E-PORTFOLIO TERM

PROJECT PAPER
BUS 1010: Assessing a Career

Abstract
The following is a paper I have done to show my passion in which have for computers. It will take
you through all the things you would need in order to pursue in the computer science field as a
professional in the business world.

Edica Lopez
Introduction
I have always been interested in technology and have been very grateful to be employed in this

type of work with my age and experience. I work for the Bureau of Reclamation, a Federal

Government owned agency, whose mission is to Manage water into the west. I work in the

Information Technology, (IT) division and I also work in the Records Management division. My

career of choice for which Id like to pursue in is an Information Technology Specialist. For my

research I had an interview with a contractor who is in the Computer Science field (a career field

that I am interested in). It was earlier this month my agency had a registered federal contractor,

who has been working with us for quite a while now, come out and personally help us with our

record document management systems. Jay Bowen is his name and he is the owner of Bowen

ECM Solutions who is also from Medina, Ohio. I was lucky enough to work with him and have

an interview with him.

There are many aspects of Electronic Content Management (ECM). Some of the fundamental

requirements are to categorize/classify and index documents on a network for easy retrieval as

part of a business workflow process. These documents, or containers, represent all types of

files that need to be managed for access, security, revision, distribution, disposition, and eventual

destruction (over and beyond the capabilities provided by the operating system). Corresponding

to businesses drive for productivity, information re-use, data integrity, information provenance,

auditability, and regulatory compliance, these systems evolved to manage the content (what is

in the files, databases, and models), as well as the containers. In short ECM is an ongoing and

evolving strategy for maximizing how content is being used.

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Job Description
Information technologists generally design, operate or maintain technology products. Not limited

to employment with technology companies, information technology (IT) specialists may work

with any businesses, agencies or organizations that use technology or manage large amounts of

information. Regardless of the sector they work in, IT specialists usually provide similar services

related to software, hardware, databases, web resources, networks and enterprise systems. Duties

of an information technology specialist can include network management, software development

and database administration. IT specialists may also provide technical support to a business or an

organization's employees and train non-technical workers on the business's information systems.

Advanced information technology specialists may design systems and assess the effectiveness of

technology resources already in use or new systems that are being implemented. Additionally,

they will determine the practicality of changes and modification of systems.

Career Outlook
Salary/Benefits/Incentives

Many people from this type of career field have computer science degrees. Degrees ranging from

petroleum engineering all way to management information systems. The list of computer science

degrees and also the salaries of each of them is shown in figure 1. There are always great

benefits and incentives when working in this type of field. I know for this particular company,

Bowen ECM Solutions, offer their employees the ability to travel. Which happens more often

than what you think.

Employees can travel to different cities in order to directly interact with clients. It could be tough

depending on the individual and their family/living situation, but the ideal person who is

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employed by this company should ideally be limited by the commitments that come with

marriage and children. Another incentive or benefit about this company is having great flexibility

for their employees. When working for an ECM company, youre dramatically improving

another business productivity infrastructure of an organization. With that in mind, a project

manager can either decline or accept a companys request of his/hers service because the system

requires lots of hard work, attention to detail and dedication and in the end result you want a

successful system.

Physical Environment

With this particular company, the employees physical environment is typically at their homes.

Most of the time, employees can work from home because they can work with their customers

through via emails, conference calls, or even by WebEx which is a web based conference. There

are times when employees do have to meet with their customers one-on-one. Obviously that is

when they go out to the customers office to help assist whatever their needs are. Also, when at

times you have to go into the office it is typically an office work type setting, most likely

working in a cubical.

Collaboration

Collaboration is key when working for an ECM company. Collaboration is the art of working

together. The key to strong collaboration is utilizing the set of technologies. For example, instant

messaging, online meetings (WebEx), emails, etc. All of those tools allow work to take place

wherever and whenever needed. Groups can accomplish more than individuals. Collaboration

allows individuals with complementary, or overlapping, areas of expertise to create better results

a lot faster. With today's collaborative tools, businesses and teams can work together anytime,

whether in the same offices or offsite. The technology can now address operational objectives

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like saving time, cutting costs, and improving quality work. There has to be effective

communication between you and the customer. That is what brings satisfying outcomes for good

business.

