BusinessObjects Board

Human Intel in BOB

general discussion
#1

Uh - BOB Moderators feel free to delete … a runaway lateral post lol

We all profess to work in the BI sector and oft fail to realise the expanding implications of the information age.
I discovered the original AOL forum at a time when I was far from home and actively trying to increase my own knowledge of business objects.
I then managed to help with the migration of posts through to BOB at it’s inception and have tried to pay back the many helpfull posts and threads by eventually helping those that are also new to BO.

I often get asked at work why I do this, and it’s simple - give and take - and you’d be suprised how helping answer posts by total n00bs - even with info you take for granted, often helps refresh the memory and keep you in touch with the basics.

Recently I have been asked to interview prospective consultants, as well as looking for alternatives for myself and I realised another benefit of my BOB activity:
My posts and forum activity is a very good yardstick of my knowledge AND also portrays the softer skills such as knowledge transfer etc
So - I now typically ask consultants if they belong to any forums and if they could supply their forum nic so as to get an idea as to their involvement and technical level.
And I also supply prospective clients with my forum details in order for them to do the same - and a few agencies have been quite interested in this angle.

Please realise that this has not been my reason for trying to help answer posts in here, and I don’t think anyone should tailor their habits purely to try and create an online persona to help further their career.
But I do think we oft miss the value of information in it’s various forms and places.
In training others, I now even set aside time to show people how to use BOB and techsupport effectively.

This can probably be called BOB’s karma, but it might also help forum members think about how they use the forum on a day to day basis and avoid simply answering just to confirm an answer already posted or not taking the time to be patient or even use the search feature.

This is a community - and an open one at that - lets use it effectively , intelligently and with a constant willingness to better ourselves by helping others.

 :wink:

MikeD :south_africa: (BOB member since 2002-06-18)

Technical test for job applicants?
#2

Mike,

This has been interesting reading and has raised some valid points. I like the idea of asking what forums a perspective employee belongs too. It will not only provide you with some the answers that you have mentioned but may also show of their personality. As you can imagine, most IT people will be part of a number of forums work related and not. Generally the non work related ones are those that will show a persons true personality.

plessiusa :netherlands: (BOB member since 2004-03-22)