1. Accreditation: Choose a training school that is accredited by a recognized organization or institution. Accreditation ensures that the training program meets certain quality standards and is recognized by employers in the industry.
2. Curriculum: Look for a training program that covers the skills and technologies that are in demand in the IT industry. The curriculum should be up to date, practical, and relevant to your career goals.
3. Reputation: Research the reputation of the training school, read reviews and testimonials from previous students, and check their success rate of students finding employment after graduation.
4. Experienced Instructors: Look for a training school that employs instructors with relevant industry experience and certifications. Instructors who have worked in the industry can provide valuable insights and real-world examples that can enhance your learning experience.
5. Hands-on training: Choose a training program that offers hands-on training and practical experience with tools and technologies that are used in the industry. This can help you build the practical skills that are required in the workplace.
6. Career services: Look for a training school that offers career services such as job placement assistance, resume writing help, and mock interviews. This can help you find employment after completing the training program.
7. Flexibility: Consider the flexibility of the training program in terms of scheduling, location, and online learning options. A program that fits your lifestyle and learning preferences can make it easier to complete the training.

Overall, take the time to research and evaluate several IT training schools before making a decision. Consider your specific career goals, learning preferences, and budget to find a training program that fits your needs.

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In Scrum, a team works in short, time-boxed iterations called sprints, typically lasting two to four weeks. At the beginning of each sprint, the team meets to plan the work they will undertake and to define a sprint goal. During the sprint, the team meets daily in a brief stand-up meeting to review progress and identify any obstacles that need to be addressed.

At the end of the sprint, the team conducts a sprint review to demonstrate the work they completed and gather feedback from stakeholders. They also hold a sprint retrospective to reflect on what went well and what could be improved, and to make adjustments for the next sprint.

Scrum also involves three roles: the Product Owner, who defines and prioritizes the work to be done; the Scrum Master, who facilitates the Scrum process and ensures the team is adhering to its principles; and the Development Team, who works to deliver the product.

Overall, Scrum is a powerful framework that enables teams to work collaboratively, efficiently, and adaptively to deliver high-quality software products.

Scrum is a widely adopted framework for Agile project management, and as such, Scrum Masters are in demand in a variety of industries. Here are some examples of industries that employ Scrum Masters:

1. Information Technology: The IT industry is one of the most common industries where Scrum Masters are employed. As software development and maintenance is one of the key functions of IT, it’s no surprise that the industry widely employs Scrum Masters.
2. Financial Services: Banks, insurance companies, and other financial services organizations are increasingly adopting Agile practices to improve their business agility and responsiveness. This has created a demand for Scrum Masters who can help teams to become more efficient and effective.
3. Healthcare: Many healthcare organizations have begun adopting Agile practices to improve the delivery of patient care, and Scrum Masters play a crucial role in facilitating this change.
4. Education: Scrum is not only used in software development but also in education. Scrum can be used to organize project-based learning and promote collaboration among students.
5. Marketing: Marketing departments are also increasingly adopting Agile practices to better respond to the rapidly changing marketing landscape, and Scrum Masters can help marketing teams work more effectively and efficiently.

Overall, any industry that is looking to improve collaboration, efficiency, and responsiveness can benefit from employing Scrum Masters. Scrum certifications can be useful for professionals who want to demonstrate their expertise in Scrum and Agile practices. Here are some of the most in-demand certifications in Scrum:

1. Certified ScrumMaster (CSM): This is the most widely recognized Scrum certification and is offered by the Scrum Alliance. CSM certification demonstrates that the holder has a deep understanding of Scrum principles and practices, and can serve as an effective Scrum Master for a team.
2. Professional Scrum Master (PSM): This certification is offered by Scrum.org and is an alternative to the CSM certification. PSM certification is based on a rigorous assessment process that evaluates the holder’s understanding of Scrum principles and practices, and their ability to apply them in real-world situations.
3. Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO): This certification is also offered by the Scrum Alliance and demonstrates that the holder has a deep understanding of the product owner role in Scrum, and can effectively work with stakeholders to define and prioritize product backlogs.
4. Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO): This certification, offered by Scrum.org, is similar to the CSPO certification and evaluates the holder’s ability to effectively fulfill the product owner role in Scrum.
5. Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP): This is a certification offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and demonstrates that the holder has a broad understanding of Agile principles and practices, including Scrum.

