A day in life of a software engineer

What is your occupation/job title?

Software Engineer / CMO (Chief Morale Officer -- I was made that by my coworkers back in March or so.)



Are you self-employed?

Nope.

What is your background? What types of degrees, skills, experiences are necessary for this field?

I have a computer science degree and a religious studies degree... but I don't use religious studies very much :) I held internships at Excite, Microsoft, and two start-ups before working at NBCi. I also worked in the computer lab on campus at UCSB while in school, doing IS for the Humanities faculty. I think that it is REALLY important to do a lot of interning during college in order to be a good software engineer, because it gives you an opportunity to find the right area to work in once you graduate. I also think that my double major gave me a head start, as I can communicate better than the average engineer with product people.

How did you get started in this field?

My dad got a free Apple IIe from the credit card company once and I started doing BASIC. But the real reason I ever got into computers is because of my dad's obsession with technology and gadgets, which he passed on to me. :) I used to sit and watch him and his friend build computers, or watch him take apart and repair stereo equipment, etc. Then, when something of mine broke, I would try to fix it myself. The Apple we had got me onto lots of BBSs, which were, in some ways, the precurser to using the Internet.

In terms of jobs, I got started in the computer field working for a company (which has since folded) as a QA engineer. Many of my friends worked at the company, which is probably one reason I got hired :)

What college (if any) courses have been most helpful for your career?

I think that my OS and compiler courses were invaluable, because they forced me to complete really big projects by myself, which both made me more familiar with the process and also made my programming skills a lot stronger. They also made me have more faith in myself as a programmer.

What are your specific responsibilities?

I am in charge of the site-wide registration system, including registration with partners and projects which require a registration aspect (like the Saturday Night Movie, Hecuba's Mirror, or Project Mir -- all NBC-related projects). I also work on other projects that require application engineering.

Describe a typical workday and workweek. What do you do during a typical day?

I usually get up around 8 and check my email first thing. (Oh, the life of an addict.) I get to work at 10ish and spend the day in meetings with partners and product people, working on my current projects, and fixing bugs on the site. I often spend some time helping other people in my group (or other groups) learn our technologies. If there is a release going out, I tend to stay late, since we put releases up when traffic is lower (and that's usually later in the day).

Name 5-7 job skills that are needed for your job.

1. Engineering ability. It's not important that you know the exact language right away, if you can design your code well.

2. Communication skills. Often, I have to translate something technical to people who do not understand technical jargon. Other times, I might have to explain to a partner how to use our specific technologies. It's important to understand what someone is asking you and be willing to help them.

3. Patience, mostly for the reasons listed in #2. :)

4. More patience. Sometimes you will work with people who don't understand your needs or what you are trying to say.

5. Flexibility. Often, I will have to work on things that I have never seen before, simply because there is no one more qualified to do the work. Or, I will have to do someone else's job for them in order to continue working on my project, because they are overwhelmed.

Are you in a team oriented position?

Yes. I work with other engineers as well as project and product people.

Do you have flextime? Vacation time? Work at home? Telecommute?

I can work from home, but they don't encourage it, since that makes it harder for other engineers and product/project people to get in touch with you. Thus, I usually only telecommute a few days a month (if I'm waiting for something, like a repair guy, or I am sick).

How many hours per week are expected or warranted for peak performance?

We are judged by our output, not by our hours. If I get my projects in early or on time, then I'm golden.

Are many evenings or weekends required for your job?

Only those when I am doing a high-traffic release; that is, a release which requires that traffic on the site be low in order to not disrupt service. As this is a rarity, I usually don't work weekends.

How much travel is involved with a job in your field?

None.

Could you give me examples of projects that you are working on?

I recently completed a project that set a cookie using Javascript which is then grabbed and expired by a nsapi module; the data is used to see how far people make it on the registration page before they decide that they don't want to register anymore. It doesn't grab any information from what they've typed in -- it just notes whether or not they actually edited a field. The results from this are then parsed and a report is created which will help us decide how to shorten the page.

Could you describe your work settings? Offices, machinery, resources etc.

We work in cubes which have certain windows removed so the office feels more open. I personally have a Ultra 10 and an NT machine.

What aspects of your job do you find most rewarding (pros) ? Least rewarding? (cons)

I like that my projects are seen and used by millions of people. However, at times I find it frustrating to wait on the "project queue" in order to work on things which I find interesting. Also, the people here are fantastic -- I really like my coworkers.

Are you confronted with difficult decisions or situations in your position?

Yes, and I am trusted to make the right decision.

What is the Female to Male Ratio in your position/field?

In my specific group, there are three people, and I am the only woman. As far as our company... if I do a search for "software engineer" in our company address book, there are 4 women listed and 33 men. (This is not an actual count... the address book is outdated. But, up that on a larger scale, and it's still the same ratio.)

Describe the changes taking place in your field. Project future trends? Turnover rate?

Turnover rate these days in the portal world is huge. Just last week, we laid off 150 people, many of whom were engineers; Go.com was just re-absorbed; Excite@Home had layoffs as well. I think it's a combination of advertisers backing out and people worrying about Internet companies that don't have a hard income. However, it's always hard to know exactly where this field is headed... it's been surprising too many times. :)

Do you think women avoid technical careers? What do you think can be done to encourage girls to get more involved in the technology field?

No, I don't. I just think that many women -- at least, those I went to college with -- aren't interested in "spending days upon days in front of a computer." I certainly don't do that, so I think that part of the problem is a misconception about what being an engineer means. I also think that another issue is how women are brought up -- I certainly do not recall seeing many girls my age playing video games, the way that boys did. As technology becomes equally engrained in everyone's lives, though, I think that more women will naturally flow into this field.

Do you believe that women will be in more technical jobs in the future?

Hopefully! Women can do whatever they want. I don't see a difference between women and men as far as technical ability is concerned; it is just the question of more women desiring technical jobs. I mean, they can get 'em if they try :)

Do you have any advice for women and girls that are interested in going into the field?

Make sure to take many internships during summers. DO NOT force yourself through school by working through the summer -- it is a lot better for your resume and your ability to actually work in the real world over the summer. Sometimes it is easier to find an internship via people you know at a certain company; other times, having a mentor is helpfu