UNIT 2

Working in the IT Industry

UNIT 2: WORKING IN THE IT INDUSTRY

On completion of this unit a learner should:

1 Know the characteristics that are valued by

employers in the IT industry

2 Know the common job roles undertaken by

people working in the IT industry.

ASSIGNMENTS

Assignment 1: Skills and Attributes P1, D1

Assignment 2: IT Jobs P2, P3, M1

KNOW THE CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE

VALUED BY EMPLOYERS IN THE IT INDUSTRY

Industry specific:

General skills:

Attitudes preferred:

INDUSTRY SPECIFIC

technical knowledge,

working procedures,

health and safety knowledge

HEALTH AND SAFETY:

What H & S considerations do you think apply?

TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE

What technical knowledge will be required?

How can you prove you have this knowledge?

- Depends on exact role, different skills will be required for eg a helpdesk technician

from those required for a website developer.

WORKING PROCEDURES

What do we mean by 'working procedures'?

flexi-time,

daily routines,

dress code,

meetings,

organisational structure,

working practices

GENERAL SKILLS

interpersonal skills,

planning skills,

organisational skills,

time management,

team working,

numeric skills,

creativity,

problem solving

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

relating to others, getting on with people (and

getting the job done!)

Your attitudes are reflected in those around

you:

“...if you are suspicious, unfriendly and

condescending, you will find these unlovely

traits echoed all about you...” Beatrice Vincent

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

What traits do you notice in people that you

work well with? Communication skills

Body language

How you say it

Listen!!!

The way you smile

Patience

Humour

Respect

NLP

Being positive

Leadership

Influencing

Assertiveness

Negotiation

Delegation

Trust

Verbal judo,

PLANNING SKILLS

Planning your work

Task lists

Doing things in the right order

Having the resources

required

CREATING A GANNT CHART

1. Enter the data

A B C D

1 Start Date Completed Remaining

2 Task 1 08/01/2000 205 10

3 Task 2 10/15/2000 200 120

4 Task 3 12/15/2000 140 200

5 Task 4 02/06/01 44 345

6 Task 5 05/06/01 0 380

CREATING A GANNT CHART

1. Select cells A1:D6 and click Chart Wizard.

2. In step 1, click Bar under Chart Type, and

then click the Stacked Bar sub-type (you can

see the name of each chart sub-type at the

bottom of the dialog box).

3. Click Next, Next, and then Finish.

MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A GANNT CHART

1. Double-click the first series in the chart. This is the series for Start Date. If default colors are set in Excel 2002, this series is blue.

2. On the Patterns tab of the Format Data Series dialog box, click None for Border and None for Area, and then click OK.

3. Double-click the category (x) axis, which in a bar chart is the vertical axis. (In a bar chart, the traditional x and y axes are reversed.) Click the Scale tab, and select the Categories in reverse order check box.

4. Click the Font tab, click 8 under Size, and then click OK.

5. Double-click the value (y) axis, which in a bar chart is the horizontal axis. After completing the last step, this axis should be located at the top of the chart plot area. Click the Scale tab and type the following values in the appropriate boxes:

MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A GANNT CHART

Minimum: 36739

Maximum: 37441

Major unit: 61

Minor unit: 1

These values are serial numbers that represent the dates to be used for the value (y) axis. The minimum value 36739 represents the date August 1, 2000. The maximum value 37441 represents the date July 4, 2002. The major unit of 61 represents about two months, while the minor unit represents one day. To see the serial number for a date, enter the date in a cell, and then format that cell with the General number format.

MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A GANNT CHART

6. Also on the Scale tab, select the Category (X) axis crosses at maximum value check box.

7. Click the Alignment tab, and under Orientation, type 45 in the Degrees box.

8. Click the Font tab, and under Font style, click Bold. Under Size, click 8, and then click OK.

9. Right-click the legend, and click Format Legend on the shortcut menu.

10. Click the Placement tab, and click Bottom.

11. Within the legend, click Start Date so that it is selected, and then press DELETE.

After completing these steps, you should have a chart that looks similar to the example. You may need to resize the chart using the mouse to see all of the labels present in the chart. Additional formatting can be added as needed.

THE FINISHED ARTICLE

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

ORGANISATIONAL SKILLS

- organising your work space, resources, time

and any assistance needed.

“a place for everything and everything all over

the place”

Be quick and be ruthless when it comes to

trashing

The only things we absolutely need on the desk

are things that deal with current projects

IN-TRAY EXERCISE

Read this before doing the in-tray

Common Faults

§ Not managing your time effectively or efficiently.

§ Not completing all items.

§ Not bringing in everyday knowledge/common sense.

§ Not thinking of broad enough alternative solutions.

§ Not linking some of the items.

IN-TRAY EXERCISE

Tips

§ Plan time well from the outset.

§ Use the clues in the instructions to determine mark allocation and therefore time allocations.

§ Don't just use the information given in the question; bring in current events, general knowledge, recent articles etc., when compiling answers.

§ Think 'outside the box' i.e. be less rigid in considering alternative options or solutions.

§ Consider any linking items and the result and impact.

TEAM WORKING

CREATIVITY

A man lives on the twelfth floor of an

apartment building. Every morning he takes the

elevator down to the lobby and leaves the

building. In the evening, he gets into the

elevator, and, if there is someone else in the

elevator -- or if it was raining that day -- he goes

back to his floor directly. Otherwise, he goes to

the tenth floor and walks up two flights of stairs

to his apartment.

LATERAL THINKING

In the middle of the ocean is a yacht. Several

corpses are floating in the water nearby.

A man is lying dead in a room. There is a large

pile of gold and jewels on the floor, a

chandelier attached to the ceiling, and a large

open window.

LATERAL THINKING

A man and his wife raced through the streets. They stopped, and the husband got out of the car. When he came back, his wife was dead, and there was a stranger in the car.

A body is discovered in a park in Chicago in the middle of summer. It has a fractured skull and many other broken bones, but the cause of death was hypothermia.

LATERAL THINKING

A woman has incontrovertible proof in court that her husband was murdered by her sister. The judge declares, "This is the strangest case I've ever seen. Though it's a cut-and-dried case, this woman cannot be punished."

A man walks into a bar and asks for a drink. The bartender pulls out a gun and points it at him. The man says, "Thank you," and walks out.

A hunter aimed his gun carefully and fired. Seconds later, he realized his mistake. Minutes later, he was dead.