Work Location: Waverly, Iowa

We are seeking an uncommon professional to join our team as a IT Business Analyst.

This position is a full time employment position located at our Heritage Way office in Waverly, Iowa, in our IT area that supports our Life & Health and Annuity systems area. The IT Business Analyst will work with a team of 4 other business analysts and 6 application developers handling corporate, product, or functional based projects. Gathering requirements for these projects is part of the role. Interfacing with stake holders and management is also part of the day-to-day duties. In addition to skills found in Business Analysis work the following would be preferable: strong mathematical aptitude due to nature of the products, prior application development experience, insurance/financial industry experience and product management experience.

Apply Online!

Job Responsibilities

1. Work collaboratively with business resources and IT to define and document requirements for projects and operational functions. Elicit, analyze, document, validate, and prioritize business needs to support the development of requirements used to analyze feasibility of alternatives and identify solutions. This includes reviewing the current environment, identifying possible alternative solutions, providing technical information to the cost and benefit process to meet business needs, and making a recommendation of the best solution available. In addition to driving the initial investigation and analysis, work with steering committees, project teams, and team leaders to prioritize requests and estimate resources.

2. Effectively utilize the Requirements Management and System Development methodologies to deliver complete requirements which meet the business and project goals and objectives. Use technical concepts and techniques such as context diagrams and use cases to scope, communicate, and document requirements. Effectively use technology to support the process and achieve the expected results within the identified timeframe.

3. Understand established business rules governing the set-up of systems. Research system functionality and evaluate its use in support of projects requiring changes to products or processes or resolution to problems. Provide system set-up for rules, tables, and fields in support of product, process, or technology changes. Perform system maintenance in support of operational functions. Design, generate, and analyze system reports to meet business needs, and maintain documentation as defined by business process, system, and product owners. Maintain awareness of ongoing development and maintenance activities.

4. Serve as a liaison between business resources and IT to understand production problems and offer alternatives for short-term and long-term solutions. Identify process improvement opportunities to improve quality, enhance service, and eliminate non-essential tasks. Work with other business analysis and testing staff within the PMO environment in support of projects and business operations, and in coordination with the quality assurance phases of test planning, testing, defect resolution, and test tracking. Stay abreast of system changes implemented by other teams.

5. Assist in the development of training materials and maintenance of business system documentation. Help with the delivery of business system training.

Job Requirements

Work Location: Waverly, Iowa

We are seeking an uncommon professional to join our team as a Programmer I

This is a full time employment position located in our Waverly, Iowa, office. This is a standard 1st shift, Monday through Friday, position. The Programmer I will be working in our IT area that supports the company’s Annuity product line that consists of a few systems done in Visual Basic, VB.NET, COBOL, ASP/ASP.NET, and MS SQL Server. The aforementioned technologies is what the ideal candidate would possess along with 1-3 years of experience or programming internship.  Assignments are less support and more product driven. Scenarios include, but not limited to, functional updates and implementations, compliance changes – in order to meet the product’s approval throughout different states across the nation, and application enhancements as requested by internal client areas. The team dynamic includes 2 experienced developers, 3 business analysts and 1 manager. Late work hours may be required during testing phases of applications.

Apply online!

Job Responsibilities

Within the following job responsibilities, a Programmer I will typically spend 90% of their time coding, testing, and documenting, and spend 10% of their time involved with analysis/design activities.

1. Assists in creating, in an accurate and efficient manner, the defined application code according to the individual program specifications and the existing programming standards. This code must be developed in a manner that is straightforward, clear, and consistent with existing programs within the system and in compliance with the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC).

2. Assists in analyzing the needs of a business area and creating the detailed functional specifications required for the development of efficient, dependable, maintainable applications logic to support the business need. This analysis and design is usually done under the direction of Information Technology management or advanced professional staff including Programmer II, Programmer/Analyst or Analyst/Designers.

