My Secret

I am a smart, intelligent, confident woman with a secret - I know next to nothing about computers. I say that as a 26-year-old, who, as a millennial, obviously knows a fair bit about how to use a computer - but I have honestly no idea how they actually work. Computers, like electricity, the internet, and recorded music are magic as far as I’m concerned.

I have always been more interested in the humanities - languages, social studies, literature and how people interact with one another instead of math, science, non-fiction and how the world works. I completed a Bachelor’s of Arts with First Class Honours in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Calgary in 2009 followed by a Master’s degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology also at the University of Calgary in 2011. My Master’s thesis was on mutual interest communities with a case study on Harry Potter fans. Yes, you read that right ;). You’re probably wondering “what in the world do you do with that?”, and yes, you do have a point. However, I have found that the things I am passionate about have usually turned out great and I ended up getting a job at the University of Calgary in the Research Services department working with researchers putting together grant applications for the past 2 and a half years. It was through this position that I was introduced to a business analyst and learned how much I would love to pursue a career in business analysis.

Here is why:

Business Analysis is everything I want in a career - working with people on large projects where you work to improve efficiencies, restructure, change and grow. My favourite thing about completing my thesis-based Master’s program was the assignment - “write a thesis”: pick the topic; conduct a literature review; write and defend your proposal; collect the data; analyze the data; write the thesis. I loved it all and I loved how I was in control of what I did every day. Self-directed learning and large projects invigorate me. With regards to business analysis, I love the prospect of interviewing people to determine their needs, documenting those needs, communicating those needs and coming up with solutions that will help improve work flow.

Here is what I know I need to work on to make that dream a reality:

I know that I already have a lot of the soft skills required to do business analysis well: I’m great with people; I’m an active listener; I know how to do interviews, surveys, focus groups and other qualitative research methods from my Master’s degree; I know how to do document analysis; I’m resourceful; I can write concisely; I’m constantly thinking of ways to improve efficiencies; I’m organized.

What I lack is technical knowledge, specific business knowledge, and quantitative/statistical analysis skills. I need to learn how computers are programmed. I need to learn the basics of programming languages. I need to learn what SAP means. I need to learn what exactly is a database. I need to learn statistics. I need to brush up on my math skills. I need to read more about leadership, business and management. I need to learn how the internet works. I know I need to learn these things in order to stand a chance of getting through an interview for my dream job, so the goal of this blog is to document my quest for employment self-improvement by exploring all of (and more) of the topics I listed above. It will be confusing, I may get things wrong, but if I know three things; I know that I remember a lot more of what I teach to others than what I read or hear; I know that the things that are the hardest to learn are the greatest opportunity for growth; and I know that I need a challenge.

Here are my goals:

1. I will update my blog weekly with a new post on a topic relevant to my employment self-improvement.

2. I will no longer pretend like I know what’s going on. If I don’t understand, I will ask, research, learn more, until I do.

3. I will not rely on Kor (my husband) to solve a problem for me. He can help (and I will need his help!), but the content of every blog post will be written and understood by me.

So here I go. Week 1 coming up: How do I ever start a blog?

“I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen.”

- Louisa May Alcott, Little Women