Mr.

Mccurry,
Thankyouforbeingabletohelpout.
1. Whatdoyoudotostayupdatedoreducatedinyourfield?
2. Whatskillsetdoessomeoneinyourfieldneed?
3. Doyouworkmanyhoursathome/offhours?
4. Howhasthegrowthoftechnologychangedyourfield?
5. Whatisyourfavoritepartofyourcareer?
6. Whatcansomeoneexpecttomake,startingout,inyourfieldofwork?
7. Whatisanaveragedaylike?
8. Whatarethedownsidesofyourcareer?
9. Whatrecommendationsoradvicedoyouhaveforsomeonestartingoffinyourfield?
Thankssomuch!,
MicahThomas
RESPONSE
GladthatIcouldhelpout.Myanswersarebelow.Goodluckonyourpaperandletmeknowif
youneedanythingelse.

1. Whatdoyoudotostayupdatedoreducatedinyourfield?
TrynewthingsanduseGoogle.ImaintainavirtualmachineserverandaMSDNsubscription
sothatIcanpracticeandexperimentwithoutbreakingproductionsystems.IuseGoogleasmy
referencelibraryasanypublication,printedorelectronic,isoutofdateassoonasitisreleased.
Mostofmyanswerscomefromreports,postings,andblogpostsofpeoplejustlikemewho

experienceaproblem,solveitthroughtrialanderror,anddocumenttheresults.Allwithout
havingtowaitonapublisher.

2. Whatskillsetdoessomeoneinyourfieldneed?
Themostimportantskillsetsthatsomeoneinmyfieldneedsarecommunications,business,and
programming.Manypeopleinmyfieldfocusonobtainingthetechnologyskillsthemselvesin
college,butIbelieveinfocusingontheprocessofobtainingthoseskills.TheITfieldchanges
soquickly.Forexample,mostofthetechnologythatIlearnedaboutatTexasA&Mfrom
19921996isancienthistory.Thebusinessandcommunicationsaspectsofmycollegecareer
notonlyhelpedmeadjusttorapidlychangingshiftsinhowtheTechnologyfieldoperates,but
alsolearnthebusinesssideoftechnologyprojectsthatIleadsothatIcandelivermoreeffective
solutions.Forexample,IstartedoutmycareerwritinganddebuggingCOBOLcodeonthe
mainframe.IfIhadstayedaprogrammerforCOBOL(oranyotherlanguage),Iwouldbeoutof
ajobbecausethelanguageshaveshiftedandmostlowlevelprogrammingisdoneoverseasnow.
Thebusinessandcommunicationsskillshelpedmetransitionintograduallyincreasingrolesasa
SystemsAnalyst,ProjectManager,ITDirector,andfinallyaBusinessOwner.Iincluded
programmingasthethirdskillsetneedednotnecessarilybecauseoftheCOBOL,C,orFortran
programmingskills,butbecauseofthecriticalthinkingandproblemsolvingskillsthatlearning
thoselanguagesdeveloped.Programmingcanbeoneofthemostfrustratingendeavorsyouever
undertake.Asimpleerrorincodecancauseacompileerror,orinthecaseoftheMariner1
rocket,thedestructionofa$135milliondollarrocketandamajorembarrassmentfortheUS
SpaceProgram.Butthehuntforaproblemcanbeoneofthehighestadrenalinerushfeelings

youreceive(especiallyattwointhemorningwhentheontimeopeningofLowe'sstores
nationwidecouldbeimpactedifyoucan'tsolvetheproblemandrestartafailedprogram)andthe
finalresolutionofthatproblemcangiveyouoneofthegreatestfeelingsofeuphoriaand
accomplishmentthatyouwilleverexperience.Thosebasictroubleshootingskillsthatyouhone
inprogrammingcanbeappliedtoanythingfrombusinessproblemstorelationships.Today
whenIreceiveacallfromabusinessincrisis,Icalmlylookattheinputs,outputs,andvariables
ofthesituation,develophypothesis,testmytheories,applythesolution,andmonitortheresults.

3. Doyouworkmanyhoursathome/offhours?
Themajorityofmyworkisathomeworkingonprojectsremotelyforvariousclients.Remote
DesktopProtocol(RDP)technologyallowsmetoaccessclientserversasifIweresittinginfront
ofthem.ItrytoavoidoffhoursworkunlessnecessaryasIbelieveinwork/lifebalance.The
onlyexceptionwouldbetomakeupfordaystakenoffwithfamily.