Overall, while the CSM and PSM certifications are the most widely recognized in the Scrum community, the other certifications can also be useful for professionals seeking to demonstrate their expertise in specific areas of Scrum or Agile practices.

Explore our Scrum Courses here – Scrum Master Certified

It’s not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. —Charles Darwin

Since the invention of Computers, there has been tremendous growth in technology. Though we all have experienced how today’s latest technology becomes obsolete in a year or two, the trend has changed now. New technologies are emerging even faster these days. With inventions in Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics and other fields, people working in the IT sector are wondering ‘Are my skills enough to keep my job?’ Even though upskilling is important in every field, it becomes crucial in Information Technology. 

Why is career Agility all the more important than before? How innovations in technology affect all the industries and thus all the job profiles? Let us try to understand this. It’s a very simple fact that any business has to update itself to attract new customers and keep existing customers happy. Let us look at what happened to the education industry during covid. When everything was moved from classroom to zoom sessions the teachers and students had to adapt to the new way of learning. Similarly every product has to upgrade itself to the latest technology. Else people will discard the outdated products and buy new ones with the latest technology. It can be a cell phone or choosing a medical service provider. Thus all industries have to adapt themselves to the new changes and thus their employees need to be trained in that regard. But most of these changes originate from the IT industry. Thus there is more pressure on IT employees to keep their learning spirits high. 

Career agility refers to one’s ability to keep pace with the demands of the modern business landscape. Employees who are agile in both mindset and skills are considered to have a greater ability in adapting to new roles, changing work environments, and business demands.

Employees who excel at career agility can more easily or fluidly move into new positions where their skills translate from one role to another. 

Instead of asking ‘where do you see yourself in the next five years?’ employers should ask ‘give me an example of a time when you realized your skills do not meet the demands of the project at hand and you decided to upskill yourself? In today’s workplace, the concept of agility is everywhere. You can see it in a variety of situations including agile thinking, agile marketing, agile software development, leadership agility, learning agility, and many more.

Now it’s time for you to think how Agile you are when it comes to shaping your career? Are there any roadblocks to become agile? You can discuss with our career experts how to make your career more agile? Book an appointment for a free consultation today. Click here. 

Reference : Linkedin Articles

Do you wish to change your career but fear consequences? You are not alone. Most people who dream of changing their careers do not take the first step due to many reasons. Today let’s discuss why most of us are afraid to switch our career path and how to overcome that fear.

What stops us from taking the plunge?

• Leaving the comfort zone
  You might be feeling this is not the right job for you, or you might have started liking a new field but still unable to leave the current job. This happens when you have been working in the same industry or organization for long time. You feel you are familiar with people working there, you have got used to the organization culture, and you know the work very well. In contrast to this, joining a new organization in a new industry can mean need to prove yourself to everyone. You might feel will they accept me? Will I be comfortable working there.

• Fear of failure
  The next thing that stops you from changing career is fear of failure. You might feel a bird in hand is better than two in the bush. You might start doubting yourself as to if you will be successful in the new job.

• Peer Pressure
  Peer pressure can affect some of us. Our friends and family might feel its safer to continue in the current profession. They might be feeling its risky to make a career change.

• Fear of being too old to change the career
  Some of us might also think ‘I am too old to make a change now’. There might be many question marks as to can I learn a new skill at this age? Will I be able to go through the process of sending resumes, facing interviews and working with new people.

• Fear of losing progress
  If you have worked for a considerable number of years in a career path, you might be feeling you are almost near to next promotion. Is it wise to change career now? Will I be given due weightage to depending on my experience? Will I be losing all the progress I have made so far? These questions can bother you.

• Fear of making the wrong choice
  Finally, you might be thinking what if I am making the wrong choice? What price I would be paying for that if I must switch back to my original career?

All these types of fears are not at all uncommon. In fact, you should have some of those fears which you can use as a tool to succeed in the next role you would be embarking on.

Now let’s try to understand how to overcome these fears.

• Acknowledge the fact that it’s okay to have self-doubts
  Its normal to have self-doubts. When we doubt ourselves, we try to prepare in a better way. It also shows that we are serious about our choices.

• Explore your fear and raise your self-awareness
  You should try to understand why you are afraid. Note down the points which you are afraid of and points which motivate you to make a career change. Then you can try to address each reason for fear and find a solution for the same.

• New and welcome challenges
  Look at the positive aspects of career change. You will be meeting new people; you will learn new ways of doing work. You will have challenging tasks which will keep you on your toes. Your professional network will also expand.