3. Assists in interpreting or refining the file specifications produced. This will include platform requirements, language requirements, implementation and test plans, and be either of the traditional information engineering techniques (data flow, system flow, entity relationship diagrams, file specifications, structure charts, action diagrams or be able to produce or refine object oriented analysis/design techniques & UML diagramming notation (class hierarchy diagrams, class collaboration diagrams, class sequence diagrams. Tests and debugs production programs and programs under development, in accordance with developed test plans, to isolate and eliminate problems that could be very costly to the Company in adverse public relations, lost productivity internally, wasted resources, etc. This may require working directly with other technical staff and business departments in identifying problems and modifications.

4. Assists in determining and resolving production issues. Works with others to identify underlying cause of outage and correcting it to prevent future occurrences. Implements program logic, documentation, and procedural changes on schedule and according to an established implementation plan. Documents program logic, procedures, and business recovery plans thoroughly and completely so that the documentation is readily understood by others working on the system. This documentation should also follow established standards and procedures.

5. Assists in business continuous improvement by taking responsibility to act in a customer-focused. This includes providing service to clients that meets or exceeds their expectations, continually evaluating work processes by looking for ways to eliminate non-essential tasks and improving quality. Contributes positively to the team by performing daily work in a professional manner and treating co-workers as clients. Makes decisions that increase customer satisfaction and develops/maintains business-specific knowledge.

The above list of responsibilities is not all inclusive and other duties may be assigned from time to time.

Job Requirements

Chicago is host to CocoaConf 2012, to be held March 16-17. Hey, you could also partake in St Patty’s day festivities in the windy city.

Brad Larson, local to Madison, will be one of the guest speakers!

So if you’re interested in Cocao, iOS, development, head on over to the CocoaConf’s official website for more info.

From the site:

Join us in Chicago for the first CocoaConf of 2012. This March we will gather a hundred iOS and OS X developers for two days packed with cutting edge technical content. Our speakers include developers, trainers, and authors who have been there and done that. And they’re eager to pass on what they’ve learned to all of us.

Opportunities to learn from experts like this don’t come very often, so we want to help you make the most of it. From the classroom arrangement to providing all meals and snacks to keeping the attendee to speaker ratio as low as possible, this event is all about providing you with the best learning experience ever.

Look on Linkedin, check hash tag #jobs on Twitter, or check on popular job sites and you’re bound to come across a job opportunity posted by a staffing firm. Ninety plus percent will not list the client (this is to prevent competitors going after your clients), the client being the company that needs a qualified candidate. You go ahead and apply, but never really know what happens after that.

Once you apply to the position, like any job you apply for, your information gets entered into a database and staff will get notified or realize there is a new submission. This happens in companies that have their own applicant tracking systems (ATS), not just staffing firms.

The recruiter screens the resume, skills, etc, and determines if you’re 1) qualified for the role you applied to or 2) qualified for any role that the firm may represent. If you meet either, expect a call.

If you have met with the firm in the past 6 months, the recruiter will tell you about the position, blow you off, or reach out to you to see how your job search is coming. This last part generates leads for the firm. Again, we’ll talk about that later.

If you have NOT met within a certain time frame, longer than the aforementioned 6 months in some cases, the staffing firm may have you come back in to update paperwork. Some firms require this as part of their process – some are publicly traded and could be a part of Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) compliance, etc. Trust me, it’s not to waste your time, it’s a process thing. You’d have to do it now or later. When you come in you’ll fill out I9 info, W2 for taxes, complete fields on the application not possible online, take skills assessments, and meet with a recruiter. The recruiter will need to get certain information – job history, gaps in employment, confirm salary expectations, ask how your job search is coming/where else you applied/gather leads for sales, discuss your availability, gain rapport, etc. If you are qualified for an open position, the recruiter will pitch it to you. If there are no open positions that fit your experience/background, you’ll be given the ‘keep in touch’ verbiage and a handshake. Good recruiters will setup a follow up time.

So what happened to the position that you applied to?

