Comparing different job roles within IT

Comparing different job roles within IT

As a group, me and my partner chose 3 different job roles within IT and a list of different requirements that are needed to be strong in that role. The 3 different jobs we chose where:

·         Computer games designer

·         Web designer

·         Network engineer

 We decided to look into the different key requirements that would help them get into the job, looking at the; Skills, attributes, income and finally qualifications. However looking at the different requirements I noticed that for the job roles there where similarities and differences and that’s what I will discuss.

 First of all the skills needed are actually all quite similar. They all need basic level of skills in IT such as the knowledge of using programs such as HTML and ASP. Between a computer games designer and a web designer is similar as they both require a broad imagination to think off the spot of a new idea for the business. However a difference would be that for the network engineer you need to be able to have deep prioritising skills to know what is to be done when; this will be needed for the other two but probably in enough detail. Finally I feel that as a whole they all need to be creative as all three jobs are to think from the top of the head to be able to work something out like a solution or a new idea.

For the attributes, again this is similar to skills where as they all need to be able to think off the tops of their heads to be able to work professionally in the work force. However there would be a difference in network engineer and the computer games designer, as they are two completely jobs in terms of IT. The computer games designer would need to have attributes with story telling and planning, to be able to set out a story for the computer game to follow. But with a network engineer, they would need to have good flexibly to be able to work around problems and adapt to different jobs day by day.

Income is the one where they are the most similar. However the web designer as a senior professional, they would get less income as the seniors in both computer games designing and network engineering, which was very interesting. But other than that they are very tight and close comparing them to each other with the entrants all being around £15,000 a year income.

The qualifications are all fairly similar too. In all a degree in that specific company would all be needed with the obvious GCSE results gained from the start. Of course the difference would be that they would be earning degree in that certain field. Where the web designer would obviously go down the route of a course based in web development and multimedia design, the network engineer would look towards the computer networks programs and the internet communications.

Information about the questionnaire

Questionnaire

The questionairre i have shown you with completed answers was an aim to discover the personal attributes made by an employee and how they use them on a day to day basis. Giving you information about how they run them seleves in work in terms of how they react in groupwork, and also how the need to work individualily. Different jobs will open up a range of different answers to how a employe would work in their job.

My questionnaire will aim to include the answers to the following:

•Personal Details eg Position, Company etc

•Personal attributes (e.g. self motivation, leadership qualities, respect, dependability, punctuality, problem solving, determination, independent workers, time management, team working, written numerical and verbal skills, planning and organisational skills)

•Good working practices (e.g. Health and Safety, following organisational procedures, adhering to legislation)

Me and my partner completed 3 questionnaires between us, using family and friends to fill in all of our relevant questions, so we can look through, retype and put it on our blogs.

What’s expected of the employer...

I have been asked to research the personal attributes that employer’s look for within different job roles. To do my research I have interviewed 3 people who are working to get an insight into what their employers expect of them. Below are the results of all the information that I collected, summing up what employers expects of their employees.  I chose to focus my questions on three main aspects, health and safety, legislation and key attributes that they need for their specific job. I used both open and closed questions so I can get as much information as possible about the people who I am questioning, for example I used the question “What company do you work for?” which I only expected a short simple answer to get straight to the point, this is a closed question. However when more information is needed, I tried my best to seek it out by using open questions so an explanation was given, an example of this would be “Are you expected to work independently? If so how do you do this?” This allows me to have a complete idea of what their employers expect of them. With these questionaries’ I have combined them with research I have done on the internet and other sources,  to get a complete over view on what attributes employers expects of their employees within different job roles.

Working for a company such Santander, there is a lot of responsibility as it’s a big business which is in need of every one of their employers to be highly professional and mature over their role. As a fraud investigator there is obviously a big job to be done as they need to make key decisions to whether the suspect has a believable case or not. Also she has said that she is self-motivated by wanting to do a good job, meaning that she has been expected to do a good job, that’s what she wants to do and keeps her going.  She takes care of each one of her cases and makes crucial decisions to what’s to be done. She is expected to make these decisions by herself with no team or no discussion to be made. This is showing that she needs to use the leadership skills she should have and expected within her job. She is expected by her employer to show respect in her work place as I’m sure every employer ensures of every one of there employees, she says that she shows her respect by completing regular compliance such as inclusion and diversity. Time management is another key feature that she is expected to manage well and efficiently for her job, she gets given weekly stats sheets which we amend daily to show what work they have completed. This is showing that the company is making sure that the time spent by the employees is being used to keep focused on work and work only.  In many companies there will be times that the employee will be needed to take on a task on their own with no assistance, this is the same here as the employee is expected to contact customers and take on individual cases so that they can handle themselves in the work place.

As anywhere else and another employer would expect is the health and safety issues of the workplace are needed to be expected without a doubt so in this case she has been expected to use all health and safety acts in the Santander bank. She does this by completing regular on line compliance on health and safety. To be independent within in work will always be such a crucial part of what anyone does, as it brings out the personality within work more. Here the worker is expected to be independent within her work saying she is given individual cases. So she would be asked to contact customers, investigate cases and make an independent decision to refund or decline a refund claim. This is something that is expected of her. For her written skills she is expected to write up fraud case notes when she is part taking in a case, on her own or as a group. Verbal skills are something else that would need to be taking under account and be expected of her. She is required to use her verbal skills when she rings up the customers she is dealing with and also any colleagues that she needs to get hold of. Also her numerical skills would be within using number in her work, she is expected to calculate account claims when doing the job. Another skill that would be needed and expected within work would be planning ahead of task. In this instance the worker says she is expected to plan and decide which order to work on the cases and to plan with rationale, actions used and case decision updates.  Planning ahead would always be key to how well the future actions lay out. So she is expected to make her own plans within her job. Determination and desire is something that has to be within the employer so she can get a job done. She is expected to make a decision with her work and stick to it no matter what, even if told elsewise or provoked. Finally the last skill that she is expected to do with on her job is solving problems when they come. She has to problem solve on a daily basis as in solving fraud case and making the decision to refund money back to the customer or not. This decision is a very important one to make and its expected that she makes the right one for the sake of the company.

