INTERVIEW OF A COMPUTER PROGRAMMER

Transcription

1 INTERVIEW OF A COMPUTER PROGRAMMER 1. Vocation: What is your job title/position/job description? Lead technical specialist/analysis/programmer (for a financial corporation). 2. Do you belong to a union? No, nor are there unions that I am aware of, though there are societies but I m not in any. 3. Describe your physical work environment. I work in a very messy cube with only two walls and thusly I stare at my work mates cubes, fortunately I like them. I formerly had a private cube but my department moved from a downtown business area to a suburban location. The building was formerly a customer service office that utilized these two-sided cubes. 4. Please describe a typical day (do you travel, hours you work, etc) I go in between 9:30 and 10:00 AM, unless there is an early morning meeting. I generally take my laptop home and I could work from home at least one day a week but I like having a separation between home and office. I may stop for coffee before arriving. I plug my laptop computer into the docking station at which point I check my and voic . Then I start coding away (programming). I might go to a meeting during the day, or answer the phone with questions but mostly I m programming. At noon I generally get lunch at the cafeteria and bring it back to my desk. I might go onto the Internet while I m eating lunch. I am scheduled for a 35-hour week, but I generally work 40 to 45 hours, though I am not paid overtime. During the day I am sometimes assigned work, which might be programming or design work. My code will be transferring millions of dollars in transactions throughout the day in mutual funds, stocks etc. At some point in the day I might have a meeting or a talk concerning projects. I leave for home between 6:00 and 6:30. I enjoy working independently. It s nice to be able to pound out code. 5. How does your profession affect your ability to live a healthy lifestyle (exercise, sleep, nutrition)? I don t think it does affect my ability to live a healthy lifestyle. I try to do stuff outside. I take the steps in my building instead of the elevator; I work on the Interview of a Computer Programmer.doc Page 1

2 eighth floor. The work cafeteria food selection is better than most places, a lot of healthy salads and soups. My on-call schedule does affect my sleep. One week a month I am on-call, from Sunday to Sunday. I might get a call at 3:00 AM and have to be on the phone for an hour with help desk questions. 6. Are there over the counter medications, alternative medications that are typically used in your profession (wt loss, tobacco, steroids, etc.)? No, except maybe caffeine 7. What are things that your friends find interesting about your profession? What type of questions do you get asked by the public? They joke around and ask me if I can transfer money into their accounts. 8. How did you get interested in your profession? By first developing other software I moved into financial software. I guess I started programming as a hobby and then in school (college). I didn t start by writing code for a financial institution. 9. What do you like most about your profession? That the machine doesn t talk back, doesn t bitch. By writing software I m in control of it. 10. What do you dislike most about your job? It s stressful and demanding with deadlines. Also I might have limited resources to control outside applications; for example if someone had written bad code and the program locks. 11. Educational Background 12. High School 13. Vocational School or College 14. Graduate School or Special Training I have an undergraduate degree in Information Systems (from Carnegie Mellon University). 15. How does one obtain a job in your profession? Interview of a Computer Programmer.doc Page 2

3 That is a Catch-22. In order to get a job you need experience and in order to get experience you need to have a job. For example, most ads for programming jobs state they are looking for three years experience writing code. Some people might get experience interning and then break into the field. Or you do something that gets you noticed and/or someone cuts you a break. 16. What previous positions have you had since you started this profession? Intermediate software developer and applications programmer 17. Can you get promoted? If so, to what position and how? Next step is management. 18. What are the "perks" of your job? Flexible schedule, discount or no load buying and selling stocks, employee stock purchase and funds 19. How do you get paid (contract, per mile, per hour, etc.)? How can you make more money? On salary and performance bonuses; yearly review and typically get a raise at that time. 20. What is the most stressful part of your job? Three people are looking for an answer to three different things at the same time and wanted it yesterday. Or on Monday morning a client has a bug in their program, or maybe their server is down. 21. What emotional problems are common in people in your profession? Stress related personal difficulties 22. What type of physical activity is required in your position? Very little, tapping on a keyboard, moving boxes of printer paper 23. What things happen that really make you angry? Dealing with crappy code because someone didn t care or didn t know any better. Or when the end user (of a program) won t give it up even though it s obsolete or the program had planned to be utilized only until a certain date at which time they refuse to give it up. Interview of a Computer Programmer.doc Page 3

4 24. What other professions do you work with, and how do they affect you (make your job easier or harder)? I work with technical writers on documentation, project managers on larger projects, data administrators on program structure, enterprise support services on hardware and Windows installation. I might work with the business unit on custom mutual fund relations or a trader s sale and the end client on their needs at different locations. I sometimes will do training, but only in rare instances such as one time when we were between hiring of trainers. 25. What "health risk" behaviors are common in your profession? (tobacco, alcohol, specific drugs, sex, stress, marital or family discord, etc.) Sitting for long periods, eye strain, carpal tunnel syndrome 26. How does your vocation affect the personal life of you or people you know? I hang out with a techie crowd. I m plugged in, with cell phone, several computers, TV s etc. 27. What activities and/or hobbies do people in your profession like to do? A lot that is technical in nature such as video games, software for themselves, on-line activities. 28. Are there any items of clothing, or props that someone portraying a person in your profession would use consistently? (Hats, keys, stuff you d keep in your pockets or bags, day planners, work boots, particular costume, or types of clothing ) No 29. If a person in your position were to get fired, what would they most likely have done to justify the termination and what would the steps involve? Do lay offs happen in your occupation? Someone might get fired if they consistently don t meet deadlines. Layoffs happen with downsizing, also it is common to retire a particular product and no longer need the support staff. 30. During all of these questions, listen for jargon used by the interviewee words they use that are lingo specific to their profession. Ask them to define those words if it is not clear to you. Interview of a Computer Programmer.doc Page 4

5 Application a particular use to which a program is applied, such as for compiling financial transactions. Bug A defect in a program Code A combination of words, characters and symbols recognized by the computer as instructions, also the process of translating instructions to computer code. Data Information as that processed by a computer Documentation Instructions for the loading and operation of a software program. Server A computer whose resources such as storage or printer are available to other terminals in a computer network. Software Any program that furnishes instructions to the computer Interview of a Computer Programmer.doc Page 5

6 Computer Programmer Vocational History Interview Evaluation Form This evaluation will help guide future development of this project. Please fill this out and return once you have finished the case. 1. How useful was this case template? Not at all Extremely useful Comment: 2. Did this template make your case better? Yes/No if yes, how? 3. Did this template save you time? Yes/No if yes, approximately how much time did it save you? 4. What suggestions do you have for improving this template? 5. What other occupations would be useful? 6. What suggestions do you have for this website? Please fill out and return to the UPSOM Advanced Clinical Education Center. Fax number: (412) acec@medschool.pitt.edu Interview of a Computer Programmer.doc Page 6