The Financial Times has released its annual MBA rankings for 2008 and MBS has moved up four places to #75. Even cooler is the fact that our employment figures are at 96% (i.e. 96% of our graduating class is employed within 3 months of graduating) and our research performance puts us at #49 in the world (Joshua Gans explains why that is so significant).
Seek posted a couple of excellent job openings today.
The first is for a Business Analyst – Portal Projects:
This role will ideally suit an experienced hands on business analyst with solid knowledge in the area of large web portal projects. Ideally you will have had previous experience in portal projects in various corporate environments.
The second is for a Business Analyst – Web Systems Solutions:
Our client is recognised as one of the fastest growing and progressive consultancy firms in the market. Due to multiple recent project wins, it requires the services of an experienced Business Analyst to contribute to solution design to their work environment. In this position you will be responsible for translating vision and concepts into functionality and design of web systems.
Long-term, you’ll be exposed to a wide range of projects in a consulting capacity, and enjoy all the career opportunities of working for a large and growing professional firm.
Both are from the same recruitment firm (Acumen Alliance) and both sound really good since this is exactly the kind of work I want to be doing once I graduate. However, I’m not sure which of the two positions I’d apply for since the former is web portal specific while the latter is more of a general web consulting role. I’m leaning towards the latter though, technically, I have more experience for the former. I’d probably discuss it in more detail with the recruiter before going for either (or both!).
Even though I’m just over three months away from finishing my MBA, I’m very tempted to call Paul Marcon (the recruiter handling the consulting role) and talk to him anyway. I’ll discuss these two roles and also ask about other, similar roles that his firm might be advertising in the future. I wonder if I should.
Though I’ve know about this for a while now, I’ve only recently tried out the 2007 Microsoft Office Test Drive and I am very, very impressed — both with the way the test drive is set up and with the 2007 Office suite. If you get the chance (and if you have a high-speed Internet connection), check it out.
CIO published three interesting articles today:
As you can probably guess, the articles discuss the reasons why technology people — specifically those who eventually want to be CIOs — should or shouldn’t get an MBA. Levinson writes in her introductory article:
With all the weight companies are placing on needing business-savvy IT leaders, IT professionals who don’t already have the prestigious degree are considering obtaining it. [...]
[IT professionals worry] that not having an MBA will eliminate them from job opportunities and severely limit their prospects for career growth. [...] But many IT professionals remain resistant because earning the degree requires so much time and money. [...]
To help you figure out what’s best for you, CIO.com invited two IT professionals to weigh in on the MBA debate — one on each side.
Since I am four months away from completing my MBA, you can also guess that I would tend to agree with MacKay. In fact, some of the posts I’ve written here have demonstrated what he talks about in his article:
An MBA teaches you to look at problems and opportunities holistically. It also provides analytical frameworks, such as risk assessments, cost-benefit analyses and strategic plans, that you can apply to any problem or opportunity you encounter, whether in or beyond IT. The business mindset that an MBA gives you becomes habit because you use those frameworks repeatedly in a rigorous academic environment, and you see how they can be applied in a variety of situations from one course to another.
Clark also makes some valid points. These include problems with the time, money, and effort required to complete the degree. He also talks about the difference between learning in an academic setting versus learning hands-on. “I get more out of doing than studying”, he says. While that is true to an extent, I think sometimes the opposite is also correct. As I wrote in my MBA application essays: “doing an MBA is [the smarter option for me right now] since I will be more focused, more determined, and will have prioritised my life around learning instead of earning.” Of course, a prerequisite for thinking that was is to not be concerned about “earning” for the duration of your MBA.
In my opinion, the path you choose will depend on your natural business acumen, where you are in your career at that time, which company you work for, and what you preferred method of learning is. For example, you might have good natural managerial abilities, be working under a great leader or mentor, be working at a company that helps develop its employees’ abilities, and be someone who learns quickly in a hands-on environment. In that case, you are not likely to need an MBA.