• Better Growth opportunities
  New experience adds more value to your resume. Even if it is a different industry, you can always make use of the experience you have had in your previous jobs. See what skills overlap in your previous job and the future job. You can feel more confident now that whatever change you are making is not entirely new.

• Do some research
  Do some research on the career change you are planning to make. Understand the industry, the organizations, the major players of the industry. See what skills you already have to succeed there. Things like communication skills, mathematics, business skills and many others can be used in all industries.

• Speak to a career consultant
  Speak to a career consultant and check what certifications are needed. How can you be better prepared for this career change. If you do all this homework before switching, there will be nothing to be afraid of when you are making that career change.

Do you want to change your career and do not know where to start? Does the IT industry interest you? Then do join our WhatsApp group for more tips and helpful resources. You can also book a free consultation with us using this Calendly meeting link. We wish you all the best for your career progression.

We can broadly divide the entire process into three crucial factors i.e.

• A concise Resume
• Interview
• Your Personality

Even before talking about resume, it is important to spend some time in understanding what is the right job for you? Whether you would like to work for big companies or startups? Whether you prefer to work from home or work from the office. Are you at your best when you work alone or in a team? Whether you have any locational preferences? Are you ready to work in different time zones? Are you ready to work weekends? Considering your technical expertise, what are you good at? Once you have answered these questions then you can start applying to the relevant openings. Remember it is especially important to focus on what do you want than to explore what is available. This will really increase your chances of getting shortlisted and then finally landing on your dream job.

Once you make note of all these things which will help you find the right job for you, then you can start searching and applying for a job. Before you start sending out your resumes to potential employers you need to make sure your resume is good enough to communicate your capabilities. So how do you make sure your resume is good to go?

Considering you are applying for a large company which gets a high number of resumes, then the chances are that only 10% of the resumes received clear the first scan and go to the second round. So how do you make sure your resume does not get rejected in the first round itself?

• You need to make sure the resume is ATS or AI compliant. This is where your resume is directly fed into the software and the machine reads your resume and decides whether to shortlist or not.
• The chances of rejection are more when fed to machines as they will read the resume in a certain pattern. So, you need to make sure you are not using any infographics or other formats to make the resume look more beautiful. Hence keep it in plain text and you can use bullets.
• Even if a resume goes to a human reader usually called sourcer he or she will spend 2-3 seconds to decide whether to move it to next round or reject it.
• Thus keep your resume simple, easy to read by machines or humans.
• Next step is to make sure your resume is not very generic. You must revise every time you apply to a different posting. Make sure it is relevant for the job description.
• Then make sure you have all the relevant key words as per the job description.
• Highlight your certifications
• Do not make grammar mistakes. Now with so many inbuilt grammar correcting tools, it will look very awkward if your resume has many grammar mistakes.

Now that we have understood what mistakes to avoid in resume, it’s time to talk about facing the interview. Here are some tips which would work any IT job interview

• Most probably it will be online, in that case refer to our other article ‘Nailing Virtual Interviews’
• Prepare ahead for a few frequently asked questions like tell me about yourself. Practice answering it in front of friends or still better in front of a mirror. You can either audio or video record your responses, check them, and see what improvements are needed. This type of practice will make you answer these initial rounds of questions very confidently and create a positive image of yourself in front of the interviewer and will boost your morale.
• Try to be more focused and formulate your answers in such a way that it shows confidence. Do not beat around the bush.
• All the questions will be based on your profile and the job description, so you can lead the discussion the way you want.
• Remember that once you are shortlisted for an interview, they are there to select you and do not have the intention of rejecting you, so its your responsibility to show them how you can handle the challenges the job offer and to show them that you are the right fit.

We talked about resume and Interview, so imagine there is another candidate with similar skills and answers the questions as good as you, then what will differentiate you from him? It’s your personality. Hence it becomes important to show a cheerful outlook from the beginning. Highlight the volunteer work you have done. Study about the company and show them that you have done your homework. Do not miss any opportunity where you can show that your values match the culture or values of the organization to which you are applying. With all these in place nothing can stop you from acing your next interview. All the best.

Business Analyst is a trending role in the IT industry. You go to LinkedIn jobs and select Business Analyst role in New York City and Salary range 120k+ and you get more than 200+ job listings. So, you can imagine the huge demand we have for Business Analysts not only in US but also in the global market.

Now let us look into some of the major reasons why one should opt for Business Analyst role.

