14:00:50 #startmeeting FPgM office hours 14:00:50 Meeting started Wed Dec 21 14:00:50 2022 UTC. 14:00:50 This meeting is logged and archived in a public location. 14:00:50 The chair is bcotton. Information about MeetBot at https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Zodbot#Meeting_Functions. 14:00:50 Useful Commands: #action #agreed #halp #info #idea #link #topic. 14:00:50 The meeting name has been set to 'fpgm_office_hours' 14:00:50 #info This is an open floor meeting to discuss anything program management related (elections, changes, schedule, etc) 14:00:56 #topic Announcements 14:01:20 #info F37 elections voting is closes at 2359 UTC Thursday 14:01:21 #link https://communityblog.fedoraproject.org/f37-elections-voting-now-open/ 14:01:25 #info A multi-hour infrastructure outage is planned for 10 January, beginning at 1900 UTC 14:01:25 #link https://pagure.io/fedora-infrastructure/issue/11031 14:01:37 #help Join the new Flatpak SIG 14:01:37 #link https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SIGs/Flatpak 14:01:37 #info You can now add your Fediverse URL to your Fedora wiki profile 14:01:37 #link https://talkweb.eu/openweb/3709/ 14:01:41 #info Fedora is now officially on the Fediverse 14:01:41 #link https://fosstodon.org/@fedora 14:01:58 #info F38 Changes that require an infrastructure change are due today 14:01:59 #info F38 System-Wide Changes and mass rebuild Changes are due 27 December 14:01:59 #link https://fedorapeople.org/groups/schedule/f-38/f-38-key-tasks.html 14:02:02 #topic Open floor to discuss anything program management related (elections, changes, schedule, etc) 14:05:43 Morning! 14:05:59 hi, Joseph! 14:06:32 I don't want to take up Fedora time, but I figured asking about career advice could make sense in office hours rather than bugging you later? 14:06:47 either one works :-) 14:07:12 Alright, I'll keep it brief. 14:08:57 Long story short, I currently work as an analyst and would like to break into a proper BA or PM type of role, especially in IT. For someone who just has the tangential skills for something like that, what skills, certs, or experience should they pick up in order to pitch themselves into that kind of role? 14:09:29 Ooh, good question! 14:11:18 So years ago I got a masters degree in IT project management because it seemed like the knowledge would be useful no matter what I did (I was a sysadmin at the time). I was right, but it also works in the other direction: you can point to work you've done in open source communities that reflects the role 14:12:16 For example, you can point to prioritizing work, determining business requirements (which sounds weird in this context, but it fits), scheduling, etc 14:12:50 The Mastodon effort in marketing, in particular, is a good example of collecting and evaluating requirements and developing and implementation plan 14:14:40 I tend to not put a lot of value in certifications, but others do and if nothing else they're a good way to show that you have put effort into a thing. so a Certified Associate of Project Management (CAPM) might be a good way to go. https://www.pmi.org/certifications/certified-associate-capm 14:15:05 And I happen to know about PMI's Business Analyis cerification because I had a mentee considering it: https://www.pmi.org/certifications/business-analysis-pba 14:17:09 Ok, so the main thing to be looking out for is previous experiences doing the kinds of things that you would do on the job, which makes total sense. I think I have some things I can point to in my day job that fulfill that. 14:17:43 When it comes to certs, would you recommend trying to get both of those or just one? And if one, I guess it would be the one based on what I want to do, whether it's being a BA or a PM? 14:18:28 I agree with your point about certs, but I know that's looked by some hiring managers like you said. I used to be an IT recruiter so those would come up even for these jobs sometimes. 14:19:11 I would say pick the one that's more interesting and pursue that. The exams cost money and time, so you want to be judicious where you invest 14:20:02 And yeah, I think experience trumps certification, but sometimes you need to check certain boxes to make it through the initial screening. And sometimes if you don't have as much experience, a certification can help balance that 14:20:36 Makes total sense. 14:21:36 This lines up with what I was thinking so I'm glad for that. Any last nuggets of wisdom? Pro tips? lol 14:22:17 Job hunting is terrible. Don't let it crush your spirit :-) 14:22:57 lol! yeah, I'm not looking forward to it. I'm good where I am now, so that's working for me. No need to jump at the first opportunity. 14:23:22 But also: do your homework on the company/job and be prepared to connect to their needs specifically. And when you know something, be confident in saying it. And be confident in saying what you don't know, too :-) 14:23:26 Yeah, the least-bad time to try to find a job is when you don't need to 14:24:41 Thanks so much for the advice! I'll hop to it! 14:25:54 you're very welcome! let me know if I can be of more help 14:26:22 Will do. Thanks again. :) 14:56:28 Happy holidays Ben 15:02:00 copperi: same to you! 15:02:02 #endmeeting