Understanding the SharePoint Market by: Shadeed Eleazer, MCTS WSS/MOSS NRWA

Presentation Objectives: Discuss trends (good/bad) within the SharePoint market Clearly discuss and define SharePoint roles (Admin/Developer/Project Manager) and how misunderstanding of these roles affect staffing and on- the-job performance Case studies regarding SharePoint professionals Questions you should ask before accepting your next SharePoint role Common qualities in every solid SharePoint professional Provide a few helpful tips from a resume writing perspective.

What this Presentation Is My report of the last few years operating in this market from a consultants and technical writing perspective. An open discussion of the trends, practices, and indirect mishaps that make up the greater Mid-Atlantic SharePoint market An opportunity for attendees to receive honest feedback from a staffing professional in this market

What this Presentation Is Not Sales Pitch Infomercial Marketing Campaign

Overview Member of National Resume Writers Association Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist (Configuration) on WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007 platform US Navy Veteran with wide range of experience dealing with SATCOM, government systems integration, and lots of management/leadership experience.

What if I already have a job? Most SharePoint initial or technical recommendations are made by members of SharePoint team In smaller SharePoint practices, you may be called upon to write descriptions, conduct interviews, and provide recommendations. If your company is adopting to SharePoint, this presentation will raise your awareness that you will be required to perform tasks and duties that may or may not be within your scope.

Trends Ive Noticed For the first time, there is an acknowledgement of junior and senior roles within SharePoint. Junior Professionals – Help Desk/Support Roles Senior Professionals – Design/Architecture, Requirements, Demos, Sales Roles You cant find something if you dont know what you are looking for Individuals that do possess Senior Level SharePoint skillsets are being placed in positions requiring managerial-level skillsets that they are not prepared for.

Disturbing Trends The rise of contract-to-hire employment as a means of determining technical aptitude on a project Consulting companies are looking for experts instead of specialists

Clearly Defining Roles The release of MOSS as a development platform has lead to loopholes in the following areas: 1. Project Management 2. Delegating roles and responsibilities 3. Completing tasks 4. Hiring the right candidate

Defining Administrator Provide core infrastructure support which includes hardware, storage, software, and licenses. Infrastructure support to include maintenance, upgrade and replacement of software Backup and recovery Manage accounts and grant/deny access and permissions

Administrator Gray Areas Layout/Master Page Design Customizations Custom development of Web Parts Workflow (custom) Solution Deployment Web-based concepts/technologies

Defining the SharePt Developer Strong analytical skills Strong knowledge of (C#) ASP.NET Development within the SharePoint framework Experience: 1+ years experience with Visual Studio 2003 or greater 1+ years experience with Sharepoint Designer Provide SharePoint design work, custom development, documentation and best practices consulting SharePoint Design Consults with customers to identify and implement SharePoint requirements

Developer Gray Areas Windows Server platform (build, test) Managing virtual/test environments Integration (Project Server, OCS, TFS) MOSS Platform – Migration and Deployments Active Directory DNS Requirements gathering

Issues Facing Project Managers What criteria makes up a good SharePoint project manager? PMP certifications do not measure SharePoint aptitude Can you effectively manage a platform that you do not understand? Mis-understanding of roles lead to missed deadlines and decreased performance

The Ideal SharePoint Resource Can-do, Will Do Attitude Advanced troubleshooting ability Take-charge personality High-initiative, works independently Passionate about technology Able to discuss technical matters in meetings, demos, and assemblies

Case Study #1 – Mr. Eric Harlan

Facts: Possesses the right combination of skillsets to gear him for a position in Technical Management Well-rounded skillset – Type of consultant that companies tend to build entire practices around. Upon hiring with his current, was promoted to position of Principle Developer in one month. Hypothesis: (Discuss)

Case #2 – Whats Active Directory? Solid developer hired as SharePoint expert for coding experience to begin work as member of a SharePoint team of professionals. Struggles during Project Planning Phase: Initial build- out and deployment of testing environment The Developer struggles to complete tasks – Expert level is questioned.

Case Study #3 – Lets Wing It!

Key decision maker attends users group, decides MOSS is the wave of the future Enlists internal SysAdmin to install SharePoint and make it work with zero consideration to licensing costs Zero requirements gathering combined with management dictated architecture (I want it/I get it) leads to chaos. One year (and 700 team sites) later, SharePoint Expert is brought in on short term (contract/1099) basis to fix the mess.

Resume Writer Hats On! The majority of resumes are not actually read – They are scanned for keywords The phone screen is the most important portion of the entire employment process. Face-to-face interviews are fast becoming a thing of the past Contrary to popular belief, a great resume is not needed to break into the SharePoint industry if you are coming from an administrative or programming background. A great attitude and willingness to roll up the sleeves is needed to do that. Great resumes benefit those individuals who have reached a certain plateau in their career and are looking to move to a higher level

Next Speaker: Lennell Key K-Force Consultings Baltimore Office Understanding the SharePoint Marketing from staffing/Human Resources perspective

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