It could have been filled by a person that was either in the firm’s database of previous applicants, or it is still open. In short, unless the position is something hard to find, it gets filled as quick as possible. Firms race against the clock in order to fill the position before a competitor does. Time kills all deals. It is also possible that a qualified candidate could get a job somewhere else, or the competition is not only filling the position, but could be filling it with a person that both parties have access to. The candidate pool in a metropolitan area is the same. It comes down to finding the right person, with right attitude, with the right skills, with the right pay before your competition finds that same person or someone similar.

If a firm calls you for a position they should do the following:

1. Check Availability – The firm should ask you if you’re still available – if the answer is ‘no’ it’s time to move on but not before finding out where you landed. It’s a lead and now you’ve become a potential client.
2. Have You Applied To… – Have ever applied to ‘xyz’ company within the last 6 months? Six months is usually a time frame where a firm can resubmit your info had you previously applied to XYZ company in the past. It’s to determine a type of ownership. Does the client own the submission or will the firm? If you have applied within last 6 months, the firm could submit your information, but they will want to consult with the company to ensure it is ok and won’t get you disqualified based on a double submission. Odds are the firm won’t be able to represent you. If you have NOT applied, they’ll give you the lowdown on the position….3
3. Type of Assignment – They should tell you about the arrangement of the job, or project. It will typically be contract, contract to hire (CTH), or direct placement
4. Length of Assignment – For contract or contract to hire. *  It is important to know, this time is not set in stone. Got it? The client paying the firm for their services could say you smell bad and let you go after the first day. It happens. That’s the benefit of a company doing contract/contract-to-hire arrangements, you don’t have to commit right away like you do when hiring directly. It is the same reason that you, as a candidate, could put in a two week notice during a contract assignment because you found a full time position. You can decline an offer because you don’t want to work there full time. Don’t be mistaken, the deal works both ways – candidates AND employers need to understand this. Many don’t. The goal of the firm is to have the candidate do a good job, collect their bill rate for the assignment, have the employer love the candidate which reflects well upon the firm that placed them there. There may even be a negotiated fee involved in the hiring of the contractor as a full-time employee. Firms may pressure you to finish the project, but as long as you do the right thing, putting in ample notice, you’ll be ok. The firm, and the client may be irked, but that’s unfair. Many contractors will be irked when a client drags their feet in making a hiring decision, but they’re the ones holding the wallet so the candidate’s frustration is not tit for tat, unfortunately.
5. Pay –  This will be an hourly rate based on the requirements of the position. Understand this – you won’t earn more money for the job if you go directly to the client. The firm is NOT taking money away from you in order to make more money.  If the recruiter met you, pay expectations would already be established. If the sales peson talking to the client is not an idiot they would have already quoted an ‘up-to’ bill rate. It will be agreed upon before you get called. This bill rate is determined, again, by the requirements of the position and the corresponding salary for the market with a certain mark up. Don’t be an ignorant. Be informed and you’ll be in a good place.

To elaborate more on how pay/bill rate is determined…

The sales person (sometimes referred to as Account Executive, Staffing Specialist, etc) in the staffing firm obtains a request from a client that they have a need for help.

In this example we’ll say the client has a need for a Java developer with 5+ years of experience. Skills include: Java, struts, hibernate, and eclipse using subversion for source control. The sales person will also understand a bit about the project and the systems involved along with the make up of the team. It is an open vacancy, newly-created position due to growth. The client wants to see the candidate do the job for 3 months and would then consider making them an offer. Again, this last part is the client’s intention – it’s not a guarantee. The contract time could go longer, shorter, or the offer may not come at all based on a variety of different reasons: the budget could get cut, the company goes out of business, no longer have a need to hire, etc.

Based on the aforementioned details, the sales person/account exec quotes a bill rate of up to $90 an hour. The sales person will also quote a conversion fee. This should happen even on a contract position. You never know if it starts out as contract and the candidate may end up thinking that you’re going to prevent them from joining the company as a full-time employee because of your greed. If you quote it up front, and everybody follows good business ethics, there’s no worries.