Organizational Behaviors

An employers mind set, in this kind of field, is typically accomplishing the customers wants or

needs in a timely manner. And by doing so you have to have a very tactful mind to get things

done and accomplish the task. Its not ideal to have a customer waiting for a job done when it

takes ten times longer than it should. When working with customers, the customer is always

right. There are many deadlines and negotiating in this kind of work environment. That is when

good leadership skills come in and you have to take control in stressful situations.

General Education Experience

education. The level of education or professional training required depends on personal career

aspirations and the needs of a given employer. A major factor influencing employer needs is

ever-changing technology. In the recent past, there was a very strong demand for workers with

internet related skills and competencies, sending employer scrambling to hire anyone with any

internet related skill sets. However, as the job market for information technology professionals as

become more competitive, employers are becoming much more selective about who they hire.

Previously, employers have been known to hire applicants with less tradition computer-related

education. Today, employers are leaning towards hiring IT professionals with more education

and more real-world experience.

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While many successful IT professionals hold a bachelor's or master's degree, there are no

universal educational requirements to have a successful career in information technology. Entry

level information technology occupations usually require applicable experience or an associate's

degree in an IT field. Many employers allow their employees with on-the-job training to learn

the specificities of the certain job their required to fulfill.

Bowen ECM Solutions Bio

report on:

With 14 plus years of FileNet experience BowenECMSolutions is well qualified to address

By reading this you can see that Bowen ECM Solutions take pride in what they do and value

your document management needs. Not only that but this company also values each one of their

customers/businesses they work with. Always making sure that the customer is 100% satisfied

with the work that is done. I had an interview with the owner of Bowen ECM Solutions and that

was his main priority with his company, is making sure that the customer is satisfied and if not

they make a point to establish that customers needs with flying colors.

Pros and Cons

training and educational needs will be an ongoing learning experience. Everything isnt cut and

stoned for the training you get through your degree, which is a good thing because you can learn

as you go while youre working as an information technology specialist for a particular

company. I like seeing the versatility being a good thing for me since my job wont be so

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monotonous and boring. Theres going to be something youll have to fix or help someone out

with their computer breaking and thats what makes the position that much interesting. Being

able to travel would be another good perk. Even being able to work from home would be

amazing. Just a matter of getting the right tools for a situation like working from home to

happen. The cons I find as an information technology specialist is mostly the education. When I

look into the educational part I see in order to get a bachelors degree, you would need a math as

high as Physics and Calculus. It frightens me to continue my education in the computer science

field because it can require a lot of math courses and I for one am not good when it comes to

math. I had such a hard time passing college algebra that I think I would eventually fail at

statistics if I go forth into my education. Its also a lot of technical things that you have to learn

in the IT world. I know I can do it because my passion has always been with computers.

Conclusion
Overall, when choosing a career field, computer science is always a good start but even more

specifically working as an information technology specialist is an even better career field in my

opinion. Information technology specialist is an exciting field to work for knowledgeable and

ambitious professionals who want to do good while they do well. In this kind of business

employees help other companies run better and improve life for customers and other employees

by managing their computer systems and solving customer related issues that occur when

computers fail. Since my passion has always been with computers and technology I think this

career would be the best fit for me. I just have to buckle down for a few more years to get my

education done.

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Figure 1

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 Sources

W. (2016, December 21). IT Technician (Information Technology) job description template |

Workable. Retrieved September 28, 2017, from https://resources.workable.com/it-

technician-job-description

(2012, May 12). Retrieved September 28, 2017, from

http://study.com/articles/Information_Technology_Specialist_Job_Description_and_Req

uirements.html

C. (2015, June 5). Information Technology. Retrieved September 28, 2017, from

https://www.compucert.com/information-technology.html

Bowen, J. (2003, April 19). ECM Software Products. Retrieved September 28, 2017, from

http://www.bowenecmsolutions.com/index.html

Reclamation, B. O. (2017, September 27). Bureau of Reclamation. Retrieved September 29,

2017, from https://www.usbr.gov