Kids & Careers!
Who would you like to meet? • James: a firefighter engineer • Ian: a provincial police officer • Scott: a county police officer • Sean: a city planner • Dave: a senior software engineer • Kathy: a customs manager • Rosie: an international sales manager • David: a process engineer • Drew: a school department head • John: a director of computer services • Steve: a paramedic • Amy: a physical therapist Kidsnewsroom would like you to meet Dave! Below are the questions (Q.)we asked about his career and the answers (A.) he gave us! Q. How old are you? A. I'm 34. Q. In what city do you work? A. I work in Herndon, Virginia. Q. What type of company do you work for? A. I work for an Internet company. Q. What is your job title? A. I am a senior software engineer. Q. At what times does your work day begin and end? A. I work from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm. Q. How many days per week do you work? A. I work five days per week, Monday through Friday. Q. What is your office like? A. I have an office that is shared with one other person. Q. What kind of clothes do you wear to work? A. I usually wear what is considered "business casual" clothing, like khakis and a polo shirt. Sometimes I wear jeans. Q. Who do you work with? A. I often work with a team of engineers, 2-5 people. Q. Tell us about your education and how it has prepared you for this job. A. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. Currently, I'm pursuing a master's degree in Computer Science. The bottom line is that you can never have too much education. Q. What should a kid do NOW to prepare for your kind of job in the future? A. Do stay in school! Do your homework! Don't do drugs! Q. Do you have any other advice for kids who are thinking about having your type of career? A. As strange as it may sound, learn to type. Learn to type quickly and accurately. Learn to communicate by e-mail. Be brief and concise. Read books on computer programming, the Internet, and software engineering. Q. What skills or subjects are important to your job? A. I would say that math, computers and communication are the most important. Q. What are the top ten things that you normally do at work each day? A. 1. Read and write e-mails. 2. Solve software problems. 3. Design new software. This means planning what the software will do and how it will work. 4. Write the code (in a programming language) to make the software work. 5. Write software documentation. This is like writing a book that explains how the software is designed, how it works, and how it should be used. 6. Test new software. 7. Attend meetings. 8. That's 9. about 10. it! Thanks, Dave! It was nice getting to know you!