Get to know some of our talented authors featured in our author spotlights. Here you can see interviews, detailed biographies, and book summaries of some of the best in the industry.
HENNELLY: I have been working in the IT industry for 18 years - the last 10 of which have revolved around Crystal Reports and Crystal Enterprise with a huge variety of roles. For the last 5 years I have worked as an independant consultant helping my customers design Crystal Reports. I also provide training which is what I love to do. I tech edit books and develop training manuals. Outside of work my biggest joy is my family. I have 3 boys 5 and under so am kept very busy. My web site is www.hennelly.com.
HENNELLY: When I first worked with Crystal Decisions now Business Objects I ran their Professional Services department. One of the toughest parts of the interview was assessing technical competence. I enjoy thinking of creative ways to test technical competence and of course that was a key part in writing these tests.
HENNELLY: I enjoyed developing the advanced questions as that required major brain power. I also liked the team that edited the questions (grammar is not my strong point) and the validators who challenged me on more than one occasion.
HENNELLY: In 1994 I set up the Professional Services division of what was then Seagate Software and is now Business Objects. When I started with the company myself and one other were the trainers, consultants, training manual authors etc. Within 18 months we had over 50 certified Partners throughout the US delivering Crystal Reports training. At our first ever Partner conference it was so rewarding to look into a sea of faces all of whom were delivering training. Now 10 years later I am still in touch with many of the Partners and receive referralss from many of them.
HENNELLY: The most effective way to learn Crystal Reports (or any reporting tool) is to attend training and then get as much hands on as possible. The toughest part of Crystal Reports is keeping up with the latest and greatest. Everytime you find a work around for a limitation in the product you often find a feature that helps in the next release.
HENNELLY: ReviewNet plays a very important role in the hiring process. One of the biggest challenges is the number of resumes that arrive when a job is posted. You can not personally interview everyone so how wonderful to be able to do a screening on technical competency. Of course that is not the most important aspect but at least could help in the first couple of screenings.
HENNELLY: I designed the test with some in-depth questions that really tested the technical knowledge of the person attending the test. I tested on techniques that are not in user manuals and so would only be known by someone who has used the product as opposed to someone who has just read a manual.
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