Agile; The single most sought-after skill
Agile is the single most sought-after skill in the IT industry. Here, we are going to talk about how do you go "Agile" and fit right in.
Jobseekers all over the world have the same questions, how do I differentiate myself from others and how can me myself stand out? How will my resume be selected? And how can I make my resume more compelling and competitive?
When you open any vacancy description on a job search site, for example seek.com, and look for a job in the IT industry, you will often find that the requirement tab of a section contains something like that:
“3 - 5 years actively using project methodologies, especially Agile/Scrum”
“Experience with Agile and SCRUM”
It looks like everybody is looking for experienced “agile" people. If you are looking for a job in IT industry or in change management, construction or service delivery you will find that having Agile experience or being Agile will give you that competitive edge and an advantage over other applicants.
"Agile" itself, however, is becoming meaningless phrase that has no real definition in the business world. While I applaud and support the Agile Manifesto and the intentions behind it, I would guess that less than a quarter of the people who say they are "Agile" could recite even one of the Manifesto's principles.
Knowing that everybody wants to be or become Agile now, what does that mean? Does that mean that you now should be able to shove one leg behind your ears skipping on the foot of the other leg? Or to put your head between your legs to find out why your back is itching?
No that is not the flexibility or agility, which is meant here. What is an agile person? What does it mean for a person to become agile in IT, what kind of skills or qualities make one really agile?
According David Albers from the Agile Imperative:
“Agile people conceive and approach the world and their assigned tasks differently from those who are less agile. In general, agile people have a propensity to seek improvements, are more willing to consider information that is at odds with preconceived notions, and are more willing to be different and take risks. These basic characteristics can be enhanced or suppressed by education, training, and culture. Unfortunately, many organisations, both large and small, suppress agility-enabling characteristics.”
David Alberts, Agility Imperative
When we translate this to plain English, in my opinion you are a so-called agile person if you:
embrace change and are not afraid of it, looking for continuous improvement
reason in terms of possibilities, then focusing on problems
focus on added value in everything you do
taking responsibility for everything you set out to do
do the right things and continuously try to improve them
When you are looking for a job directly with an employer or through a recruitment agency in is important that you use all the appropriate key search words and terms in the text of your CV and cover letter. It is to make sure that automatic database search engines will pick your CV and pull it up. Including the terms like Agile, Scrum Master, Agile Project Owner and DevOPS environment will usually do the job.
When your CV/Resume is picked it needs to have that catch and it needs to be better, stand out, of tenth, if not hundredth of other CVs.
Show and use these key terms, but it is probably better not to try and pretend that just the use of terminology can to pass for knowledge or experience, if you do not have it. When you want to show your affinity with agile and show that you have relevant skills you can emphasise qualities you do have in your CV and in your cover letter. Make sure you show you have the right mind set to be able to learn and deliver in the way consistent with Agile practices. For a potential employer it is more important to hire a person with the right mind set and personality who might be just a bit short on experience than a person who has worked in the agile environment but has not picked up the mind-set.
You probably are asking yourself, how do I show the mind set and the affinity and what if I only have limited experience. My answer to that is demonstrate that you have engaged with Agile environment by engaging in a study and that you received certification following it. It is a pretty good solution to demonstrate right away that you already apply Agile principals by looking for continuous improvement by doing some self-study; you focus on what is possible – following a course and getting a certification instead of just saying well can’t get experience unless I’m hired; you add value to your CV and you continuously improve yourself.