4 answers
Yeoeun
Student
Canton, Georgia
2
Questions
Asked
1265 views
About Computer and Information Systems Managers
Hi I have some questions about Computer and Information Systems Managers.
1. What is your favorite/least favorite part of this job?
2. How long do you work each day?
3. What is the most difficult part of your job?
4. Have you been working from home after Corona started? Or did you go to work?
5. After graduating college, do I need to go through another course to get this job?
4 answers
Joe Gulley
Lead Software Developer
3
Answers
Vancouver, Washington
Updated
Joe’s Answer
1. What is your favorite/least favorite part of this job?
I lead a small team of software developers and analysts, and my favorite part of the job is guiding their development and helping them grow and learn more in their job and field of expertise. My least favorite part would be the administrative type things, however even that isn't too bad; for instance writing up things like goals can feed into what I like to do, even if I may struggle with it at times.
2. How long do you work each day?
I work a fairly typical 8 hour day, 5 days a week. I do put in extra time now and again, but its mostly my choice to do so.
3. What is the most difficult part of your job?
Incident reports tend to be my biggest pain point; on the rare occasion something goes wrong, everyone wants to know everything, and trying to give sufficient detail while making something extremely technical not technical at all can be a chore. But even this is a skill that can be developed over time.
4. Have you been working from home after Corona started? Or did you go to work?
I was very fortunate with my company that they had started a work from home program years before COVID hit, after all there is a very real and large cost associated with keeping bodies in a building. We had annual meetings at one of our offices (we are spread out coast to coast) pre-covid, but I suspect that won't continue, at least not any time soon.
5. After graduating college, do I need to go through another course to get this job?
Honestly it depends on your degree and the job your looking at. Having a degree, especially if it is an IT management focused degree or you can show the hiring department the management / leadership courses taken, then it will help a lot. The biggest thing I have found is that having people management experience in any way, shape or form is a big plus and can give you an edge over others, but to answer your question directly, nothing additional should be directly needed to get started out of college.
I lead a small team of software developers and analysts, and my favorite part of the job is guiding their development and helping them grow and learn more in their job and field of expertise. My least favorite part would be the administrative type things, however even that isn't too bad; for instance writing up things like goals can feed into what I like to do, even if I may struggle with it at times.
2. How long do you work each day?
I work a fairly typical 8 hour day, 5 days a week. I do put in extra time now and again, but its mostly my choice to do so.
3. What is the most difficult part of your job?
Incident reports tend to be my biggest pain point; on the rare occasion something goes wrong, everyone wants to know everything, and trying to give sufficient detail while making something extremely technical not technical at all can be a chore. But even this is a skill that can be developed over time.
4. Have you been working from home after Corona started? Or did you go to work?
I was very fortunate with my company that they had started a work from home program years before COVID hit, after all there is a very real and large cost associated with keeping bodies in a building. We had annual meetings at one of our offices (we are spread out coast to coast) pre-covid, but I suspect that won't continue, at least not any time soon.
5. After graduating college, do I need to go through another course to get this job?
Honestly it depends on your degree and the job your looking at. Having a degree, especially if it is an IT management focused degree or you can show the hiring department the management / leadership courses taken, then it will help a lot. The biggest thing I have found is that having people management experience in any way, shape or form is a big plus and can give you an edge over others, but to answer your question directly, nothing additional should be directly needed to get started out of college.
Chandler Archuleta
Engineering Manager
14
Answers
Baltimore, Maryland
Updated
Chandler’s Answer
1. What is your favorite/least favorite part of this job?
My favorite part is solving problems. In this job you get to go all the way from problem definition through customer feedback.
My least favorite part is waiting for tests, scans, diagnostics, or other computer routines to run. I just want to get to the answer faster!
2. How long do you work each day?
I work 9 hours a day to get every other Friday off. This work is flexible so sometimes I only work 6 hours if I'm bored or 11 hours if working on something cool I can't leave.
3. What is the most difficult part of your job?
The most difficult part of the job is negotiating mitigations. It is also the most rewarding once you get good at it.
4. Have you been working from home after Corona started? Or did you go to work?
I have been doing both. Some work has to be done in the office and al lot of it can be done from home.
5. After graduating college, do I need to go through another course to get this job?
You do not need to go through another course after college to get this job.
My favorite part is solving problems. In this job you get to go all the way from problem definition through customer feedback.
My least favorite part is waiting for tests, scans, diagnostics, or other computer routines to run. I just want to get to the answer faster!
2. How long do you work each day?
I work 9 hours a day to get every other Friday off. This work is flexible so sometimes I only work 6 hours if I'm bored or 11 hours if working on something cool I can't leave.
3. What is the most difficult part of your job?
The most difficult part of the job is negotiating mitigations. It is also the most rewarding once you get good at it.
4. Have you been working from home after Corona started? Or did you go to work?
I have been doing both. Some work has to be done in the office and al lot of it can be done from home.
5. After graduating college, do I need to go through another course to get this job?
You do not need to go through another course after college to get this job.
Thank you, this is really helpful.
Yeoeun
Steve Nikolovski
Business Intelligence Tools Manager
10
Answers
Austin, Texas
Updated
Steve’s Answer
1. What is your favorite/least favorite part of this job? The favorite part is definitely "change". I enjoy solving problems and you will certainly have plenty of problems to solve! :) The least favorite part of my job is when you are a manager you often have administration responsibilities that can take up quite a bit of time. You can't always be in the weeds solving problems and helping users like back in the days of being a programmer.