If your situation is different — in some cases, even slightly — the MBA might be exactly what you need. It’s all on a case-by-case basis, I think. Recruiters know that as well, which is why not having an MBA doesn’t eliminate you from the running for most managerial positions. On the other hand, having an MBA does tell your potential employer a bit about the breadth and depth of knowledge that you possess — and that can’t be a bad thing.
What do you know? I wrote about strategy jobs yesterday and today IT Wire published a Business Analyst / Strategy Planner job posting:
An internationally recognised organisation is seeking the talents of a Business Analyst / Strategy Planner for a high profile project.
Responsibilities: (1) Documenting and developing business process models; (2) Designing and developing comprehensive financial model that would support business analysis and decision making; (3) Leading workshops to gather data; (4) Presenting findings to senior management.
Deliverables: (1) Financial Model development; (2) Business Process Analysis; (3) Workshop planning and participation; (4) Report preparation.
Desired Experience: (1) Financial modeling (Advanced MS Excel and Visual Basic); (2) Business process design; (3) Financial analysis skills; (4) Team player; (5) Ability to think strategically; (6) Superior communication.
This is great. This job posting tells me that (a) strategy jobs of the kind suited to my skill set are available and (b) since the posting was on IT Wire, the company is probably looking for someone like me as well.
Now if only I would graduate quickly so that I can actually start applying for these jobs!
It’s funny when you catch yourself unconsciously and automatically applying the stuff you’ve learnt in the MBA. That happened to me a couple of days ago when I dreamt that, instead of going for a Internet- or technology-based career, I’d gone ahead and bought myself a second-hand bookshop in Carlton. (Dreams and conveniently devoid of explanations, aren’t they?)
The dream itself was short and my most vivid image from it was walking in through the bookshop’s front door into a place that looked like a cosy, old-style study/library/reading room and thinking, “Wow, I own this now!” I’m pretty sure that, in response, my conscious brain commented, “And how the heck did that happen?”
Soon after my dream, I stirred and, in that half-awake, half-asleep state, I realized that I had automatically started doing a full-fledged analysis of the business. I remember wondering about:
And so on. I’ve written all this down not to show off all that you learn in the MBA degree, but because I’d actually gone ahead — quite automatically — and mentally prepared this analysis and was, in my dream, getting ready to carry it out!
Fortunately, the realization that I’d done all this startled me awake more fully, at which point I rolled my eyes (thinking: “great — now I’m doing this in my sleep!”), turned over, and went back to sleep.
I wonder, though, whether this was a divine hint telling me to ditch all my technology-related dreams and get into the nitty-gritty of running a bookshop (something I’d love to do, by the way). Whether it was or not, at the very least I got a blog entry out of it.
When I think of the kind of job I want to be doing a few years from now, the word ‘strategy’ inevitable comes up. And since I want to work on the web (or portal) side of things, the role I’m looking for turns up in different departments in different companies.
In some companies, the IT department is in charge of the website (both its operations and strategy aspects) while in others it’s the marketing department (handling mostly strategy). In companies that are all about the web, strategy is often managed by a interdisciplinary team or specialized department. Non-tech companies, on the other hand, often hire consultants that might work on web/portal strategy as part of a broader business strategy analysis.
What this means for me is that I need to keep my eyes open for all sorts of different roles because there are so many different career pathways to a ‘strategy role’ (whatever that might mean).
Job Opening: Web Analyst in Digital Media
I came across one such pathway today (via Seek and Xpand) which is a position on the web tracking and analysis team of a leading technology and online company:
You will be working with a range of:
Measurement tools such as: Omniture & Nielsen
Data sources such as: Hitwise & Roy Morgan
To be right for this role you do not have to have [necessarily] used any of these tools but at least tracked web [usage] in some way and have a strong understanding of data.
You will be delivering reports on usage of sites, forecasting usage and contribute to strategy by understanding market and user behaviour.
