Janae’s CGI story article
1. Name Janae
2. Role Business Analyst
3. What does your role involve? Liaising with the client to ensure that their requirements (new or changes to the current system) are met during each software release. This means that during the beginning of the analysis I have regular client facing meetings, both in the CGI London office and on client site. When the initial requirements have been agreed, my team is assigned a few User Stories each at a time to flesh out the requirements. Closer to the release date and when the analysis is complete I move to work on the Test Team, writing test scenario plans, test scripts and carrying out system tests.
4. What does a typical day in your role look like? On my current project we are transitioning to Agile and we start with a daily stand up. I would then work on developing the User Stories assigned to me. This involves having a look at the current system to see how it currently works, looking at the Functional Specification to see how it should work, speaking to the Development Team Lead and the Analysis Team Lead (my manager). When the requirements within each User Story are mostly complete I liaise with the Test Team to ensure that their plans to test the new functionality are as expected.
5. What is the most interesting part of your role? That sometimes I need to think outside the box to make sure something new added to the system won’t negatively affect old functionality.
6. What projects are you working on at the moment and what impact will they have? I’m working on a Case Management System within the Justice sector.
7. What are you most excited about in relation to your role and future tech developments right now? I’m most excited to work on an Agile project!
8. How do you feel CGI has impacted your career to date? When joining CGI as a graduate I had a phone call with the recruitment team where I gave my preferences on what I would like to get out of a role at CGI. I mostly knew what I didn’t want to do and now I am really enjoying my role (which I didn’t even know I wanted!). After studying Computer Science at University I was worried that I could be encouraged to take on a technical role however I have had the opportunity to work in a junior business analyst role helping me broaden my workplace skills.
9. What is your favourite thing about working for GGI? My favourite thing about working for CGI is although I am the youngest and most junior person in my team there is quite a flat structure so what I bring to the table is viewed as equally as everyone else.
10. Have you benefited from any training and development at CGI – If so what did you learn and how has it benefited you both professionally and personally? Training is encouraged at CGI and within four months of starting my current role I attended Agile Business Analysis training. The team I am working on is transitioning to Agile software development so this was a great opportunity to become more knowledgeable on Agile practices and to increase my confidence. This training ended with an exam, which I passed, giving me a BCS (British Computer Society) Professional Certificate in Agile Business Analysis showing that I am able to understand and apply Agile methods and techniques during my business analysis. There are also more BCS courses that can be used towards their Business Analysis Diplomas.
11. Tell us why someone should consider a career at CGI I think that CGI really looks after its members. I completed my placement year at CGI, worked at another company and then returned to CGI. Also, every month there are people congratulating careers of up to 30 years in the company!