WEEK 10

PERSONAL SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths : Attention to details Strong verbal communication Patience to listen to the customers Enthusiasm to learn new technologies	Weaknesses: I have poor writing skills especially spelling Time management (rush to complete the things)
Opportunities: This is very important factor for me as I want to become a Tester/Business Analyst. I can effectively deliver the outcome of the project. My listening skills give me the opportunity to better understand the requirement of the clients and negotiate with them. This is always important an ICT professional which will give opportunity to work on new technologies.	Threats: Poor writing skills lead to the threat of poor documentation. Time management is one of the critical factors in any professional work place. Lack of time management may leads to the increase in the project cost.

 

Internship given me an opportunity to learn and apply both personal and professional skills in real-time working environment. Even though I feel I have the attributes like attention to details, communication skills and ability to learn new technologies, internship gave me the chance to better demonstrate these attributes. As I mentioned previously I have been doing technology audit, where attention to details is a vital factor in analysis process. Internship also gave me a chance to improve and practice my communication skills in a professional manner. With my interest in learning new technologies I have been learning about the new devices and software (like e-white board and Omnia registration software) which are purchased by the Homestead and not being used to their full capacity as they didn’t got  trained to use it. Next week I am planning to give a demonstration of how the e-white board works. I feel this would improve my presentation skills.

The main two areas of improvement for me are writing skills and time management.

Strategies for Improving Writing Skills

There are different ways of improving the writing skills; we can only improve writing skills if and only if we are practicing it. There are different ways of doing it.  Find a picture or image which is interesting and start writing about it for 10 mins or so. Then read through the information and correct the mistakes under the supervision of a friend or teacher. Same as this, open a dictionary, choose a word and start writing about it for a while. This will elaborate the thinking in the writing.

Strategies for better Time Management

It is important to complete professional and personal tasks on time. Most of the time I rush to complete the things as I am not good with the time management. If we have multiple tasks to complete at a point of time, I feel it is important to break tasks into smaller and manageable ones. I would also draw a timeline to complete each task and finish it accordingly. I would prefer to have organizer which would give me an alarm to indicate the start of the tasks.

WEEK 9

Master of Information Systems (MIS) which I have done from Central Queensland University gave me a good understanding of Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and insight into all the modules of IT like database management, network security and basic programming. This made me to understand the IT technology easily and present effectively to the non-technical users.

At homestead I have been given my professional assistance in demonstrating the better use of technology. Following are the some of the suggestions I have made:

• It is vital for any organization to have a proper anti-virus installed and updated every time it expires.  Homestead is using Trend Micro Internet Security, but they required to update when it expires. This needs to be done by the IS department who should have a log of when the anti-virus expires. But this is not happening unless Homestead tells them to do so.

 

• As of now the Homestead is using a CAS Omnia Registration Software for enrolment of students into all of its programs. This is a requirement for reporting to funding bodies. However, it is not being used to its full capacity.

 

• Homestead staff as well as tutors using the laptops. It should be good if they have wireless network with in Homestead which would be easy to connect without the hassle of having networked connections.

 

• Most of the PC’s in computer lab are old. It would be good if they upgraded every 2 years time. . All most all the computers don’t have ‘Adobe Flash Player’ which is mandatory to view lot of animations and other media content on the internet which are presented in flash form. It should be good for the users if the software can be updated every 6 months.

 

• Reception having hp printer as well as photocopier (which is the combination of printer and photocopier). There would have been an opportunity to save money if they could only use photocopier for both printing as well as photocopying.

 

• The Homestead has a number of technical devices like electronic white board, projector, printers and photocopiers. Staff  has different levels of training and usage of the technical devices. It should be good for all staff particularly volunteers to be trained in the use of these for maximum benefit.

WEEK 8

I feel the theory I have learned from Professional Year is almost the same as real time working environment. I guess that is why it is call “professional year”. Professional Business Communication taught me the importance of the communication and interpersonal skills. It has been prove useful in my day to day communication. I was also participated in mock meeting which give the confidence to participate in the meeting and express my views. The technical presentation we had during the course gave me the confidence to give a presentation when ever it required.

Australian Workplace Culture gave me the understanding of the Australian job market and how to secure a job with effective presentation of resume, cover letter and professionalism. I even attended the mock interviews which gave me the confidence to attend the interview in for professional jobs. However, I doubt whether employers follow professional strandeds which we were discussed in the resume preparation. I believe it is not enough if the job seekers follow the professional stranded’s.

As I mentioned earlier, I have been working at Homestead which is non-profit organization works under Hume city council. They mainly use wireless technology to connect with the Hume city councel server. Even they have a computer lab with internet for customers use. As I have been working on business analysis I have mainly using the ananlysis and re3porting techniques.

WEEK 7

I have completed my technology audit and planning to prepare the recommendations next week.

According to Hammer (2008), Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality test designed to assist a person in identifying important personal preferences and it rates personality in four categories. This information is used a lot in the corporate world to determine team combinations. There will be 16 personality types that result from the combination of these four dichotomies.

I did the test and the report given my type is ENFJ. According to the test report, I have an outspoken personality and I am good at expressing my views and opinions. This is how I am more suitable for the roles where there is a customer interaction. I strongly agree with this point as I want be a business analyst rather a developer. Report also says I have a moderately intuitive personality and I will use my imagination to work beyond the five physical senses. I will take account of both logic and feelings while I am taking the decisions. With 56% judging capability I am moderately good with predicting the situations.

Reference

Hammer, A, L 2008, ‘Work Styles Report: ENHANCING TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS’, CPP, Inc.

