Need some advice about a presentation

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I'd be grateful if you folks could help me out with this.

God knows how, but I have gotten myself an interview for the IT Dept of a government agency. I need to attend an assessment centre and have to do a 90 min problem solving written test, panel interview, group task and a presentation (5-7mins)

The presentation is to be prepared in advance and has the topic "What technology will have a significant impact on this organisation over the next 10 years and how?

I was thinking along the lines of security or networking (wireless?) but am having trouble coming up with specifics. I would really like to impress with this. I have alot of presentation experience from uni so its really just content that I need help with. Any ideas?

I am thinking that if I excel in the "soft skills" areas, then my lack of experience may not hamper my chances too much. At the very worst it will be killer interview practice.

 

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How about looking at the forthcoming Windows Vista, and the impact it will have on the organisation, I.E. will it prove to be the best os ms has ever produced, or will it falter in the face of competition from os'es such as linux?

 

VoIP and IPT if they don't have it already is a good one, you can ramble on a good few minutes about converging a phone network to become part of the computer network thus saving money and overhead.

How much do you know about what they do, and what systems they are running?

 

Is it MI5?
I've seen every episode of Spooks, so I'm confident that I know what's going on. I can give you loads of help on that.

 

The interview is for a number of jobs depending on your experience. I will be going for entry grade technical/network support.

I don't know what systems they are currently running but I'll mail them to ask which shows interest - Nice idea!

Great ideas so far - Windows vista sounds like an interesting topic - I'll have to do alot of learning but that doesn't put me off!

Thanks for the prompt replies folks

edit: Nothing as interesting as MI5 - Just politics.

 

Windows Vista is a good one I didn't think about that, on that note if they're using Novell Netware maybe they're considering moving over to the Novell/SuSE Linux desktop?

10 years though is a bit long for a rollout of anything, something about the way the question is worded makes me firstly ask what they do...

This could be juicy hehe- maybe they're researching and developing biological ID's or retinal scan technology.

I'm not a number I'm a free man!!!!!!

If you can't divulge exactly what it is they do it would be very helpful if we had some kind of hint to be able to guess what '10 year long technological implementation' would have such an impact on them.

 

I didn't mean to be secretive actually although I did word it that way for some reason. The position is in the Scottish Parliament, supporting politicians and other staff I would guess. That really is all I know as they concentrated more on the personal skills aspects of the application form. It took ages to fill in - loads of "How did you react in THIS situation?" type questions.

the "10 years" was the part of the question that threw me slightly. For all know, IT will be running the country by then! maybe politicains will have a virtual presence in parliament by that time - think of all the savings in travel costs and office space!

 

Migrating to Linux from Windows and UNIX.

There's just tons of information on the subject and it is currently a very hot topic:

http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/tip/1,289483,sid39_gci1121716,00.html

http://www.devx.com/NovellVS/Article/28759

http://www.novell.com/collateral/4621400/4621400.html

http://www.linux-migration.org/

http://searchenterpriselinux.techta...d39_gci1116203,00.html?track=NL-301&ad=525653

The "10 years" piece ought to be just about right. There is some initial resistance and I think in ten years, you will be seeing a lot more mixed Windows/Linux environments and a lot more Linux on the desktop.

 

This is all great stuff folks!

I'm going to sit down tonight and decide on what to do.

Really appreciate this and I will keep you all posted.

If I get many more good ideas, I may have to ask for more time for the presentation! Just kidding - I'm not keen on public speaking, although practice does help.

 

Something to think about though,

Although you may want to focus your presentation on one specific area I would start off by saying something along the lines of "There are many areas of technology which could affect the organisation over the next 10 years, such as ............., but I'd like to focus on........."

 

Agreed. We've thrown a lot of stuff at you but you can't present it all. Pick one topic you are really enthusiastic about and go for it.

 

Hehe, I love Spooks and conspiracy theories


- e-government
- Biometrics ie. iris scanning, security
- Wireless technology - threats to security, hacking
- IT department outsourced to India? (Hehe, can't imagine that happening to the government )

Umm...I'm not a hardware person, lets get onto the softer side of IT.

- Management of IT. Technology is always changing, a company shouldn't just jump on the bandwagon, they must make sure the technologies used will meet it's business objectives. IT governance.
- Change management. Not all end users will like the change, as some ppl will be resistant to change, there'll need to be training.
- Projects will need to be rolled out slowly. Back-up systems incase roll out fails, running things in parellel before switching over from the old system.
- Proper documentation and support.
- At the end of the day, it's the management of the new technology/project management that would cause the greatest impact to an organisation. eg. costs, project failures, efficiency etc

I know this is a bit off topic but Soft skills/personality -
- Customer relationship management. Being patient, polite and friendly even with difficult users.
- Ability to translate technical knowledge into simple terms for non-technical users to understand.
- Fast learner. Motivated. Not afraid to work hard.
- Good time management, planning and organisation
- Ability to work with others, team player
- Analytical, ability to look at the bigger picture as well as breaking down the problem
- Enjoy problem solving
- Proactive
- Flexible, adaptable, not afraid of change
- Good listener. Being able to put urself into other ppl's shoes and understand their point of view.
- Not give up when faced with problems
- Ability to prioritise your workload
- Motivation of self and others

Best of luck with the interview!

 

Definately gona need more time if you cover whats in sneezie's post!



Great things for you to think about tho!

 

I can't really add anything to what the others have
already said!

But there is some great information there and I
hope the interview goes very well for you!

 

Why not chip MP's like they do dogs?
That would make the whip's job easier as they would know when they had failed to vote. You could but a little detector in the benches.
It could also sound an alarm when one of them walked into a brothel or vanished behind a hedge with a schoolboy.
Or do things work differently in Scotland?

 

A bit late for this one but I think the biggest changes to come in the next 10 years is in the area of virtualisation.