iMadalina on .Life

• No project has ever finished on time, within budget, to requirement.
• Yours won't be the first to.
• Activity is not achievement.
• Managing IT people is like herding cats.
• If you don't know how to do a task, start it, then ten people who know less than you will tell you how to do it.
  
  

Am citit cateva cv-uri in ultima vreme. Standard, de pe site-urile mari de joburi de pe la noi. E interesant si totodata amuzant sa observi diverse aspecte.

Primul aspect pe care l-am remarcat a fost multitudinea de domenii selectate la capitolul “domeniu in care vreau sa lucrez”. Domeniile apar in ordine alfabetica si atunci cand vezi alaturate inginerie, IT software, marketing, telecomunicatii, inginerie si servicii (de diverse tipuri) ai impresia ca persoana respectiva vrea sa devina panaceu universal. Evident ca in orice meserie folosesti cunostinte din multe si variate domenii, dar de aici si pana la a crede ca poti face fata unui job de programator in “IT software” sau unuia de inginer in telecomunicatii in acelasi timp, este o cale foarte lunga. Apropo, ce-i aia “inginerie” ? Un singur lucru retin eu din CV-uri “polivalente” – oamenii nu stiu nici de unde vin si nici unde se duc. Nu stiu care din aceste doua aspecte este cel mai trist...

Sau de exemplu, cum se contrazic oamenii: la capitolul realizari o persoana subliniaza faptul ca toate realizarile si le considera reusite (si enumera mai multe), dar la intrebarea “care este cea mai mare realizare profesionala de pana acum” spune ca nu are asa ceva... Eu as fi gasit in enumerarea respectiva macar concluzia ca persoana respectiva a dus la capat cu succes lista aceea intreaga de “taskuri”.

Alt aspect foarte important si extrem de acut este experienta. Cand se citesc interviuri se impart CV-urile in trei categorii – cu experienta relevanta, cu experienta si fara. Daca nu ai avut ocazia sa ai experienta, nu primesti minus pentru ca esti in cea din urma categorie. Insa lucrurile pe care le faci vorbesc despre tine. Spre exemplu – cineva termina facultate cu profil tehnic (care incepe cu “electro” cel mai des), face un masterat in economie si aplica la un job in IT software. [pauza] Nici nu stiu ce sa comentez. Nu stie ce vrea sa faca? Sau stie dar nu reuseste sa exprime in multitudinea de campuri din cv de tipul “scrisoarea de intentie”, “scop”, “tel”, “aptitudini”, “observatii RELEVANTE PENTRU CV-UL TAU” care ii este scopul, luminita de la capatul tunelului sau ? Apropo, scrisoarea de intentie poate [si ar trebui] sa fie particularizata pentru fiecare job in parte. Nu ajuta deloc afirmatii generice ca “vreau sa lucrez intr-o firma dinamica, intr-un colectiv tanar”... Cum adica “tanar”? Vorbesc despre CV-uri depuse pentru un job in software. Cum adica tanar?

Si CV-ul poate (si ar trebui) sa fie particularizat functie de job. Aspectele relevante aduc puncte in plus. Aspectele “generice” nu prea aduc nimic. Insa aspecte care se bat cap in cap cu realitatea jobului la care s-a aplicat dau minusuri.

Daca ar fi sa notez cv-urile dupa prima impresie, cred ca este inutil sa spun ca cele din exemplele de mai sus nu ar primi nota de trecere. M-au impresionat mai mult cv-urile simple: absolvent al unei facultati din domeniu relevant, proiect de diploma + alte proiecte (personale) relevante. Si atat. Pentru ca lucrurile pe care le faci vorbesc din nou despre tine. Nu ai experienta? Poti sa ti-o construiesti – MAP, November Web, proiecte personale, tehnologii pe care le-ai invatat singur sunt doar cateva posibilitati. Daca ai sansa sa intri intr-un training, cu atat mai bine. Dar nu toata lumea o are. Deci lupta sau... pierzi, pentru ca si lucrurile pe care NU le faci vorbesc despre tine.