WEEK 6

Problems and Problem Solving Skills

Most of the time, if we enter into a new working environment it is common to experience some personal and professional problems.  It has been six weeks I am doing my internship at homestead. Now, I am feeling comfortable with work environment and the people. However, as I didn’t have any professional experience in IT I have been experiencing some problems in copping up with the situation.

First problem that you know and I have been experiencing is time management. I understood the importance of time management in ICT from my Pyear course modules. Unfortunately, I couldn’t able to cope with multiple tasks. I am really working hard to manage everything on time. As I mentioned in week 4, I am working on prioritizing the tasks and managing the time with help of organizer.

Secondly, professional problem I have been facing is lack of experience and professionalism. It is always hard start a career in ICT and especially for international students. However, Australian Work Place culture subject in Pyear gave me good understanding of the Australian working environment and importance of professionalism. Professionalism is the paramount in ICT. And also my supervisor and other colleagues are very helpful and they are always ready to teach me.

Finally, one more personal problem is the location of the Homestead. It is bit isolated with its demographic location. It has been hard for me to travel as it is far away from where I live.

WEEK 5

Wherever we work, it is vital to communicate information to a wide range of individuals internally, and with other organizations.  We must send information in a form which its receivers can understand. The quality of the message and its transmission are always the responsibility of the sender, whatever the medium being used. Effective communication in the workplace is a two-way street. Communication skills don’t simply mean the ability to talk and write effectively, they also rely heavily on listening and negotiation. Advancements in technology added verity of communication methods to traditional methods of communication.

It is really important to understand the following three steps for effective communication in workplace.

• How daily work is organized within the workplace
• How communication happens within the workplace
• How you can communicate effectively in your workplace

 

At my workplace we have been using the face-to-face, telephone and internet messaging communications which are very common modes of communication.

WEEK 4

Task projects assigned and/or undertaken

I have successfully completed my week 4. As I mentioned earlier, I have given a task where I have to do Technology Audit.  I believe it is very important to understand the business process prior to start any task or project. I have been studying the business process of the homestead and trying to understand the technology and devices they are using for their needs.

Time and self management strategies used

Time and Self-management techniques are vital to successful completion of the job. Especially if we are dealing with multi tasks it is difficult to cope with the workload as well as commitments with family life. At this point of this is live scenario I have been facing.

Poor time-management is the most common problem that most of the people faces. Most time-management problems are due to the deferring an action to a later time. I realized we can simply avoid this by developing effective, practical techniques to organize and plan our time efficiently. It is really important to break large tasks into smaller and manageable ones. Also it is recommended to maintain a dairy to plan ahead.

 Self management is as important as time-management. If are facing large volume of workload it is very common to go under stress. It is important to learn to cope up with stress and develop both self esteem and personal confidence. We should learn from feedback to prevent repeating mistakes. I believe all these techniques would help me in successful completion of the work.

WEEK 3

Workplace Environment & Interpersonal skills observed and/or used

Homestead is a multicultural working environment which has been working for the development and integrity of the Roxburgh Park Community. Recently on March 25, 2010 it has completed its successful 11^th anniversary.  It offers wide verity of adult learning programs like English learning, painting, yoga, dancing and many more. Homestead got a computer lab in order to train the adults in basic computing skills. Most of the times it provides the courses which are useful in developing workplace skills need to get a job. Homestead always welcomes the community to make full use of its facilities, programs and activities.

In any organization interpersonal skills are the key for effective communication. Homestead got a small team of 7 members. I found this internship very useful as I have been improving my communication skills. Even though I worked in an environment where I had to deal with the customers face to face, here I am learning the professional aspects of the communication. Other important thing I have been learning is telephone manner. It is always very different to communicate on the phone and conveying the message in contrast to face-to-face communication where we use voice as well as gestures. I feel telephone communication is bit hard compared to face-to-face.

WEEK 2

I have completed second week of my internship. This week Donna was back from holidays and she gave me the brief description about why she wants to do the Technology Audit and what she is expecting from it. She also explained me the code of conduct and Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S).

Homestead Code of Conduct

The adult learning environment at Homestead Community Centre encourages and supports the participation of people from diverse backgrounds. Homestead considers the following as important:

Equal Rights: Equal rights for all regardless of gender, race, religion, culture, abilities and age.

Punctuality: At homestead following the time schedule is very important factor.

Clean and safe: Follow the hygienic procedures all the time.

Respect: Understand and respect others’ needs and enhance the opportunity of all participants.

OH & S

For any organization occupational health and safety programs enhances the safety of the work environment. This may also protect co-workers, family members, employers, customers, suppliers, nearby communities, and other members of the public who are impacted by the workplace environment.

Homestead implemented safe working practices for employees to avoid any hazards and First-Aid kits and protective equipments are always available.  And also in case of any incident that is related to hazard, there is incident report to be filed and then, incident management procedures carry out to find the causes of hazards and avoid any future mishap.

WEEK 1

Week1

I started my internship at Homestead Community and Learning Centre (Hume City Council) as Business Analyst on 29th of March. I was bit nervous in the beginning as it was my first job in ICT environment. My mentor is Donna Mantello who is the co-coordinator of Homestead. Donna was on holiday on my first day so I had to report to Priya Paul. She gave me brief description of the Homestead Community Centre goals and vision. She also explained me policies and procedures. All this week I mostly concentrated on understanding the business process of the organization.

All the staff in the homestead are very cooperative and friendly that made me to feel relaxed. Homestead is bit far away from the public transportation. Every day after finishing the job one of the staff used to drop me in railway station. Overall this week was fine and I think its too early to adjust to new work environment.

Regards,
Raju Vemula