So the recruiter now knows the deal. They find a person that has 3 years experience as a developer,  but has worked with java and hibernate, but not struts. Well, guess what, you’re not going to get paid the same as what a 6+ year Java dev with Java, hibernate, struts, javascript/ajax and DB2 would.  So maybe a more qualified candidate gets offered $45 an hour and the less qualified candidate gets offered $30 an hour.  This dollar rate is typically determined by the recruiter based on the bill rate established by the sales person. Keep in mind, the sales person doesn’t want to bill the max. So quoting $90 may be great, it’s always nice to have them come back to the client with a lower bill rate for an individual.

“But Sean, firms will want to place the 3 year person so they can make more money. See, I’m no fool. $90 for $30 person is better money than the firm paying a candidate $45 and billing $90. Momma didn’t raise no dummy.” There are firms that pull these shenanigans. It’s BS and it will catch up to them. A reputable firm will present the candidate to the client but adjust the bill rate accordingly. See, I mentioned ‘up-to’ bill rate of $90. So if the candidate is $30, you’re not going to charge the top end. You adjust. The percentage in markup should be about the same no matter how you slice it. Mark ups typically range from 55-120%. There are even some firms that give the client an option. Pick candidate ‘A’ with less experience but lower bill rate or choose candidate ‘B’ who may be more ideal, but the rate will be higher. Sometimes clients love to have at least a choice.

6. Accept or Decline – The candidate should then accept or decline the proposition presented by the recruiter. Do not try going around the firm. It’s not an ethical way of doing business. If you don’t want to work there, then decline. Going around the firm will get you disqualified and the client won’t look upon you in a good light for trying to do this. You’ll also burn bridges and people don’t forget. It speaks to your character. You can be the best, most qualified candidate, but if you lack ethics and integrity, you’re setting yourself up for potential hardship down the road. Don’t do it.
7. Next steps – The firm should then tell you next steps – submit resume, phone interview, face to face interview, or start the job on a specific date and time. Yes, you could go from a phone call to a start date. Clients could have enough trust in the firm to make this happen. Many do not.

That’s how you land the job, but what if you don’t?

You remain in the database kept in mind for the next open position that matches your background. See, if that new position comes in, it gets posted, somebody else applies to said new position, but the firm already met you. They know your pay, your experience. They’ll go to you first.

The Lesson

So you see, by the time you apply to an open position the firm may already have someone in consideration for it. However, the posting does not get pulled down until someone is 1) in the role, or 2) it is cancelled – maybe another firm filled the position or the client reconsidered the need.

Questions on the candidate experience? Let me know. This was a short article on a big part of the process. Don’t assume. Get educated. Know how it works!

Holy crap! I just lost my job! What am I going to do?

Sometimes it comes with no surprise, but often times it hits us like a head-on automobile collision. We’re going along, just fine, when our world is suddenly turned upside down. Hundreds of questions start to flood the mind and anxiety runs through our nervous system. The shock leaves us stupefied. Deer in the headlights is certainly a good analogy. I could go on, but you may have been there or are currently going through this. Allow me to quote Douglas Adams:

DON’T PANIC!

When you lose your job, it’s important to gather your thoughts. Nothing is going to ‘un-do’ what has already been done. It’s what to do now and tomorrow. The building burned down. You can’t un-do the fire.  You have to clear your mind and re-build.

Get A Hold of Yourself!

First thing – let the family know that you’re going to have a plan. Assess your situation, finances, etc and ensure you settle the nerves of the family unit. Mass hysteria has to be squashed. Level heads will prevail. Losing a job produces a huge amount of stress. Refocus that stress not on what has been done, things that can’t be changed, but what CAN be changed! It could be a tough road, but all will be ok. You have a great support system. You have your mind, body, and ability to prevail. Pity is not the way to go. Buck up! You’re a capable, intelligent, person. You can do this.