To be considered you will ideally be tertiary qualified in either a marketing or business related field. You must be able to use [Excel] to an advanced level and will possess general [familiarity] with the Internet and web-based technologies.
This is a marketing department role that involves plenty of number crunching, the results of which are then translated into a business strategy. It also has “potential for career progression”, which is really good.
Of course, I can’t apply for this job. Even though it doesn’t have a closing date, the company is unlikely to want someone who can’t start before the 2nd of May. On the positive side, at least it’s good know that there are plenty of interesting jobs out there.
Saul Hansell wrote a good, “hold your horses, there”-type article in the New York Times on the apparent all-out war between Netflix and Apple’s online movie rental offerings. In the article he explains that, while both are technically in the online movie rental business, they actually cater to different markets: Netflix concentrates on having a large collection of older movies as an add-on to its DVD rental business while Apple is going after the latest releases and is positioning itself as an alternative to DVD rentals. And, though there is an overlap, for the time being both companies should be happy in their own niches.
Of course, there’s also the issue that Netflix’s service doesn’t work on the Mac while iTune’s service works on any OS as well as on Apple’s portable media devices (Apple TV, iPod, etc.). Again, that’s not too much of an issue since they are catering to different markets. People who rent DVDs are probably not the type who’d want to watch a movie on their tiny iPod screens. Of course, Netflix is still missing out on the small proportion of users who own only a Mac, but I guess adding a Mac-compatible offering of an already add-on service isn’t all that high in its list of priorities.
So a couple of fun things have happened in the online media landscape over the last few days.
First, in anticipation of the announcement that everyone was expecting from Steve Jobs during his Macworld keynote address, Netflix ditched its online movie viewing quota. Steve O’Hear from Last100 explains what that means:
As of today, all subscribers except those on the most basic two DVDs per-month plan will be given unlimited access to the 6,000+ movies available as part of Netflix’s Internet streaming option, dubbed “Watch Instantly”. Previously, subscribers were offered a limited number of Internet viewing hours based on which DVD rental plan they were on.
This is really cool, especially since Netflix has a subscription model and doesn’t charge on a per-movie basis.
Second, as expected, Steve Jobs announced Apple’s entry into the online movie downloads space during his keynote address yesterday. To see how this stacks up against Netflix’s model, O’Hear compared the two based on (1) content, (2) pricing, and (3) convenience.
Each offering has its pros and cons: Neither has the upper hand in content, Netflix has better pricing (subscription model), while Apple has greater convenience (great hardware-software coupling and the ability to watch the downloaded movie on multiple devices). Of course, both are still limited by telecommunications infrastructure (especially Apple’s movies-in-HD offering for Apple TV) and the reluctance of movie studios to fully embrace the online rental concept. And though the market for online movie rentals is still small, it is growing (thanks, in part, to the writer’s strike).
So, at this time, it’s not clear how things will go. What I do know is that 2008 should be a fun year in online movie rentals.
It’s official: I have a summer job. I signed my contract and started work yesterday morning.
The job is at MBS, in the Information Services (IS) team of the Information and Technology Services (ITS) Department, and is a 6-8 week casual position. The best part is that it’s in my exact area of interest: web portals.
MBS is in the process of upgrading its intranet offering by unifying all of its semi-independent student, staff, alumni, admissions, careers, etc. portals into one single, central, advanced portal system. I’ve been hired to do some advisory work in the content and content governance areas of the student portal, which is the first one being incorporated into the new system. The work that I do will probably also be replicated for the other sections as they get added.
It’s funny working-working at MBS: it’s all very familiar, yet completely different (particularly since I now have a dedicated work space and no longer have to look for room in the library or in a syndicate room!). Importantly, though, the work is good (and, being a student, I’ll also directly benefit from it), it’s more practice in my area of interest, it adds another valuable Australian work experience line to my CV, the people here are great, and I’m enjoying myself. Oh, and I get paid for doing all this. What more could I ask for?