4. Howhasthegrowthoftechnologychangedyourfield?
Thegrowthoftechnologyhastransitionedmyfieldfromdatacollectiontodataanalysis.Back
in1996,aTerabytewasalmostunheardof.Ourgoalwastocollectasmuchdataaswecouldto
understandthebusiness.Nowyoucangetterabytesofstorageina2.5"formfactor.Butthat
volumeofdataisuselessunlessyoucananalyzeit.Today'sinnovativecompaniesaredoingjust
thattoproduceusefulresultsindisplayingrelevantads,determiningthebestwaytogethome,or
whatmovieyouwouldliketosee.Tomorrow'sinnovativecompanieswillbringforthartificial
intelligencecapabilitiessothatpredictionscanbeproducedfaster,moreaccurate,andusing

hardwarethatfitswithinawearabledevice.Whilethisisgreatfortheenduser,theSystems
AnalystlevelofITpersonnelwillseethesameimpactsthatprogrammerssawinthelate90's
withthemigrationoverseasandwillhavetoadapt.

5. Whatisyourfavoritepartofyourcareer?
Handsdown,flexibility.Evenasaprogrammer,ifIhitawall,IwoulddriveupHighway18
towardstheVirginiaborder.Thecrispmountainairandcurvymountainroadswereusually
enoughtohelpmehavemy"eurekamoment"andclimboverthewall.Mycurrentjoballows
metoworkhardandplayhard.Icantakeofftoseeamoviewiththefamilyortakeavacation,
andthenmakeupthattimeifnecessarywhentheyarenotaround.

6. Whatcansomeoneexpecttomake,startingout,inyourfieldofwork?
WhenIstartedoutasaprogrammerforLowe'scorporatein1997,Iwasearning$31,000/year.
Intoday'smarket,thatstartingsalarywouldprobablybearound$45,000/year.Competitionfor
thosejobsismuchharder,though,duetooverseasoutsourcing.Asasmallbusinessowner,the
startingsalarywouldbelimitedonlybyyourworkethicandyourmarketing/networkingskills.

7. Whatisanaveragedaylike?
Myaveragedayfallsunderthe"Whenitrains,itpours"concept.Mostdaysarecalmandallow
metoworkonlongtermprojectsforclients.Mostofthisworkisdoneremotely,soIworkout
ofmyhomeoffice.ThisalsoallowsmetheflexibilitytotakecareofpersonaltaskswhenIneed
abreak.TheremoteworkisperformedoverRDPsessionswhichallowmetoconnectintothe

serversofmyclients.Itroubleshootproblems,optimizesystems,andinstallnewservers,all
usingthemagicofRDPwhichmeansthatIcanbesittingatmydeskusingmydesktopor
standinginlineatDisneyWorldusingmy6"GalaxyNote4phone.ThatiswhatIlovethemost
aboutthenatureofmywork.Ofcourseoccasionallyitpours,andIreceive56emergencycalls
thatIhavetoleavethecomfortsofmycontrolledenvironmentandtravelonsite.Thesecalls
neverspreadout,theyalwaysseemtocomeinbunches.Buttheyprovidemetheadrenalinerush
thatIamaddictedto.

8. Whatarethedownsidesofyourcareer?
ProbablytheonlydownsidetobeinganindependentTechnologyConsultant/SmallBusiness
Owneristheselfreliance.Itiseasyhavingajobandknowingthatyouhaveanemployerthat
willtakecareofyouwithWorkersComp,disability,insurance,andaguaranteedpaycheckona
regularbasis.Sadly,inmanyjobsarockcouldoccupyadeskandstillgetpaid.Self
employmenthasnosuchcomfort.ButformeithasbroughtmetorelyonGodmore.Ihave
grownmoreinmycharacter,love,andspiritualityinthepast6monthsofselfemploymentthanI
havethepast20yearsofemployment.

9. Whatrecommendationsoradvicedoyouhaveforsomeonestartingoffinyour
field?
Thebestwaytoprepareforthiscareeristolearntolovetolearn(notmyquotebutmyfavorite).
TheITfieldisconstantlychangingsodon'tlearnskillsjustfortoday'stechnology.Learnhow
andwhythingswork.Learnprocesses.Andmostimportantly,learnpeople.ManyintheIT

fieldforgetthatwithouttheusers,ITwouldn'texist.Learnabusiness.Findwhatexcitesyou
andlearnabusinessthatincludesit,evenbeforeyougraduatefromhighschoolorcollege.The
beautyofITisthatitexistsineveryfield,fromwastemanagementtospaceexploration.IfI
werearetailemployer,Iwouldhireaprogrammerwithretailexperienceoveraprogrammer
without.ThesamewouldapplyifIwasaemployerinanyotherfield.Experienceinthatfield
aboveandbeyondyourITexperiencematters.Andonceyouhaveyourfootinthedoor,don't
stoplearning.Meetpeopleinotherareasofthecompany.Youneverknowwhenyourwork
willtouchtheirareasorifyouwanttomoveinthoseotherareas.

Thanks,
Mark