Update the Resume 

Now is the time to brag. It’s not time to be humble. Make sure dates are accurate, and make sure you list some ROI highlights. How did you impact the company in your last couple positions? Get tips on how to write a resume. I’m sure there is something here on this blog to help. Could you fit into multiple roles? Make sure you do different versions of the resume that will help you target that specific job.

Network – Spread the Word

When we feel defeated we don’t get into telling everyone about it. Well, welcome to change 101 and the power of social media and networking. You have to tell everyone!  Again, the humble route will not work. People will help, but not unless they know that you could use it. Hell, some may think you’re still working long after you departed a company. How often do you run into someone you know and they ask you “hey, how’s it going at ABC company?” and you haven’t been there in 5 years?!

True story. I went to a networking event. A guy stood in front of me. Never met him before. He had a name tag on. We’ll say it read ‘Wayne Last’. It hit me, “wait, I know that name. Where have I heard it?” Then it dawned on me. His resume came across my desk twice in one day and his name was thrown my way at least once the previous day. He had been downsized and let everyone know on his Linkedin profile. I wasn’t even on it and my peers had been telling me about him. “Hey, you know this guy? His position is eliminated. Know of any opps for him?”  This is the way to go.

Spreading the word may not land you an immediate job, but it plants that seed where someone may remember you. “Hey, wait, I know a person. Yeah, contact Wayne Last.”

You also have to network. Get to events. Grow your contact list on Linkedin. If you don’t have an account, you need to get hot. Facebook will also work. Many people already have 100+ contacts on Facebook who know you somehow. When you connect let them know you are on the market. Since you already have your resume done, you’ll want to send it to them when they ask. Don’t badger, just put the word out there and then update folks. People like to see that you’re trying.

Additional Help – Staffing Firms

Many firms specialize and cater to certain industry segments – IT, Engineers, Admins, etc. So look into them and ensure you know how they roll.  They know companies that you can’t possible think of or remember.

Where Am I?

Make sure you devise a system to keep track of where your information is going. Applying to 10+ jobs and having a firm involved will get your information all over the nethersphere so it’s important to keep track of where you’ve been submitted for job opportunities. Double submissions can get you disqualified from a company. Just be sure that’s not the case. If you need to update your submission, do it via the company’s online process or contact someone that handles recruitment. They’ll help you. Make sure you keep track of where firms send your info and ask them to keep you up to date. They have a stake in all this too.

Stay Positive – Desperate People Wreak

Be confident. Stay positive. Losing a job can make people desperate. We’ll take anything after a long period of time goes by. Don’t slip. Remain confident that you can do the job. It’s a minor set back.  Be selective and be sure you do some soul searching on the jobs you feel comfortable doing. Applying to everything under the sun may only confuse matters if you apply to 5 different positions at the same company. You can’t be everything to everyone. Pick a couple, dependent on your experience, and stick to them.

Stay Active – NO SLACK!

If there are things that need to get done around the house, do them. Enroll in a night class. Have an active routine. Looking for a job can be time consuming. Employers don’t like to see long gaps and the candidate can only say “I’ve been looking for a job.” Elaborate. If you have energy when you’ve been beaten down, and without a job, imagine the energy you’ll have on the job!

Feel free to let me know if you have luck using other tactics in searching for a job in the comments section. It’s a tough time but with some help, you can get through it.

Edit:

One thing I forgot to mention

Unemployment  - Take It!

Some of us have a lot of pride, but unemployment is what all employers pay. Don’t think of it as some government subsidy. It’s something you’re entitled to having should you get laid off. The stigma of unemployment only comes if someone abuses it. You won’t get much, and employers should not contest it if you’ve been laid off for just reasons. Yes, there is an oxymoron there, a just layoff. The layoff I’m speaking to is where you have not been terminated. Unemployment is not taxed, so be sure you realize that you’ll be having to recoup that when you file your taxes next year.  Either put some away, or get employed soon enough so that you can make it back up when you’re employed. In the end, you may end up owing taxes. Just something to be aware of in case you bank on getting the hefty return.