1. What do you do for a living?
I'm a senior consultant at The Turner Stephenson Group, Inc., a computer consulting firm in Columbia, MO. My duties include server setup/maintenance/administration, network administration, programming (C#, Visual Basic, C++ and a little bit of Perl), managing three people. I also do software architecture for distributed systems.
I have a few sort-of other jobs. I sometimes fix people's computers for cash, especially when I need it. I'm trying to get a book published, too (not sure how much I can talk about that publically until I have an actual contract to read).
2. What do you like most about your job?
Most of it. :-) I really enjoy the process of designing a distributed n-tier system, putting together an architecture, and working with the junior programmers to implement it from the ground up (read: servers, databases, business logic layers, presentation logic, testing). It's very detailed work, but it is satisfying to start with the blueprints and come out with a working project.
I was really happy to see some software I wrote on TV the other day, as well as find it talked about in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
3. What do you like least about your job?
Occasional late paychecks, neurotic clients, and having to remember to keep my employees busy rather than just trying to do everything myself (all the while trying not to micromanage too much, nor let it go too much). In other words, I love the technical aspects of the job, but the human aspects need work!
4. When you have a bad day at work it's usually because...
Sometimes paychecks are late, and that can ruin a day. Sometimes something that used to work fine breaks, usually because someone finds something I'd never thought of - so I spend hours fixing a program so that it will do something it was never intended to. That can be challenging (and enjoyable), but it can also be so exhausting/frustrating that I just want to kill people. Usually, though, bad days are a result of clients who don't know much about PCs doing something dumb!
5. What other career(s) are you intereted in?
I'd consider moving completely into programming, since it is definitely my favourite part of working with TSG. I'd actually consider a demotion if it meant that I didn't have to be a manager as well! If I were to quit the computer industry (which, it has to be said, would be a very cold day in hell), i'd either go into International Law, Academe, or a political-defense related job.
Mood: happy
Music: None
