In 2009, Laurah Hamandishe made a career move and joined TIS Holdings as Professional Assistant to the Chief Executive.
“The move into the IT sector alone was worth the change, if you ask me! But I remember very clearly looking at opportunities ahead of me as well,” explained Laurah.
As Professional Assistant, her duties, among others, included screening telephone calls, enquiries and requests, and handling them when appropriate; meeting and greeting visitors at all levels of seniority; organising and maintaining diaries and making appointments; dealing with incoming e-mail, faxes and post, often corresponding on behalf of their manager; carrying out background research and presenting findings; producing documents, briefing papers, reports and presentations; organising meetings and ensuring their manager is well-prepared for meetings; and liasing with clients, suppliers and other staff.
Dreaming big
“One of the things that I know is true about me is that I want to dream big in my job. I want to see the future and find ways to make it come to pass,” says Laurah.
She went on to work with project managers and gained project management experience through the process of co-ordinating information communication technology projects. “I was given the opportunity to manage aspects of the projects office, and in the process of doing that, I got the opportunity of co-ordinating the Information Technology Standardisation of Hardware project for one of our top clients”, beams Laurah.
The IT Standardisation of Hardware project was intended to simplify, consolidate and standardise the IT office automation requirements wherever possible.
Product knowledge
“The IT Standardisation project is really a huge step forward on my career path, as I am learning new and exciting things everyday in the world of information technology,” explains Laurah, adding that she received exposure on TIS Holdings services and products, including:
* Business Solutions
* ICT Consulting
* Forensic Audit
* IT Audit
* Training and Development
* Integrated E-business property solutions
* SAP HR
* Metricus
* Dell
* QPR
* Magix
“At TIS Holdings, we use a project management framework that is informed largely by the PMBOK and PRINCE2 methodologies, and we apply ITIL, Cobit, and Zachman Frameworks in most projects.”
To become better educated in project management, Laurah approached Damelin Randburg Campus and registered for the Project Management Diploma. As TIS Holdings is a Certified Gold Partner of Dell, she also had an opportunity to register for Dell product courses, which include:
* OptiPlex - office desktop computer systems
* Vostro - office/small business desktop and notebook systems
* Latitude - business-focused notebooks
* Precision - workstation systems and high-performance notebooks
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell - cite_note-29Power Edge business servers
* Equal Logic
Careers are like this - unpredictable.
“The position or division you start in is never your only option at TIS Holdings. The company thrives on integrating its employees and provides unprecedented growth opportunities. It's hard to exactly predict how the cards will be dealt. Sometimes it's a bit twisted in how it plays out. But being flexible is an important attribute. Here is where it's important to know what I'm all about. What is really important to me. What I want to get done.
“I particularly appreciate the creative atmosphere at TIS Holdings. Everyone is always thinking outside of the box. This is what distinguishes our company from all others. The fact that our Chief Executive, Terry Ramabulana, supports and mentors 'thinkers' in this company makes us all special,” explains Laurah.
“The truth is, I love my job! Not many people can say that, but I genuinely enjoy coming to work each day,” says Laurah, adding that TIS Holdings is a “promote from within” type of company and she is a prime example of that.
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