Gwendolyn E. Smith

July 10, 2000

Interview

The job I ultimately aspire to as a professional position is a computer programmer. From what I've read and heard about this profession, it impressed me to the point that I too shall become a computer programmer.

I interviewed two individuals who studied in the computer field, Computer Science. They both chose different areas of the field to work in.

My interview with Monica Porunoza, took place on July 4, 2000, at her home. Monica works for Bank of America in Richmond, Virginia in the Technology Center East Department. Troubleshooters and Support Analyst make up the department. She's a first level support analyst whose duties are troubleshooting all main frame applications. Her primary responsibility is to help her clients with software applications problems.

Listening is a very important requirement in her job. Being a first level support analyst, clients call her when they can't rectify certain situations. She must hear and understand their problems so she can direct them the proper way to rectify the dilemma they have encountered without causing more problems. For example a clients terminal light indicator is illuminated showing that the terminal is on, but the screen is blank and the client doesn't know the terminal identification number. She instructs the client to turn off the terminal, unplug the coax cable from the back of the terminal and let it stay off for 20 seconds. The purpose is to reset the terminal, which is like rebooting a PC. When the terminal is turned back on the identification number should appear. Once the client gives her the identification number she inputs it into a system called Netview allowing her to clear their system, shutting down all applications they were working on. The client is then able to start their applications again. All hardware problems are dispatched to field technicians who go to the location to rectify all problems the client has encountered. Oral communication skills, speaking clear and accurate is essential so the client understands what they are being instructed to do.

Bank of America has a web page that she uses for various troubleshooting procedures. E-mail and Lotus notes are used for communication from supervisor to worker for notes and bulletin board announcements.

My second interview was with Judith Patterson, which took place at my home on July 5, 2000. Judith works as a programmer for CSC who is contractors for NASA.

Listening is essential in programming, because her clients talk to her about their specifications of the tasks they need done. When her clients request a report they go over in detail how the layout should be. Oral communication must be clear for understanding of each other. It's also a plus for her and the client to relate. She keeps constant contact with the client to let them know the status and progression of the task. Discussing all changes and presentations are done on both sides with the client stating their expectations and her, the programmer, upon completion of the task. There are group presentations that take place with the engineers that are involved with that particular task.

She has written a user document guide for a utility library. This contains procedures and programs to help users analyze their programs. She maintains, edits, and updates indexes, which is one of the utilities in the library.

Computer usage among the workers at CSC involves e-mail, sending and receiving files through a modem. She's worked with Word Perfect, Lotus and Excel for spreadsheets. Documents are stored on floppy 3.5 and hard drive.

I enjoyed the interviews with Monica and Judith. There's an abundance of rewarding challenges in the field of computers with many avenues to venture down. I'm greatly impressed with the computer field, and I shall give it my all to become one of the best computer programmers of today.

Work Cited