Presentation by Emmanuel Delpierre, Chairman of the DOUG Advisory Board I’m assuming you all are Oracle professionals. But how many of you are Oracle users? Even if we are not Database Administrators (DBAs) or Developers, most of us use Oracle technology and applications at work, home or on the road! The e-commerce site that we visit may use Oracle to process our orders. The airline that we fly on may use Oracle to handle its reservations and communicate to other corporate systems. The simple fact is that all of us are Oracle users in one way or another. There are …
Category: Articles
Interview with Christine Lambden, Consulting Skills Trainer and Author Christine Lambden and Casey Conner recently spoke on Expanding Your Influence at the DOUG Professional Development Seminar. She is a popular speaker and has appeared on Fox News and NBC’s Today Show, and has been quoted in Kiplingers, Profit, and Consulting Magazine on the business of consulting. We took advantage of the opportunity to ask her some questions about consulting. What is the best way to start work as a consultant and should I keep my day job? It depends. I know that is the standard consultant’s answer, but in this case, it’s …
Presentation by Steve Palmer, IT Recruiter with Babich & Associates First, let’s start by breaking the delusions surrounding resumes. Resumes are grossly overrated. The average resume gets read in 10 to 15 seconds and 100’s of resumes are routinely submitted for each posted position. A common mistake is to confuse productivity with activity. Instead of spending days agonizing over crafting a resume, write an effective resume and concentrate your efforts on personally getting in front of a decision maker. In most situations, HR will review your resume before it ever gets to a hiring authority. So, it is critical that you thoroughly detail your technical skills and experience so that HR will catch the requisite …
Presentation by Anthony R. Reed, CPA, PMP Companies seeking to improve productivity usually divide their resources between focusing on building teams or individuals. How effective are team building events in the long run? Sometimes, they’re like drinking some high-powered energy drinks. You feel great for a short time period, followed by a hard crash. The team building event goes something like this.First, you’re divided into teams. Next, you’re given some goal-oriented task, such as stacking blocks or building towers with Popsicle sticks. This task is completely unrelated to your real world projects and planning processes. You then perform the task under …
Presented by E.J. Demaree II, Professional Development Chair of DOUG Principle #1) Be honest! That should be principle number one in your job search. Obviously, you should not fudge on what you are good at. However, the other side of being honest is NOT downplaying your strengths. If you have written an article on PL/SQL, let them know that. You are not just good, you are GREAT. Don’t undersell your skills. Don’t oversell your skills. TIP #1) Why so excited? Why do you want the job? What are the three or four honest reasons why you want the job? Money …