Contractor Gurus - Help a first timer

[LondonManc]

I can only say I have decent BA experience. I am trying to highlight and bring out the stand-out reasons. I will need to keep pushing but this forum has been super useful and very helpful. I now have more clarity regarding the CV making process.

List your achievements on paper. What have you delivered? Who have you pleased with your work? Have you delivered full end to end SDLC from business case to support handover and lessons learned sessions?

One sad thing in contracting is that there isn't the same notion as in permiedom of junior, standard and senior people; you're simply seen as a BI Consultant rather than Junior or Senior thereof. As such, you're in for the same jobs as senior BAs with 15 years of delivery and track record.

[BAContractor]

List your achievements on paper. What have you delivered? Who have you pleased with your work? Have you delivered full end to end SDLC from business case to support handover and lessons learned sessions?

One sad thing in contracting is that there isn't the same notion as in permiedom of junior, standard and senior people; you're simply seen as a BI Consultant rather than Junior or Senior thereof. As such, you're in for the same jobs as senior BAs with 15 years of delivery and track record.

I have delivered full SDLC from Business case to Handover, but didn't think along the lines of mentioning whom I have pleased or lessons learned. Something I will now bring out in my CV. Thanks a lot.

[LondonManc]

I have delivered full SDLC from Business case to Handover, but didn't think along the lines of mentioning whom I have pleased or lessons learned. Something I will now bring out in my CV. Thanks a lot.

It's important for them to know what levels of business you have successfully worked with - as a BA you should be as comfortable interviewing a director about the high level success criteria of the project as you should be with interviewing the person whose job you're about to replace with an automated process.

[BAContractor]

It's important for them to know what levels of business you have successfully worked with - as a BA you should be as comfortable interviewing a director about the high level success criteria of the project as you should be with interviewing the person whose job you're about to replace with an automated process.

Everytime you post, I learn something new. Is there a checklist of some sort that you refer to or have developed over the years contracting. I have mentioned Up to CIO level in a generic form as one of my projects allowed me interaction with senior folks.

[ContractorHardman]

6) Google is you friend - If you don't know it, Google it. There have been times where I haven't quite known what was going on however I used Google to find out. Be Pro-active and look for the answer. You will need to do this in gigs quite a lot so you don't look out of your depth. Exhaust your resources you can use yourself. Do you ever think you are the only person out of the billions on earth who have asked the same or similar question? Of course not!

But here is a link

IT Contractor CV Writing: CUK's IT Contractor CV Template :: Contractor UK

Tailor it to something you are comfortable with

[LondonManc]

Everytime you post, I learn something new. Is there a checklist of some sort that you refer to or have developed over the years contracting. I have mentioned Up to CIO level in a generic form as one of my projects allowed me interaction with senior folks.

I used to be a Senior BA before specialising in BI consultancy, which still has business analysis techniques very much at its heart. Having been a senior BA similarly gives me a strong selling point over other BI consultants, with my BA training helping to understand and document requirements more readily than the furry-toothed lot.

Do you have a unique selling point (USP)? What sets you apart? Are there specialist areas where you could apply your skills, either by industry or process? Rather than just "high street banking", what area do you excel in? If I want a new current accounts specialist, are you the one or would you be the go to person for unsecured lending for example? Could you then take those skills into the sub-prime market (i.e. Wonga et al - just tell your mum you work in the porn industry, it's less embarrassing) to bring high street BA experience to a sub prime lender to help improve their processes?

What I'd do if I were you is create a master CV that is far larger than you need.
From there, chop out certain bits to make a generic BA cv and also a targeted cv that focuses on your USP. The key thing to look at then, is whether there is sufficient requirement within the market for your USP and target those organisations that can use that skill set. They may have no vacancies but at least you'll understand your industry/sector more than you did.

Job/role-hunting can take as much or as little of your day as you choose, with everything from company research to LinkedIn connection messaging to cv tweaks, calling agencies, going out and visiting them even.

[BAContractor]

I used to be a Senior BA before specialising in BI consultancy, which still has business analysis techniques very much at its heart. Having been a senior BA similarly gives me a strong selling point over other BI consultants, with my BA training helping to understand and document requirements more readily than the furry-toothed lot.

Do you have a unique selling point (USP)? What sets you apart? Are there specialist areas where you could apply your skills, either by industry or process? Rather than just "high street banking", what area do you excel in? If I want a new current accounts specialist, are you the one or would you be the go to person for unsecured lending for example? Could you then take those skills into the sub-prime market (i.e. Wonga et al - just tell your mum you work in the porn industry, it's less embarrassing) to bring high street BA experience to a sub prime lender to help improve their processes?

What I'd do if I were you is create a master CV that is far larger than you need.
From there, chop out certain bits to make a generic BA cv and also a targeted cv that focuses on your USP. The key thing to look at then, is whether there is sufficient requirement within the market for your USP and target those organisations that can use that skill set. They may have no vacancies but at least you'll understand your industry/sector more than you did.
.

I would say my USP is Payments and Digital. The only thing is I have worked as a BA more as a generalist working in operations, IT DR, mortgages as well, but never specialising in one specific area. I can maybe say I am a Retail BA. I will create a Master CV as you suggested as I was using a generic CV and making it more targeted depending on the contract anyway.

[LondonManc]

I would say my USP is Payments and Digital. The only thing is I have worked as a BA more as a generalist working in operations, IT DR, mortgages as well, but never specialising in one specific area. I can maybe say I am a Retail BA. I will create a Master CV as you suggested as I was using a generic CV and making it more targeted depending on the contract anyway.

Far enough. How many companies have you worked for so far?
Is it just the one bank and one consultancy?
If so, bring out the multiple clients that you worked for at the consultancy (without naming them) to show that you have experience across multiple clients.

[BAContractor]

Far enough. How many companies have you worked for so far?
Is it just the one bank and one consultancy?
If so, bring out the multiple clients that you worked for at the consultancy (without naming them) to show that you have experience across multiple clients.

The Bank and 5 Clients as part of the Consultancy. Do you want me to only mention clients and not the Consultancy? I have mentioned the clients on my CV as part of the time at the consultancy.

[LondonManc]

The Bank and 5 Clients as part of the Consultancy. Do you want me to only mention clients and not the Consultancy? I have mentioned the clients on my CV as part of the time at the consultancy.

I'd allude to working with multiple clients to make your experience come across as broader than simply two permie jobs. The key thing to focus on is what you achieved for the clients. If you had a bit of an unremarkable time at one of the clients, no need to mention them.