IF Workshops for Knowing What and Who You’re Gonna Work With – would you go?

Introduction
What would you say to an opportunity to hear about what an industry is like from “the horse’s mouth” (as it were) and not only get an appreciation of what you need to know to work there – but what it is like to work there? That is, besides the work you might do: who are the people, what do they do, how crazy are they, where do they like to hang out, how dangerous is it to eat/drink/socialise with them, etc…

If this sounds like it would interest you, then read on….

Further to the First IF workshop that 7C Alliance held as part of its pilot of Job SAW, one of the things we discovered with this – and which we trust will interest you – is that:

these workshops do not have to be “dry” – nor just about IT either – so please read on some more to see why….

The Focus of IF workshops
The intention of Job SAW’s Industry Focus workshops (aka IF-Job SAW for short) are that they are intended to help IT professionals be better prepared to fit with work in an area of the market, or industry – be it technically, professionally, socially or all three.

IF-Job SAW workshops will achieve this by allowing attendees to:

– Become aware of what is happening in the industry at large,

- Get to know who the leaders are; and

- Discover what trends in IT are emerging in those industries

Above all, they will provide an opportunity to meet and chat with some of the people involved in recruiting for businesses in those industries and, with a little bit of luck (according to levels and hype of interest) this may include opportunity to meet some of the leading businesspeople themselves.

IT professionals can then learn both who – as well as what – they need to know and so allow themselves to be a better fit socially for work and understand how they align personally with businesses in a particular industry.

Socially? How can IF workshops go there?
IF-Job SAW workshops will help a candidate prepare themselves socially for work by allowing them to meet people who have been involved in the industry already – and so get a feel of what each industry is like and how it’s needs and focus for IT differ, as well as operations affect it. So how will IF help tell who’s who in the zoo??

Firstly, it may be from engaging a leading recruiter to present their view on an area of business in an industry – as demonstrated with the first IF workshop on “trading and risk management“, as held in West London on Thursday, 10th September 2009.

Then, it could also be a view from a highly experienced contractor who has done a lot of work in a particular industry. It does not necessarily have to be an IT contractor either – just someone who has a lot of exposure to the industry and is, ideally, currently “in the business” too. This non-IT contractor’s view can be valuable IT contractors for understanding how they will need to know how to communicate with those do not have the same understanding as them of IT jargon – as well as for learning about jargon that is likely to be used in the non-IT contractor’s area that they perhaps ought to know about.

Third, and finally, the piece de resistance of an IF workshop will be one where 7C Alliance sources a recognised industry leader who is interested to present a workshop and chat about not only what their past and current challenges are – but also share thoughts on what they are interested to get ideas on for the future. This might even be about opportunities that are coming up (e.g. as a thought and hint of potential: The Olympics, development of CrossRail or Green Energy initiatives)

7C Alliance is also looking at how to incorporate the “strictly social” aspect by having anyone, with good work experience in a particular industry, present a good anecdote that captures what that industry is like or about. Such presentations on the social aspects of an industry will not be second-hand, i.e. from “someone who knows someone”. Instead, they will come from people who have actually “been there, done that” – and will not just be on what to expect technically and professionally but also on how a candidate needs to prepare themselves mentally and emotionally for work in that environment.

Besides the hard knocks and challenges (aka “war stories“), we also hope for some entertaining stories at IF-Job SAW, e.g. such as ones from those who have worked with Ministry of Defence, as heard presented by an IT outsourcing business at an itSMF Conference, about challenges with use of IT equipment in the field (i.e. EVERYTHING is dispensable!), or one from someone in a bank’s Office Facilities Management about challenges with second-hand IT equipment (i.e. it cannot be sold or re-used anywhere else – as EVERYTHING data-related has to be destroyed and not reusable due to data sensitivity issues, and so there are some unique solutions for doing that) or someone from Oil and Gas industry about the challenges on using IT equipment for sourcing or prospecting drilling sites on heavy seas – and some of the fun with saving data and getting a signal to send data back when EVERYTHING is swaying from side-to-side. These are just some accounts of examples given by 7C Alliance members’ experiences of challenges with use of IT in different industries or otherwise by their colleagues and friends in those industries…

So what’s the value of the IF “Sociability” Factor?
The need for this better understanding and appreciation of IT in different industries has come about through 7C Alliance members’ experience that, while end-clients expect good working knowledge of the industry, some also expect the candidate to have certain personal attributes and soft skills - such as the nerves and stamina for staying the distance under long hours as well as the ability to think and speak “on their feet” under pressure.

IF workshops will therefore provide indications of what personal attributes and soft skills that a contractor needs to have, AS WELL AS knowing what are the relevant technical skills and experience to have.

IF workshops will allow them to determine how best to mirror or align with the physical, cultural or behavioural aspects and pressures of the business and the people that they are likely to have to deal with.