• It’s a booming industry. – We have all witnessed how the Pandemic has resulted in making most of the traditional jobs obsolete. But need for Business Analysts is increasing like never before. As the role of Business Analysts involves tackling the challenges faced by business entity and finding right strategy to make their products or service more efficient, it’s an ever-growing field.
• Attractive Pay Range – Like we mentioned above the salary can go up to $120k per annum. As per indeed the average base salary for a business analyst in US is $83,106
• Recession Proof – unlike most of the jobs which gets hit during recession, business analyst role becomes more and more critical in challenging times. Hence it is recession proof.
• Location independent – As most of the work involves working on computer it can be done online. Thus, you can work from anywhere and it is not affected by bad weather or closure of physical office locations.
• Flexible timings – As most of the time you would be working independently on projects you can adjust your timings as per your schedule. But you need to keep in mind that there will be many team meetings and you would have to plan your work time accordingly.
• Growth opportunity – Considering you will be interacting directly with stakeholders; you get to interact with CEOs and decision makers. This experience will definitely help you climb the corporate ladder quickly.

What are you waiting for then? If all these factors motivate you to become a business analyst just get in touch with us to know the next steps. Drop us an e-mail or call us for a free consultation to discuss how you can become a Business Analyst.

We all were familiar with online education, online ordering of food and other items, conference calls on the phone and so on. But hardly did we ever think we would be going for online doctor visits!! But here we are where everything is online. Thus, we need to realize that when it comes to facing interviews it is going to be virtual. Because even if things go back to normal and people start working from office, there is no need for calling the person to office for an interview even before understanding whether that person is the right fit for the organization. Online interviews will save time for the participants and can give the flexibility to post pone as per the convenience for the employers. Also, employers need not have to worry about candidates’ conveyance and accommodation.

Now that we know online interviews will be the norm from now on, its important to prepare for the online interviews rather than in person interviews. It is not very difficult to ace an online interview if you follow these simple steps. But not following these simple steps can mean losing the great opportunity.

Creating a stress-free atmosphere for the Online Interview

• First and foremost, make sure to update your online and offline calendar with interview details.
• Buying a laptop and getting good internet connection is a must. Its more important than buying a two-wheeler Here you can eliminate your two-wheeler and buy a laptop if you still do now own one.
• Download and run the relevant software or app used for the online interview. Its better to have popular video call apps like zoom, teams and Webex installed in your laptop and smart phone.
• Depending on your lifestyle make sure to have one disturbance free, well lighted and charging point accessible place for your interview.
• Make sure to turn off all notifications from any devices like alexa and google mini. Keep your smartphone on mute during call but keep it handy in case there is some network issue and if you need to answer call from interviewer.

Facing the Interview

• Login one hour early to the app and check all audio and video is working properly. Set the right angle for the screen so you are properly visible.
• Always keep your video on before joining the interview. It gives the message that you are bold and confident.
• You should be well versed with all online tools like muting yourself, using digital gestures, chat option and share screen etc.
• Even though interviewer can see only upper half of your body, its always important to dress top to bottom as if you are attending an interview in person. This will boost your spirit and avoid any awkward situation if you happen to stand up for any reason like getting water bottle, or putting the laptop charger etc.
• Always be punctual. If you are not allowed into the call at least 5 minutes before the interview, call them or mail them and let them know you are waiting. Sometimes you might be in the wrong place.
• Do not keep any notes near you or do not keep any windows open. You should not give a wrong message that you are looking for information in the net to answer questions.
• Keep an empty notepad and pen near you in case interviewer happens to ask you to write something and show. If you are comfortable using online whiteboard you can always use it with the permission of interviewer. This will show that you are technologically savvy person.
• Speak clearly and loudly. Use headphone only if you are sitting in a place with background noise.
• Dress properly and make sure half of your body is visible and you are not very far away from or very near to screen.
• If for any reason you are disconnected and connect back, do not get stressed. It happens to everyone. So politely say sorry for the inconvenience and mention you had network issues and continue with the interview.
• Answer the questions like you would answer in any personal interview then after the interview is over thank everyone and leave the meeting room by clicking leave. As the panel might stay there for more time to discuss among themselves or they might have next candidate joining in.

Follow up

• Do not forget to send a follow up mail or WhatsApp message or phone call depending on how the HR interacted with you.
• Just cross check if anything else is needed to be sent from your end and ask them when you can hear back from them.

We wish you good luck for all your Online Interviews.