What does an IT professional do?
Summarized below is my interview with an IT professional conducted on December 3rd, 2020. For privacy reasons, they have asked that I keep their answers anonymous. Henceforth, I will refer to them as “interviewee”:
Interview
Question: Please tell us about your work. What exactly do you do?
Answer: I work in an IT company that develops software for financial service providers.
Q: Please tell us about the industry you work in.
A: I am working in the financial industry, specifically it has to do with securities, loans, and financing.
Q: What other kinds of work do you have to do?
A: We have to take care of the legal requirements and guidelines to work in compliance with customers’ security and the law.
Q: Who are all the different people you interact with in your work? Please tell us about them.
A: I work with other software developers, project managers, supervisors, and the company’s customers.
Q: Please tell us about your interactions with other IT professionals.
A: I interact with other IT professionals via email, phone, and video conferencing.
Q: What about your interactions with clients or investors?
A: We also communicate via the same channels (as described in previous answer).
Q: What aspects of your work do you spend most time on?
A: I spend most of my time on coding and writing documentation.
Q: Which aspects of your work do you find most challenging?
A: Learning and working with complex IT systems created by other developers is the most challenging aspect of my work.
Q: Finally, can you share an example of the work you do that best captures the essence of the IT industry?
A: I am managing and developing an online brokerage software.
Summary
IT is an integral part of the modern world and IT professionals have the opportunity to work in a variety of industries. There is a lot of flexibility in IT career choice. In our case, the interviewee is working in the financial sector developing software solutions for financial service providers. I learnt from this interview that IT work is not strictly about coding, as communication with the clients and other professionals from different field is crucial to the success of a product. In this case, software documentation is one of the ways IT professionals communicate when working on a complex project. In retrospect, I found that although it can be difficult and time-consuming, reading documentation and learning to work with systems designed by others is equally as important as programming when working as an IT professional.
Author
Michael Tuong Minh Vo
I made my first game when I was 12 and was hooked in game development ever since. My specialization is in 2D/2.5D pixel art games and I hope to connect people of different cultures and backgrounds via novel and adventurous ideas and projects.
Fueled by tea and cat cuddles.
Contact me via my email