Who got that job?

Michael Cliffe

* Business analyst, Southern Cross software

Pocket CV

Name: Michael Cliffe
Business analyst, Dutch Agricultural Bank-Sydney, 2000- 2001
Business analyst, Canadian Insurance Software Provider, Sydney 2001- 2004.

Q: What were you doing before accepting your new position?

A: I had been working in Sydney for four years as a business analyst with a couple of international companies. One company was a Dutch Agricultural Bank and the other was a Canadian Life Insurance Software Provider

Q: Why did you apply for this job?

A: I had recently moved back to New Zealand and I was looking for a permanent position as a business analyst within a company that had a culture where I would feel comfortable and was forward thinking.

Q: What are the major challenges ahead of you in your new role?

A: As a business analyst working in the IT area, the major challenges are providing efficient and timely solutions for the business units you support.

It is also important to build good relationships with the business so they understand and therefore trust that you have their interests at heart. Most importantly, understanding the business and the problems and challenges they are encountering so that the solutions provided are meeting their requirements

Q: What qualities do you bring to the job?

A: I have worked in a number of insurance and banking-related companies here and in Australia and have worked on a number of different projects, from internet banking to full system implementation.

The way companies approach projects is never the same so I think I bring experience learned from the successes and failures along the way.

I also bring patience and good listening skills, prerequisites, I feel, if you are to successfully build business requirements.

Q: What does being a business analyst mean to you?

A: To me being a business analyst is all about trying to do it better. I think it's the sort of position where you are always asking the questions "Can we do that better?" or "are there efficiencies that can be gained for the business?" You must also realise that you are on a constant learning curve. In that way the job is never mundane, change is always around the corner.

Q: What are your hobbies

A: Motorcycle racing/car racing and house renovation.