2. How long do you work each day? Usually 9 hours a day, occasionally weekends during installations and special testing.
3. What is the most difficult part of your job? It is very difficult to address every system issue with a small staff. Knowing "what" to work on each hour is very important and can be challenging. I always try to ask users and management about priorities so I make sure the correct problem is being addressed. Also, telling users and management we can't address your issue at this time or will not meet a deadline can be difficult but it happens.
4. Have you been working from home after Corona started? Or did you go to work? I have worked from home over 10 years. Like everything there are pluses and minuses. For me, I definitely put in longer hours at home but I also enjoy my freedom at home regarding dress code and of course no commute. I often do miss my friends at the office which can sometimes help with stressful days.
5. After graduating college, do I need to go through another course to get this job? Not necessarily but I would read business journals, etc. on what to expect. Nothing beats real life experience and that just takes time to learn from your successes and failures.
2. How long do you work each day? Usually 9 hours a day, occasionally weekends during installations and special testing.
3. What is the most difficult part of your job? It is very difficult to address every system issue with a small staff. Knowing "what" to work on each hour is very important and can be challenging. I always try to ask users and management about priorities so I make sure the correct problem is being addressed. Also, telling users and management we can't address your issue at this time or will not meet a deadline can be difficult but it happens.
4. Have you been working from home after Corona started? Or did you go to work? I have worked from home over 10 years. Like everything there are pluses and minuses. For me, I definitely put in longer hours at home but I also enjoy my freedom at home regarding dress code and of course no commute. I often do miss my friends at the office which can sometimes help with stressful days.
5. After graduating college, do I need to go through another course to get this job? Not necessarily but I would read business journals, etc. on what to expect. Nothing beats real life experience and that just takes time to learn from your successes and failures.
Todd Sexton
Engineering Manager
2
Answers
San Jose, California
Updated
Todd’s Answer
Hi Yeoeun,
You'll find a lot of variety in the field of IT/Computer Science/MIS, it's a great path to go down with a lot of opportunities. I am in the field of implementing Enterprise Software applications (think Salesforce and SAP), so my experience reflects working in these areas and may be very different from other Computer/IS careers.
1. What is your favorite/least favorite part of this job?
My favorite part of working in this field are the problem solving aspects of the work. Having a naturally curious and diligent mindset really pays dividends, as it helps you uncover problems and come up with new ideas and creative solutions. Depending on your role you also might interact with a wide variety of people, or you might usually only interact with a core group of people, so there are options for both introverts and extroverts to find an environment that they will find fulfilling. At the end of the day, the people that you work with make all the difference in your enjoyment of your job/career.
My least favorite part of my job tend to be administrative aspects which you will probably find in any career. Many meetings can also become tiresome and reduce your productivity.
2. How long do you work each day?
Most days it's about 8-10 hours, but may be spread out throughout the day. It is really common in this field to work with colleagues around the world, so you may find yourself in meetings early in the morning or later at night to connect with all the people you need to. Again this depends on the specific job path you go down, but especially if you get involved with software development I would expect do some night time meetings.
3. What is the most difficult part of your job?
Time management and prioritization
Getting people on the same page for complex requirements or problems
I would say that dealing with the toughest parts of the job don't tend to be technical (eventually you learn enough to routinely solve tough problems), but rather "soft skills" like communicating effectively and with influence and making sure that you are putting your time into the right things.
4. Have you been working from home after Corona started? Or did you go to work?
I and the majority of people in my company have been remote since Covid started; we are slowly transitioning to a hybrid working model with some office days and some work from home days.
5. After graduating college, do I need to go through another course to get this job?
It really depends as this is a very broad field; my recommendation, look for internships to get your foot in the door and start to build networks. Don't be afraid to apply for jobs/roles that seem outside of your background. Most entry-level positions require a 4 year Bachelors degree, and Masters Degree will certainly help but isn't strictly necessary.
You'll find a lot of variety in the field of IT/Computer Science/MIS, it's a great path to go down with a lot of opportunities. I am in the field of implementing Enterprise Software applications (think Salesforce and SAP), so my experience reflects working in these areas and may be very different from other Computer/IS careers.
1. What is your favorite/least favorite part of this job?
My favorite part of working in this field are the problem solving aspects of the work. Having a naturally curious and diligent mindset really pays dividends, as it helps you uncover problems and come up with new ideas and creative solutions. Depending on your role you also might interact with a wide variety of people, or you might usually only interact with a core group of people, so there are options for both introverts and extroverts to find an environment that they will find fulfilling. At the end of the day, the people that you work with make all the difference in your enjoyment of your job/career.
My least favorite part of my job tend to be administrative aspects which you will probably find in any career. Many meetings can also become tiresome and reduce your productivity.
2. How long do you work each day?
Most days it's about 8-10 hours, but may be spread out throughout the day. It is really common in this field to work with colleagues around the world, so you may find yourself in meetings early in the morning or later at night to connect with all the people you need to. Again this depends on the specific job path you go down, but especially if you get involved with software development I would expect do some night time meetings.
3. What is the most difficult part of your job?
Time management and prioritization
Getting people on the same page for complex requirements or problems
I would say that dealing with the toughest parts of the job don't tend to be technical (eventually you learn enough to routinely solve tough problems), but rather "soft skills" like communicating effectively and with influence and making sure that you are putting your time into the right things.
4. Have you been working from home after Corona started? Or did you go to work?
I and the majority of people in my company have been remote since Covid started; we are slowly transitioning to a hybrid working model with some office days and some work from home days.
5. After graduating college, do I need to go through another course to get this job?
It really depends as this is a very broad field; my recommendation, look for internships to get your foot in the door and start to build networks. Don't be afraid to apply for jobs/roles that seem outside of your background. Most entry-level positions require a 4 year Bachelors degree, and Masters Degree will certainly help but isn't strictly necessary.
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