide. Can I recommend the OU's M865 if you want to get to grips with the theory behind running a project, as it's distance learning you can do it on the job. It also allows you to say you have post-grad PM qualifications
- ITIL will bore you into tears unless you're the seriously anal sort who gets chubbies over configuration management databases. The foundation course is a tick-list exam that is undoubtedly the most boring course I've done in my life. Ticks a box on the CV though.

[Jog On]

PMO people are just frustrated wannabe PMs

Seriously though:
- the ISEB BA qualification will give you the nuts of the BA's job and act as a good framework for tagging experience onto. I've not done it but those I know who have recommend it.
- the PRINCE2 Practitioner qualification will allow you to understand the chicken-sacrificing lingo of PRINCE2 but won't teach you how to even be an inadequate PM, it's a methodology, not an instruction guide. Can I recommend the OU's M865 if you want to get to grips with the theory behind running a project, as it's distance learning you can do it on the job. It also allows you to say you have post-grad PM qualifications
- ITIL will bore you into tears unless you're the seriously anal sort who gets chubbies over configuration management databases. The foundation course is a tick-list exam that is undoubtedly the most boring course I've done in my life. Ticks a box on the CV though.

This is really all I'm after with the certs. Going to research the BA role more and get all 3 as they can't hurt.

[malvolio]

ITIL is good practice documented. I wouldn't get out of bed for V3, which is the world's best exampe of bloatware since SSADM, but V2 works and works very well. The world is no longer about tin, wires and code, it's about service delivery and doing Foundation is enough to get your head around the concepts. The point is the fundamental prnciples are deply embedded across the industry these days, it's a lot more than process design. But if you don't understand the solid commercial value of a working CMDB, you're probably in the wrong place to comment on it

You can largely gnore it if you are in a technical role, but anyone that gets to work between IT and end user needs to know it, even if they don't actively use it.

[Jog On]

ITIL is good practice documented. I wouldn't get out of bed for V3, which is the world's best exampe of bloatware since SSADM, but V2 works and works very well. The world is no longer about tin, wires and code, it's about service delivery and doing Foundation is enough to get your head around the concepts. The point is the fundamental prnciples are deply embedded across the industry these days, it's a lot more than process design. But if you don't understand the solid commercial value of a working CMDB, you're probably in the wrong place to comment on it

You can largely gnore it if you are in a technical role, but anyone that gets to work between IT and end user needs to know it, even if they don't actively use it.

This is the direction I'm seeing myself go in. I'm at a juncture now where i can go down the tech road or the business road, I'm not going to learn how to code at this stage and I do like talking to the customer and helping them achieve their objectives.

I decided on the BA route a while back as my next move but I have no idea how to break into it without any real experience and I don't want to try blagging my way into something (too much). Doing project work now and the assistant junior PM stuff I thought would be a good transition for now hence the Prince 2 and aiming for assistant/junior/PMO for next gig with a view to growing in that one.

I'll specialise when I'm not so green. This time last year I was a support monkey/tape changer. I've found myself doing reporting and end user meetings and taken to it very naturally so I'm really just thinking about January for now and will start piecing together the bigger picture form there.

BA is what interests me the most though. I've heard that people chop and change between PM/BA roles depending on what's out there so I'm just covering the bases. Obviously I'd love to get a nice BA role next..