 

I conclude by saying that all these attributes come together to make a complete employer and different attributes come together to make results that some employees need and others may not need. As a banker within some attributes may not be as important as it would for say a teacher or a police officer, as they would need high confidence and patience, whereas a banker would be stronger for specific attributes such as independent work and decision making. So different attributes are seen in different places of work more than some others, just all dependent on what that job is and what the employers expects of them. I also know by my findings that the employee does know the health and safety boundaries that the employers expects them to know.

 

 

Attributes I gathered in my Questionnaire

The first attribute that I found within my questionnaire was motivation. Motivation is the reason you may do something, or to find a reason for doing it to complete a task or an overall goal. If you work as an employee to get the best out of your work, you will need to be motivated. This is needed within work because to have a goal to reach for at the end, will force the team to work hard to reach that goal, and obviously hard work is valued very highly in employment. That extra push and dive at a task is always very appealing to all employers because to have a motivated employee helps the employer know that they will give that push and drive to get the job done.

Another attribute that I gathered information for was leadership skills. Even though a staff member might not have a role where they are a leader, having skills where you can take a group of people and decide what to do as that team yourself is always a task needed in employment. If an employer was ever going to trust one of their employees to take over a team within the job then the skills of leadership would need to be fulfilled, otherwise they would not be given that role, which could essentially lead to better places in the job. An employer would want to see every employee that they employ to have thorough depth of leadership.

Time management is another attribute that an employee must have when working in employment. Time management is obviously how an employee can manage their time for a various amount of things when in the job, whether that be getting in to work of a morning to deadlines for the work set. This would be very necessary because for a job to be complete there must be a time limit for that, one that’s reasonable and fair, then with this limit of time the employee must find a way of working through that time to get the job done at an affiant standard. Employers look very highly when it comes to Time management as it stands out when their employees do a piece of work in the last minute compared to one that’s been planned well and given enough time to work on.

Another important attribute that I found when doing my questionnaire was team work. I believe working as a group is important in most job roles that you see today and only few would not need to be highly qualified in working as a team. This is obviously valued very highly due to how common team work is in employment today and in every business there will always be tasks set within a team. An employee should know how to spread the task out as a team to make sure everyone has a fair amount of work between them. Also shows an employer that their employees have a number of communication skills, as team work requires a lot of talking and gathering up information, this is something all employers look for when employing.

Team work is very important in a work place but on the other direction, working independently is something that is valued just as much. Working independently requires the employee to think on their feet and plan their own way how to complete a task, with no help required. This involves much thought and motivation to work on their own and complete their work. This would be needed in a business because working as an individual is very important as more work can get completed if the employees work on their very own task. Also to work on your own shows an employer that you have a number of skills, as working independently requires an employee to have dedication, motivation and also patience, attributes valued by most employers today.

Finally the last attribute that I found within my questionnaire was punctuality. To have good punctuality means not being late for work and being in on time. Obviously the less time that an employee is work the less work that will be completed by the end of the day and this is something that can damage a business, when work being completed is very important.  An employer looks very highly of punctuality as it can seriously affect the team and the business as a whole if an employee is late on a numerous occasions. A lot of employers value punctuality very highly and make sure that it’s the main priority when employing the right people.

 

 

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

1.      What company do you work for?

Santander bank

2.      What is your position in your company?

Fraud investigator

3.      What responsibilities do you have in your job?

Investigating debit card fraud cases

4.      Are you expected to motivate yourself, if so how do you do this?

Yes, by wanting to do a good job

5.      What leadership skills are you expected to use in your job and how do you use them?

To take ownership of case, make a decision based on thorough investigation, delegate jobs to complete case

6.      How does your company enforce respect to other members of staff? Are there any policies in place?

By completing regular compliance re inclusion + diversity

7.      Does your company expect you to use problem solving within your job, if so how do you use it?

Yes, I have to problem solve on a daily basis as in solving fraud case and making the decision to refund money back to the customer or not

8.      How are you expected to use determination within your company?

By making a decision and sticking to it, even when shouted at or provoked

9.      Are you expected to manage your time when at work and how would you do this?

Yes, we have to complete weekly stats sheets which we amend daily to show what work we have completed

10.  Do you work within a team at work? How do you work effectively in a team?

I work in a part time weekend and evening team, we work very effectively to make sure the day’s work is completed on time

11.  What written, numerical and verbal skills do you use within your job?

Written skills are to write up fraud case notes verbal skills are to ring and speak to customers and colleagues, numerical- sometimes to calculate claim amounts

12.  How do you use planning and organisational skills within your job?

We have to decide which order to work cases and plan case with rationale, actions used and case decision updates

13.  How does your company enforce punctuality?

Punctuality is part of our objectives and would be mentioned by line manager if not adhered to

14.  In what way are you expected to be reliable? How do your colleagues depend on you?

We are relied upon to do our fair share of work, to work efficiently and effectively as possible, and to help colleagues is necessary

15.  Are you expected to work independently? If so how do you do this?

Yes, within our team we work on individual cases and independently , contact customers, investigate cases and make an independent decision to refund or decline a fraud claim

16.  How is health and safety implemented into your company?

By completing regular on line compliance on health and safety

17.  How does your company adhere to legalisation?

By making sure we are up to date on all compliance re legalisation

18.  What organisational procedures do you carry out within your company?

Sometimes to organise what work is done and to prioritize it