Summary of an Informational Interview with a Software Developer - Paper Example

Introduction

I interviewed Pascal, who has been a family friend for a long time. Pascal works as a software developer in a healthcare organization that mainly focuses on improving healthcare quality and service delivery within society. Based on the interview, software developers are the brainstorming and creative mastermind behind various mobile phones and computer programs or applications. Since a system developer's work is customer-oriented, they are required to understand the needs of the user, develop effective software solutions, modify the application or program as required, and monitor the general performance to ensure that it is functioning effectively.

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To ensure service delivery effectiveness, a system developer can decide to major either as a system software developer or an application software developer. Pascal has majored in system software development due to his interest in identifying, analyzing, and solving the problems affecting a large group of people. For instance, he helps in improving the nature of service delivery in various healthcare facilities. The according to the interview, the system software developers are the individuals who mainly focus on operating the systems-level software, the network distribution software, and the compilers. The system software developers are mainly focused on designing and developing various solutions, particularly for enterprise companies. For instance, they are developing various software for industrial, medical, or business applications. However, the application software developers are the individuals who design and develop various mobile or computer applications such as the games application. In most cases, they either create custom software for specific customers or commercial software sold to the entire public.

The Good things I learned about the Profession from the Interview.

The Skills are Portable and Transferable.

As a system developer, one tends to learn a lot of skills, such as the software tool and the programming language. However, one of the essential things to note in this profession is that most of these skills are universal and transferable to other institutions or organizations in different parts of the world. Therefore considering that all software developers across the globe operate on the same basis, they can easily move or relocate to a new country, field, or company and still have the skills necessary to find a job. Switching from one company to the other without any challenges also enables the system developers to get a salary increase.

One Tends to Work in a Comfortable Working Environment

Most of the system developers usually work or operate in an extremely comfortable environment whereby they have access to the best services, such as fast internet connections, comfortable chairs, and air-conditioned offices. The developers usually do not have to be concerned about the harsh or tough weather conditions outside, such as heavy rainfall, cold or hot weather, or hailstorms, since they cannot affect their work. The provision of a comfortable working environment for the system developers has played a key role in improving the developers' quality of services and products. According to Pascal, the system developers who work in a comfortable environment are likely to perform better than the system developers exposed to tough environmental conditions. This is mainly because providing this comfortable environment enables the worker to feel relaxed and focus more on the given work.

The System Developers Can Work From Anywhere

Although the system developer job involves sitting and staring at the computer for long hours, the employer may allow the system developers to work from anywhere they feel comfortable operating effectively. In most cases, all the system developer needs is an internet connection and a computer. This freedom and flexibility enable the developers to control their selves, thus delivering quality results compared to other professions where workers are constantly on the watch by the management.

The System Developers Get a Good Salary

The system developers usually gate a higher pay compared to other IT professions. According to the interview, an inexperienced software developer's average salary is expected to higher than that of other inexperienced professions such as teaching. However, the high salary tends to attract more individuals to purses the course, thus, creating competition. Therefore whenever people decide to pursue a career in this field, they should expect huge returns as long as they have the needed skills and capabilities.

The Bad Things about the Profession

It is a Very Competitive Job

The current technological innovation and development have enticed more people across the globe to pursue the system development course with the hope of being involved in this field's growth. This has created huge competition in this field since many people are willing to work at a minimal wage. Also, considering that people are living in a world that is well connected through various media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and emails, people can easily identify and compete for any available system software developer job. With such a huge competition in this field, most employers usually focus on hiring or outsourcing the cheapest labor force. For instance, most system developers and organizations have been hiring IT experts from low-income countries since they are able to do the same job at a very cheap rate compared to the workers from the United States. Although this tends to be a huge advantage to the organization since they are able to gain huge revenues, the rate of unemployment of the American IT expects tends to increase significantly.

The Profession Involves Too Much Sitting and Engaging in Bad Lifestyle Habits.

When working as a system developer, one has to sit and stare at the computer throughout the entire working time or working hours. This tends to be a risky habit since it causes various body complications such as eye complications and increased body weight. Considering the nature of the work and the amount of time spent on accomplishing the needed objectives, most system developers usually go home feeling while exhausted, thus making it hard for them to attend gym classes. The system developers are even forced to sacrifice their personal time and social life in order to deliver the expected results on time. For instance, the system developers may decide to work during the weekend instead of going out with friends to accomplish the set goals and avoid losing work. After a long tiresome day, most system developers find it hardtop to cook their own meals; therefore, they are forced to consume snacks and fast food, which exposes their body to other health complications such as obesity and cardiovascular diseases.

You Have to Improve Your System Development Skills Continuously.

Currently, technology is changing or evolving at a tremendous rate across the globe. Every day, there are new innovations and enhancements that every system developer is expected to be aware of in order to feet effectively in this field. Therefore every system developer should keep him or herself active by updating himself on the new issues or risk being left behind in this race. The system developer's mind should also learn to adapt to new things to avoid losing their current jobs to other competitive individuals across the globe.

Age Discrimination

Currently, age discrimination cases have been on the increase in the IT field; this is mainly because most employers tend to think that old people may not be able to deliver quality work or perform well compared to the young people who are hired immediately after finishing their bachelor's degree. Therefore most employers tend to give the young system developers the first priority since they usually believe that they have a fresh mind that is able to learn new things and solve any new system development tricks and puzzles. The employers also tend to hire young system developers since they are less expensive than the old experienced system developers.

Determining Whether This Profession Will Be Good For Me.

According to the interview, I feel that this would be a good field or profession for me to pursue despite it having several challenges. Some of the reasons why I find this field fit for me include, first, my interest and goals. It has always been my dream to work in a flexible profession where one can work in different companies, fields, or countries without having to acquire new skills. These interests are mainly motivated by my wish to explore and interact with different people and share different ideas concerning the profession in order to remain updated on the new innovations and technologies across the globe.

Secondly, the profession does not need huge qualifications. To be a qualified system developer, I only need to have achieved a bachelor's degree in either software engineering, computer science, or any other related field. The system developers do not also need to have experience in a related field to get employed. After employment, the employer only conducts on-job training for the workers to ensure that they are aware of the organization's objective and vision. This is mainly caused by the huge competition in the field, and the employers need to hire a cheap labor force. The system developers are not also required to be a member of any professional body or organization in order to prove that they are qualified and fit for the job. Therefore when hiring, the employer only focuses on the worker's skills and competence.

Thirdly, jobs are readily available. Currently, the system developers have been on high demand, mainly due to the constant technological innovations and developments that are occurring across the globe. Both the private and commercial consumers are always in need of new systems and programs that are aimed at improving service delivery. Although the profession is very competitive, it is easy to find a job since different organizations across the globe are always advertising the vacancies on different media platforms. It is also easy for me to get employed in another country since the skills needed in this profession as similar regardless of the institution or location of the organization.