11 intrebari pentru alegerea meseriei

[ARTICOLUL de DUMINICA]

McKinsey a publicat un articol despre neadaptarea lucratorilor la piata muncii.Il puteti citi aici
 Ideea de baza pe care o publica ei si o resimt eu (ma simt important cand rezonez cu cate o idee globala) este ca in orice recesiune apar joburi care nu se pot ocupa din lipsa calificarilor. Pe de alta parte, exista milioane de someri care nu isi pot gasi un job care sa le asigure existenta.
Trecem de la o secolul vitezei la secolul informatiei. De la Mass Production, la Mass Customization.
Prioritatile si  cererile de la un job se schimba in mod constant. E necesara experienta, in aceeasi masura in care e necesara adaptabilitatea.

Voi lista mai jos cateva intrebari utile pentru a va alege o meserie. Inteleg prin meserie un tip de ocupatie pe care sunteti gata sa il faceti macar 10 ani.

 1. Vreau sa raman in zona in care m-am nascut?
 2. Imi place sa invat?
 3. Am un vis pe care sa il implinesc?
 4. Am un model in viata? (Englezii il numesc role model)
 5. Vreau sa am independenta a deciziilor?
 6. Imi plac mult banii?
 7. Exista joburi destule in domeniul pe care mi l-am ales?
 8.Vreau notorietate?
 9. Am vreun prieten/cunostinta/ruda care sa imi explice cum e, de fapt, ce imi doresc eu?
10. Dau vina pe stat, de obicei, atunci cand nu merge ceva?
11. Cu ce esti diferit de ceilalti?

In martie-aprilie 2012, voi incepe o serie de prelegeri publice si gratuite pe aceeasi tema: alegerea unei meserii, obtinerea unui job relevant. In 2 saptamani voi anunta prima locatie si data prelegerii. Ramaneti pe aproape!

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Cine investeste in educatie castiga pariul cu viitorul

In Ziarul financiar apare un articol al lui Bogdan Georgescu care trateaza problema investitiei in educatie: In asteptarea lui Superman.

Rezumat in cateva cuvinte, Bogdan Georgescu propune un model al implicarii elitelor in educatie, cu scopul formarii unui viitor mai bun. Gasesc asta o idee grozava si o alatur unui comentariu pe care l-am primit pe blog: cine ar trebui sa faca o strategie si ce sa facem cu industria de IT.

Indraznesc un raspuns, pe modelul All ingenious is simple : comunitatile locale ar trebui sa se implice in definirea unei strategii locale. Oamenii buni ar trebui sa nu mai stea ascunsi in companii (multinationale sau nu), iar cei care traiesc aiurea or colea pot folosi internetul pentru a se implica cu idei in comunitatile din care provin. Comunitatile de profesionisti implicati pot face mai mult. Initiative nu neaparat scumpe, cum ar fi Drag de Iasi, a Fundatiei Comunitare Iasi pot porni mecanismele ce ar putea dezvolta lucrurile.

Risc cateva pareri despre cum ar trebui sa arate industria IT si ce ar trebui sa urmareasca in educatie aceasta industrie.
1. Companiile locale ar trebui sustinute de guvern pentru a adopta tehnologie
2. Business-ul de tip nearshore, offshore si externalizare ar trebui sa nu fie dominante pe piata
3. Industria locala de IT ar trebui sa foloseasca fonduri structurale pentru a creste structura competentelor
4. Sunt necesare mai multe produse Made in Romania
5. Sunt necesare competente de administrare de produse sau linii de produse in zona IT. Sunt cateva exemple fericite: Softwin cu Bitdefender, Arobs cu Smailo, Evolio cu tabletele lor. Sper sa continue.
6. Patronatul din industrie sa continue coagularea unor puncte comune de vedere
7. Implicarea mai agresiva in educatie prin facilitarea cursurilor tinute de profesionisti pe tehnologii cautate
8. Sustinerea cercetarii prin parteneriate (care sa includa si accesul la fonduri europene)

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Guest post de la fiul meu

Matei vrea sa publice deja, la 5 ani

MATEI MANOLE
GABI
MANOLE
G
CANAPEA
PERNA
STICLA
PAHAR
MORE PLEASE
MENTOL
MAMA    VREAU CINA
TATA  VREAU

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Team velocity [3] - the entry points

Teams are for the members what are highways for the cars. It makes no sense to have highways unless there are cars to use it. There are different types of cars, different age and different journeys to take on the highway. There are as well different types of human beings, with different skills and interests, they have a huge range of interests and career perspectives.

