There's one other one, but that's just finding a job we might go into after graduation, and I already did that for the Critical Response #1 for my CST300L class. I like this job. I don't think that exact job will still be open when I graduate, but that's the type of job I'm looking for.
Anyway, today in class we talked about project management. In order for it to be successful it needs to
- produce the correct product,
- produce it in a timely manner, and
- do it within the budget
There are a lot of things that can make a project fail: poor communication, disagreements, a chang in the environment or the constraints of the project, people leaving[1], personality conflicts, poor management, poorly defined project goals[2], and a failure to comply with standards and regulations.
[1] In big projects, people always leave. Managers can't stop it, they can only lessen the impact of it happening. Employees should keep good notes, so future employees can read those notes and pick up where the first employee left off. The notes aren't just about what was done, they're also about what was tried that failed. That way those things don't get tried again.
[2] I hate not having poorly defined project goals. I just hate it. I do something, and the person I'm doing it for changes what they want. Now, for every project-like thing I do, I clarify the goals first. That way I can go back and say "no, you said to do it like this".
We were shown several ways to break down our time. I didn't copy them down - stuff like that is intuitive to me. I end up getting it done somehow.
Next we talked a bit about goals. Goals need to be:
- Specific
- Measurable - when are we done?
- Agreed upon
- Realistic - must be based on the available resources, knowledge, and time
- Time-framed - Set a clear deadline and stick to it. Specific days like "October 24" are better than general times like "a month from now," because when people learn that something is due "a month from now" that's what they'll remember. In two weeks, it'll still be due "a month from now," and when the deadline comes they'll be suprised because they thought they had almost a month to do it.
Dr. Bude Su talked to us about capstones. She's got a degree in instructional design, which should really be called instructional technology these days. It involves using different strategies to make education effective. There are jobs all over in this subject; every organization could use effective education. Bobbi teaches CST 400 and 401, which involve designing a capstone and then developing it.
Sathya Narayanan does networking. I first met him in my Math 170 (Discrete Mathematics) class. He gave a presentation to the class about how useful it is for programming. Knowing something about the material, and knowing something about programming, I quite agree. He talked to us today about having a job verses a career (a job is just a source of money, a career is a lifelong place to work and grow), and about how more training means more money in the workplace.
Valerie Landau is a web designer. She used to write the game design documents that graphic artists, programmers, etc use to make games. She's been in the computer industry for quite awhile. She was there for the vaccuum tube -> semiconductor switchover. She's used punch cards. She's working on more modern stuff now though. She's teaching instructional design, and she has a side project developing a keyboard in a glove. It should be ready by January, and she's looking for interns to help with the project. She sounds like a fun person to work with.
The last speaker was Bobbi Long. She does communication design and typography. That stuff is useful for more than just newspaper editors - knowledge of typography inspires good logos and attractive documents. Bobbi knows 5 languages, and she's worked on all kinds of visual things - logos, newspapers, brochures, fliers, etc.
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