Guys I was hoping if someone could share some recommendations.

I'm in an HR Analyst role where I will have the chance to take a job as a Functional Analyst with a liaison to IT for HR projects. Kind of a hybrid role..not one in the IT trenches but one that knows how to coordinate and run projects for HR systems with the IT resources the company has.

This is a jump for me admittedly, but I've yearned to get more in a technical capacity as pure HR sucks and I have more ambition. My mgmt. highly recommends me for the job and I know the hiring manager is interested but skeptical of my tech knowledge so here's the thing: The jump is that the person will require [working order knowledge] and fundamental skills of:

- relation data modeling
- app development like .NET or J2EE
- application integration

I know this from a definitional stand point. I know what wikis know. Not sure if that would constitue 'functional knowledge'. I know what they do - but i do not speak the lingo nor would i know the pure basics about how they work or how they are implemented.

Can anyone recommend resources or starters guides? Is there something I can download to look at the interface? Do I go get Dummies guide to's ? Just looking for advice. Thanks.

[Edited on April 22, 2008 at 11:26 AM. Reason : =]

4/22/2008 11:24:40 AM

the best way to learn app development is to learn the syntax of the language, go buy a reference manual, and start coding apps.

also look at how others have coded their apps.

you'll find yourself looking things up frequently in the beginning, but after a couple of months or so, you won't even need the book most of the time.

4/22/2008 11:29:38 AM

so will you be working in actual code or are you just coordinating dev teams?

4/22/2008 11:56:59 AM

the latter...but its in depth enough to where I imagine in the implementation project stages I'd need to know specifically what i can do or get out of the languages or the databases. I mean, I'm not the one writing code but I would need to know how to present the solution to the team specifically on what we need.

4/22/2008 12:20:06 PM

sounds like an excellent transition from your current role. i think it'll look nice on your resume and provide u with some excellent opportunities for learning. definitely go for it.

the only thing i can recommend is to find out what technologies your IT is currently using, and bone up on those particular technologies.

an easy place to start (and since you mentioned relational databases) is learn the basics of SQL. For that I'd recommend http://sqlzoo.net/ Find out what database your IT people use (Microsoft SQL Server is a good bet if you can't find out), go into the tutorials on the left hand side and once in make sure you change the drop down in the upper right to match whatever database your IT people use for application development. If you spend a few hours running through those tutorials that would be en excellent start and would be something you could say that you accomplished (and make the hiring manager less skeptical)

as far as programming goes, try this site: http://progzoo.net/ and run through some of those tutorials. definitely get a book and try coding some example applications that the books guide u thru, but you can get started with that site right away and learn the basics of programming. Again find out what programming languages your IT people use (VB or C# are common if you can't find out) and click the corresponding link in the upper right hand side so you're working on the correct language.

4/22/2008 12:51:11 PM