The subject line is a massive clue, but what kind of a numpty sends out an email like this?
Dear Brennig
I have an excellent role that I am looking to fill that I think will be of interest to you.
A great opportunity has arisen for a six month contract IS Business Analyst (Housing) to review and improve the reporting requirements of a local authority’s housing information system.
You will need to engage with stakeholders of all levels in a variety of LA departments to determine the current environment, challenge them on their current use and seek to enhance the IS reporting structure through the implementation of a tailored suite of reporting tools.
You will need to be fully conversant with the Northgate/Sx3/iWorld housing application, be technically adept at Oracle PL/SQL, an expert Business Objects designer/user, and familiar with the Northgate Housing Universe. Advanced user status for MS-Excel (Macros, VBE and Pivot Tables) goes without saying.
You should have experience of writing policies/procedures or user guides and have practical experience of IT project management, preferably Prince 2.
Salary would be in the region of £325-£350 per day.
If you are interested in this opportunity please forward your CV or for further information, you can contact me on the details below.
Yours sincerely
So it’s almost all there:
- broad outline of the role
- scope
- tools
- skills
- experience
- remuneration
Except…
Where the hell in the United Kingdom is this role?
Ooooh but my favourite language kludge in there is “…goes without saying”. If it ‘goes without saying’ then…why say it? Just saying.
My first thought was that it’s in California.
Then I realised LA stood for Local Authority.
It goes without saying that they have made a big mistake there.
On first glance I thought that said lactation. lactation, lactation, and I thought your blog was taking a more ‘specialist’ direction.
Sounds boring.
Ian, you think that’s kludgy? You should see half of the SQL I find in legacy BO reports. ‘Twould make a stone man weep.
Aye, Masher. But which one? 🙂 Or don’t, because I haven’t followed it up so now we’ll never know.
Perp, people and thinking. Sometimes the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Sometimes they are.
Gumpher, hmm… not sure what to add now.
Ash, welcome to what we sometimes have to do to pay the bills. I did that kind of role in Birmingham for a while; that was a very interesting experience. And spent a year doing the same sort of thing in Manchester, which was busy but tremendous fun. But I’ve moved on since those heady days…
Heady days? Crikey Bren, you do need to get out more. That job is proper nerdy!
Nononono young Annie! That’s an interesting role. Speaking to people, helping them understand and vocalise precisely what their requirements are (believe me, that’s always a challenge!), translating those requirements in to a set of functional specs, getting sign-off (another challenge), producing the first prototype of the functional specs, checking with the stakeholders that you’re on track, refining, building the working model, checking, releasing it to the user community when it ticks all the boxes. Sits back and has a mug of tea. Job well done. Smirk.