So IF workshops are literally about What-if!
Having opportunity to consider “the IF factor” will help a contractor better know what they are getting themselves in for (assuming they don’t know already from prior experience). So newcomers to a particular business, or an industry at large, will then be less likely to be overwhelmed by either the operating environment (e.g. hot desking, working in a PortaCabin, an old lime-green Army Hospital or on the heaving deck of a ship in the Southern Seas) or otherwise how the nature of the business or its employees and management work that they have to deal with. And so they should then not be surprised when they first hit the ground running at the customer’s site!!

After all, if you can’t stand the heat….
This broader-than-usual industry focus on the supply chain for IT professionals’ services will mean that there is an increase in opportunity to learn the full extent of who we need to be, as well as what we need to know.

IF workshops will therefore help the market with sourcing IT contractors who are more rounded individuals personally and socially – and so much better prepared to go beyond simply what they need to know for applying for jobs online.

IF-Job SAW should also mean contractors are better set for interviews with the end-client – by having learned from the workshop some questions to ask, or answers to questions that might be asked, that indicate that some awareness of the industry. This will also help to demonstrate that they have some of the social and soft skills relevant for that industry that will enable them to be more effective in working in it.

How did the idea for IF workshops came about?
Senior members of the 7C Alliance, many of whom are hiring managers themselves, have noted this aspect of understanding as missing from candidates’ capability – and typically when coming through agencies for work. They are therefore interested in seeking ways to help resolve and improve candidates’ exposure to the market, and capability for it, through Job SAW workshops like IF.

In the near future, 7C Alliance sees “the IF factor” as being one of the most important considerations – especially where there is likely to be a lot of competition in the market!

But what about those who have already “Been There, and Done That”?
For those who already have had some experience in an industry, but perhaps have been limited in opportunities for getting a continuous flow of contracts or are considering re-entry to the market if been out of if for a while, IF workshops will potentially provide a source of intelligence and discussion about both current status and new developments in an industry.

For those who already have the IF factor, workshops will consider new areas of business or innovation that an end-client is working on, or may be considering working on, and so might not fit the standard tick-box for recruitment.

What value is there in presenting to those who have “The IF factor”?
Having exposure to the “IF factor” contractors will help recruiter and industry innovator alike.

It will help the recruiter by giving them an opportunity to know and discuss these innovations directly with potential candidates who are “shovel-ready” – and so can better help them to learn what are the compatible skill-sets are where they are most relevant and spot those who are best to engage.

For example, one area where recruiters have been observed as falling short by some members of the 7C Alliance is on how to use Information Architects for the Web/E-commerce site integration and Virtualisation Architects for the Applications and Data Centre Consolidation – and by contrast with simply seeking to recruit those who may have simply designed web-sites or built data centres, but not worked in enterprise applications integration (EAI) and/or system integration.

IF will also help industry innovators sound out their ideas – and 7C Alliance already has a few in its ranks who it will be introducing to top quality IT contractors over coming months/years. Indeed, some of these individuals are in its discussion group on LinkedIn and interested to engage already!!

So how will and what IF workshops come together?
To focus on the types of people to invite to these events, the 7C Alliance will both leverage the knowledge of its own experts in the group as well as canvass the community through its involvement in online discussion group threads outside of the 7C Alliance Discussion Group.

We will seek out and invite who is likely to be interested and most relevant to presenting an Industry Focus workshop – but also happy to accept invitations to present IF workshops to contractors too

Thereafter 7C Alliance will work with presenters and attendees alike to plan and schedule these workshops based on an assessment of awareness, interest and possible trial of the workshop (as QED last week in West London). However, if the idea is “hot”, we may just go for it too!!

So where do I go – IF I wanna go?
To kickstart interest in what IF workshops to have, 7C Alliance Limited is getting input from its favoured LinkedIn Discussion Groups’ and private forums on the types of workshops. We are asking the members of these forums the following questions:

- What industry/industries would you like to see represented at future IF workshops?

- What topic areas would you like covered (e.g. specific areas within certain industries or areas that are perhaps not industry specific)

- Do you know of any people who may be interested in running such a discussion or workshop? Are you perhaps interested in running one yourself?

To participate in this discussion, and meet other prospective presenters as well as attendees, then join the 7C Alliance Discussion Group on LinkedIn for interest in this related to IT contract work, or if interest related to permanent work in IT then join the Looking for a Job – UK which is a subgroup of Looking for a Job? discussion group on LinkedIn

However, if you would like to suggest future workshops privately, have a specific private query about this initiative, or are interested to REGISTER NOW to take part in a future one, then please go to Contact Us page of the 7C Alliance web-site, select “Study Group” and state “Interested in IF-Job SAW” in the query section of the form, along with details of your suggestion, query or registration of interest.

Tags: business development, industry focus, innovation, marketing, new business, upskilling, work wanted