I am speaking now about entry points and exit points. When designing a team, a manager should consider, besides others, two main aspects : how to integrate a new team member and how to cope with the leave of an experienced one. This things are critical in order to cope well with the change.

I will call entry points the way a new team member is introduced in the team. There are a few things to consider in order to enable the team member to act.
First, you need to choose a profile compatible with the values of the team. A little chemistry has to exist in order to have good start. Team members have to share the values and, ideally, to find common interests. The professional interactions are easier when people like each other, discuss about subject they are interested outside of business hours. Sharing same values makes less probable to have conflicts based on principles and the organizational culture is better adopted.
Having compatibility ensured, the manager should take care that the introduction is as smooth and fast as possible. The initial training phase has to be careful planned, disseminating the right amount of information, in a professional manner. No matter the seniority, there are information that has to be digested, methods to be adopted. Also, there is a good practice to increase gradually the complexity of the tasks. Assigning very complex tasks, from day 1, makes the saying "swim or die" really concrete and one might loose valuable team members that simply don't cope well with such environment. People do need success stories to be motivated and enjoy their time when do not need to overcome an initial failure.

Smooth interactions between team members improve performance. This is another important topic to consider when introducing a new team member. You should facilitate interactions: organize team meetings, some lunch or dinner together. Moderate dialogues, be there for the newbies and your effort will be rewarded soon.

Last , but not least, keep things in order. Good habits are to be shared. Information is replicable by anyone in the team and discipline is a value that should be shared by every team.

A good entry point on the highway ensures that you can speed up without other constraint than the power of the engine. A good entry point in a team ensures that each team member can live his career up to his maximum potential.



Read also:
                 Team velocity [1] - the idea
                 Team velocity [2] - the relation between the mission of the team and its velocity

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tools for tests

Test is fun, just think for a second.
I proud my self to be an software developer, much more than an manager. I had hard times to think about me as a tester. I know quite a lot of people who dis-consider this activity. I understand them well, as I like a lot how one colleague who systematically try to avoid running documented tests.
Best colleagues I had in the university hated to make tests for others. This is also ok.

But the most efficient software developers I met had a great method to test their work. And this is crucial to deliver from the first time a great result.
Countries like India, Romania, Vietnam and many others (I hope) deliver a lot of test activities. A quarter of these are worthless logs to match the demands for SPICE, CMMI, internal and external audits. One of the reasons is that the test activities do not look for bugs outside of code.
One says that the tailor measures even 7 times, before he cuts once.
Evaluate your toolchain and check whether you are ready to cut, that is to write your tests for developing your software.
I reckon a few criteria in this respect, whether the toolchain meets your needs for productivity.
How much training you need before starting to use the tool chain?
I hate the tools which I cannot use in basic form in maximum two days. If the toolchain is too complicated, than the creativity and knowledge work is concentrated in avoiding the traps of the tool instead of improving the product. It is a decision of the manager, who has a great impact in productivity.
One could say that sophisticated tools are more powerful. Yes, indeed. Might be. But I dont have the time to master such a tool in today's ever-changing environment.

How much out of total time of development is spent in setting up the mocks, stubs, in one word - to create the test environment?
 I don't know many software developers who enjoy setting up tools and scripts. These guys you can find in other IT areas, but not in development. On the other hand, it is highly expensive not to automatize this step and use the skills of developers in setting up the environment. If the tool is requiring this setup every time, than is not the right tool.
It is not necessary to be a sophisticated tool in order to meet your needs. Remember, all ingenious is simple (Thanks, Andrey for the saying).

I see as very productive tools like JUnit, CppUnit, Cute. I've also worked with RTR from IBM, a little bit of Tessy, as accredited tools. I have tried in my team some solutions based on Ruby, XML, C++ and my conclusion is that the best way is the one with less investment. Don't try to save the world. Save your team's time instead.

Is it possible to re-run the test cases in one year from now, with minimum effort?
Re-use is the buzz word these days. I would love to reuse the tests, not only the code.


Who can maintain the environment?
Do I need specialist to make things working? Do I have to pay a company to make this special setup?
This is a question to be answered for projects lasting more than 6 months.

What do I need?
It is often the case when engineers give up to their geek impulse and adopt a fancy and expensive tool, without the need of its power. It's like buying a BMW 745d for commuting to next city, when you earn 30% of its value in one year.
Having a good tool, without a big investment is the biggest benefit.

How confident am I in the test approach?
All customers will speak highly about you when you deliver just minor patches, instead of big design updates. Testing is one key aspect to care about when you plan a new product.

Please comment these thoughts and add your approach.

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Pygmalion smiles

Schimbarea incepe cu fiecare dintre noi. Si poate fi o schimbare in bine.

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