InformationWeek

June 23, 1998

I'm a systems analyst in my early 30s who's worked for nearly 10 years for a hospital district. My expertise is in business systems analysis, where I produce operational statistical information, user training on various system applications, and software apps implementation in business operations. However, I am hearing-impaired and cannot use the phone. I believe the lagging technology at the county hospital district and the fact that I do not work in the IS department, has created the problem of keeping my skills marketable. In my previous job search in human resources IS, I ran into the problem of lacking skills in PeopleSoft. How can I network myself into the job market without using the phone and how can I "sell" my expertise in HRIS with no PeopleSoft experience?

Without the ability to communicate via the telephone, your experience base would bode well with an on-site implementation role--particularly as a member of an implementation team for PeopleSoft, SAP, or ADP. It may take you actually dipping into your own pocket to fund PeopleSoft training, then taking that skill to consulting firms, vendors, or targeting strategic companies deploying the package.

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