Washington Whispers

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Challenges remain for business analyst contracts

At least in the Connecticut market, truely new business analyst postings are slim pickings; or the postings are from the same company with many openings and/or the postings have very specific experience requirements. And when you do spot a new posting, submit your resume (and cover letter), primarily to recruiters, you never hear from them. To make matters worse, you get contacted by a recruiter, they determine that you are a good match and submit your resume. AND, most do not have the courtesy to keep you posted on the status of the submission (client still reviewing resumes, client isn’t interested, etc.). Needless to say, 100% of the time I block all future communication from those recruiters (for new opportunities).

It is plan business courtesy to close the loop – keep your candidates informed – add value to the candidate NOT just to your client. At some point you might have the perfect opportunity for the candidate who now refuses to do business with you. Count me on that list; I have blocked many recruiters and immediately delete emails (i.e. 99% of the time the same job posting goes out to dozens of recruiters with 4 to 6 recruiters contacting me about the same posting; I simply work with the recruiter who understands what it takes to support candidates, has a direct relationship with the client, and appears to be a company that I can trust to pay me on time without any hassles! Period!

CTMerchantServices.com – Mike’s new “business analysis” approach

As the job & contract market for business analysts has been extremely weak (or at minimum extremely focused on specific past assignment skills), I’ve found other avenues to help bring in revenue and to expand my “business analysis” skills.

As you will see from my newest website, http://ctmerchantservices.com, I am working with VALUED Merchant Services as an independent contractor, helping businesses throughout the tri-state area (CT, NY, NJ plus MA), with a primary focus within Connecticut.

For those reading this post – if you have merchants that you do business with (or are in contact with them through personal relationships in Connecticut) I am extending an offer to become a referral partner. If you refer a merchant/business owner who finds via my no obligation Savings Analysis that we indeed save them dollars (adding to their bottom line) and signs on with VMS to handle their processing services, I will register you in our Referral Partnership program to receive a referral fee and on-going monthly residuals for as long as the merchant remains a VMS customer! No gimmicks, no commitments on your part, we handle 100% of the relationship with the referral.

While you are at it, be sure to click on the ctphonebook.com link in the banner on my site – special offer when you register your business with promo code 0139… add yourself to the business directory that Connecticut businesses are turning to!

Connecting with merchants

A perfect complement to my “business analysis” consulting skills – busy connecting with merchants via MerchantCircle… a great place to advertise! You can look me up via http://tinyurl.com/merchantadvisor

Business Analyst postings in Connecticut

As of this post, the number of new job postings (truely new, not reposted for current date) are still very limited. However, if you are a BA looking for work and can move or commute to Connecticut, I am seeing a large number of repostings apparently due to the limited applications being received for very specialized Business Analyst positions; with very specific requirements for past experience.

The postings are showing up on the top three job sites along with some also appearing on more local job posting sites: Dice.com, Monster.com, and CareerBuilder.com seem to have the largest quantity of current (and reposted) Business Analyst openings. 

You should also search FairfieldCountyJobs.com and CTJobs.com. NOTE:  There is also CTJOBScentral, http://www.jobcentral.org/ct/, state labor exchange web site that has a wide selection of jobs throughout the state (all types of positions). 

Good luck with your search; I’d welcome feedback when you land your next assignment or full-time opportunity!

Business Analyst job postings – what are you seeing?

I originally drafted this 3/24 and forgot to post it, however, I find this to still be true today, along with the fact that MANY new job openings are being hidden by the employers who have their internal recruiters searching the Web and sites like LinkedIn.com to find candidates…

I don’t know about your area of the country but in the state of Connecticut the “new” postings for business analyst positions has greatly decreased from early February. Now you have MANY postings that are simply resubmitted for the current date and appear at the top of the list.

As with several job search sites, Dice.com does show an indicator to the left of every job posting that you have already looked at; and another indicator for any that you have sent a resume to. I also use Careerbuilder.com, CTJobs.com, Monster.com, and FairfieldCountyJobs.com. The top two favorites of mine are Dice.com and Monster.com, with Dice.com seeming to have the most BA-related postings. I like Dice.com the best; and really like the tagging of any postings that I’ve already reviewed — especially since MANY are re-posted with the latest date. It saves me a lot of time from revisiting postings!

Looking for a job? Tips for today’s job market

If you are near a newstand you may want to pick up the April 13th edition of Fortune Magazine. The front cover features “How To Find A Job” a very timely article (starting on page 49) that provides some excellent tips on what is working now in this very tight job market.

They also have an interactive version of this article on their Website — you’ll see the article interactive in the right top section of their home page… very informative and has some great tips.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/

What I have found to be very true is that there are a large number of companys that are NOT posting their new positions and are relying on their internal recruiters to search the Internet for candidates and in particular they are looking at LinkedIn, Zoominfo, and other profile sites where potential future hires are providing a much broader insight into their background and personality than could ever be put down in a posted resume.

Not on LinkedIn (or other business networking org) – you need to be ASAP!

Following other BAs on Twitter.com

Just started following http://twitter.com/ModernAnalyst  – a good example of linking twitter.com to an area of interest. In this case, this twitter.com connection is related to the Modern Analyst group on LinkedIn. For all business analysts/business system analysts, you’ll want to do a search for BA-related groups on LinkedIn and join those that meet your interests. You can see the groups I chosen to-date via my profile on LinkedIn — http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeconkey

Sr. Business Analyst expert on LivePerson.com

As I continue to expand my interests and make my services available, I’ve registered with LivePerson.com as a Sr. BA who you can contact for help on a specific project, topic, assignment, etc. http://www.liveperson.com/mike-conkey-sr-ba 

My rates are shown in my profile and they are negotiable based on the project or assignment request. The initial conversation is free as we determine if we want to work together with you ultimately deciding whether or not to hire me for the job.

If you are not familiar with LivePerson.com it is definitely worthwhile checking out how the service works – you’ll never know when you might need a minute, an hour or more of someones time to help you resolve an issue, provide content for an article, give you a reading, or any number of other areas of interest, challenge, or concerns.

I am new on the network but it does seem to run smoothly; I’ve used the services of an expert myself and found the process smooth and got the service I was looking for.

Plenty of Business Analysts groups on LinkedIn

If you haven’t checked out the groups on LinkedIn.com – be sure to take a few minutes and search for the business analyst groups — there are quite a few; I’ve joined some of them and find them to have interesting posts AND there are job postings that you will not find on any of the job search sites. Here’s my LinkedIn connection — I believe you’ll see the groups that I already belong to – with several more pending approval from the group admin… http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeconkey

Are you seeing an increase in BA job postings?

There does seem to be a slight increase in job postings for business analysts, at least in the state of Connecticut, New York City, and in New Jersey. Hopefully this is a sign that we may have hit the bottom and companies are again refocusing on moving forward with projects that have been on hold, and new projects.

I’m seeing interest from company recruiters who are actively searching the job posting sites themselves and not necessarily posting the job openings – looking to fill the positions themselves, directly.

I’d welcome feedback on what your seeing in your area!