Partea a doua este interviul. Evident ca are greutatea cea mai mare. Dar trebuie sa si ajungi la interviu.

Disclaimer: nu stiu care este “judecata corecta”. Insa firmele care se respecta intervieveaza angajatii pe mai multe “planuri”. Deci in mod inevitabil din “comisie” va face parte si o persoana incisiva care va vedea si “the big picture” ;)

• Anything that can be changed will be changed until there is no time left to change anything.
• There is no such thing as scope creep, only scope gallop.
• A project gets a year late one day at a time.
• If you're 6 months late on a milestone due next week but really believe you can make it, you're a project manager.

This is the best one ever!! :))

• The project would not have been started if the truth had been told about the cost and timescale.
• A two-year project will take three years, a three year project will never finish.
• When the weight of the project paperwork equals the weight of the project itself, the project can be considered complete.
• A badly planned project will take three times longer than expected - a well planned project only twice as long as expected.
• Warning: dates in a calendar are closer than they appear to be.
  
  

The map is not the territory.

— Alfred Korzbyski

• Metrics are learned men's excuses.
• For a project manager overruns are as certain as death and taxes.
• Some projects finish on time in spite of project management bestpractices.
• Fast - cheap - good - you can have any two.
• There is such a thing as an unrealistic timescale.

• If everything is going exactly to plan, something somewhere is going massively wrong.
• Everyone asks for a strong project manger - when they get them they don't want them.
• Overtime is a figment of the naïve project manager's imagination.
• Quantitative project management is for predicting cost and schedule overruns well in advance.
• The sooner you begin coding the later you finish.
  
  

• Feather and down are padding, changes and contingencies will be real events.
• There are no good project managers - only lucky ones.
• The more you plan the luckier you get.
• A project is one small step for the project sponsor, one giant leap for the project manager.
• Good project management is not so much knowing what to do and when, as knowing what excuses to give and when.
  
  

IT specialists are also humans :) Yes, they are. Apart from the general image of skinny men with thick glasses, IT people are not only about coding and late hours at the office. Sometimes they are more driven and passionate about their work. I myself have never seen a colleague that, when he/she loved the project that was working on, didn’t stay at the office overtime or worked even on weekends at home.
But that does not mean that other people are not as passionate about what they do as IT people are. Of course not, and this isn’t my point.
My point is a tricky one – when does the passion stop? And why?
Can it be boring tasks? But all tasks have an end, don’t they?
Can it be underpayment? But there is also room for negotiation – at anytime, as long as you know that your progress is worth it.
Can it be bad management? But even Managers can take a hint :)
What if it’s all this and more? What if there is no light at the end of the tunnel? Or what if that light has been promised so many times that only by hearing about it makes is a little dimmer every time?
There comes a time when determination is not of help any more. There comes a time when daily routine tasks are the straight way to… apathy. And when that happens, it’s no stair way to heaven :)
Well, that would be the issue. What about solving it?
Compromise is a general way of making people work together or live with each other’s opinions. But what is often forgotten is that compromise should go both ways – as this is its definition to begin with. There shouldn’t be compromising the compromise bit by bit until one half of the deal gets so small that you can’t even see it any more :(
Where do we draw the line, you ask? Definitely not always on the edge. Work is important, progress is important, resources are important, money is definitely important… but none of the above are more important than people. Because no people, no fun :)
I am not one of those who think that everyone is replaceable. I never believe that to be true. Moreover, I think that if you search for a team and you put heart into it, you will find what you are looking for and you will be able to create the work environment that you want and need.
So, spirits up! There is no situation you cannot deal with, no answer you cannot find, no issue you cannot solve. There is always a way. A better way. You just have to find it.
“The road is out there”… somewhere :)

• I know that you believe that you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant.
• What is not on paper has not been said.
• A little risk management saves a lot of fan cleaning.
• If you can keep your head while all about you are losing theirs, you haven't understood the plan.
• If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.