Can you work under pressure?
One of the things that I’ve done for my company is design and fabricate the test fixtures that are used by our vender companies. They use these fixtures on their production lines where they assemble and test our products for us. These companies only have two of each test fixture and they rely on having both functioning at all times and they take quite a bit if abuse during their day to day use.
When a fixture goes down it needs to be shipped to my facility, diagnosed, repaired or rebuilt (which sometimes requires acquiring parts that are not in stock), and shipped back to the vender’s site in the same day. This all has to be done without letting my regular duties fall behind.
This is an example of the kind of pressure that is common on my current job. I’ve never had a problem keeping up with it.
Do you like working alone or in a team environment?
I’ve worked both on electronic and programming projects as a part of a team as well as alone. I like both and have never had a problem with either.
It would be hard for me to choose a preference but If I had to I would have to say that I prefer to work alone. Of course that may be because most of my job experience has been working alone.
Everyone has a favorite class in college. What was yours?
This is not an easy question for me to answer. I really liked most of the classes that I had in college, both in and out of my major. If I had to pick one I think it would be Visual Basic 6.0 because it was the first language class that I took that produced a GUI product.
Have you taken any classes since college to bring your skills up to date?
I haven't actually taken any classes since college, however, I have taken steps to expand my skills. Since college I have taught myself HTML and JavaScript and have been able to code my personal web page (www.davidpage.00freehost.com).
I'm currently reading about ColdFusion and have plans to teach myself .net programming as soon as I aquire an IDE.
How can you help our company be more profitable?
I like to consider myself a problem solver. When I’m working on a project my attention to that project doesn’t end when I leave the office at the end of the day. I use whatever resources that are available to me, both in and out of the office, to increase my efficiency and to expedite the completion of projects.
How do you usually handle criticism?
Criticism is a part of life and sometimes may even be valid. Malicious criticism, of course, should only be ignored. I also think that it’s a good idea to examine the content of any criticism in case I can find a way to improve myself through it.
How have your technical skills been an asset?
After working for many years in electronics and now in computer science I have developed analytical and problem solving skills that allowed me to look at every problem, on and off the job, from a workable point of view. I’ve learned how to research nearly any problem to its solution.
How much experience have you had with computers?
* In the mid 1970’s, while in high school, I took a class in Fortran. This was my first experience working on computers.
* In the 1980’s I worked on the hardware components of “Basic-4” mainframe computers.
* In 1991 I helped build my first PC which was a home built 80286 machine which used DOS 3.0 on a 5¼” floppy. At that time I also took a class on the A86 assembler language.
* Not long after that I started a part time computer consulting and sales company which I ran out of my home for five years.
* In 1998 I started working toward a degree in computer science which will I completed in August of 2004
Is there anything you would change about your college education?
There are two things that I think I would change about my current education. First, I would have started sooner. I spent time going for a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering Technology and then stopped to change my field of study to Computer Science. Looking back I would rather have started with Computer Science.
Second, I would have stopped working while I was in school so that I could focus more completely on school.
Tell me about a contribution you have made to a team.
In a systems programming class I was one of four members of a team whose job it was to design and code three separate programs as a part of a project. The programs were, to a degree, dependent on each other.
At the beginning of the project, when the designated team leader was unavailable, I assumed the role of coordinator. I prompted discussion of the layout of the project and documented suggestions on how to proceed. I also assigned development tasks to the members of the team who were present, including myself. I reviewed all of this information with the team leader upon his return.
Aside from my share of the development of the programs I also had the responsibility of troubleshooting and repairing any of the code that was not working properly. Although this, of course, included testing I was not the only tester. When anyone in the team discovered a problem in the program operation, regardless of who wrote the original code, it was my task to troubleshoot and repair the fault.
Tell me how you would handle multiple projects in the job.
I prefer to break a project down into its component parts. From that I can first determine if there are modules that can be shared between jobs, that way I’m not doing the same job twice. Aside from that I would coordinate with superiors and anyone else who is involved in one or more of my projects to determine time restrictions, priorities, and requirements of each job.
Were you involved in any other activities during college?
I periodically wrote op-ed articles for the school news paper.
What are your work-related goals for the next few years?
Since I’m changing my career my primary, immediate goal is to garner as much experience as I can both on and off the job. In this way I can better benefit your company and improve myself.
I don’t like being sedentary in a job, however, that doesn’t mean I want to move continually form company to company. I’ve been at the same company for 17 years and I’m looking forward to another long-term position with your company. Over the next few years I see myself gaining the capability and expertise to take on larger and more involved projects that make a major difference in the advancement and profitability of the company as a whole.
What do you do in your spare time?
When not at work I spend a considerable amount of time with my new wife. My favorite pastime is bicycling. Aside from that I've taken to looking for new areas of computer science to study. To date I've taken and passed the first of the two A+ certification exams and plan to take the secont by the end of October 04. I'm also preparing to take the MCSE Certification exam at some future date.
What do you like to do when you are not at work?
When not at work I spend a considerable amount of time with my new wife. My favorite pastime is bicycling. Aside from that I've taken to looking for new areas of computer science to study. To date I've taken and passed the first of the two A+ certification exams and plan to take the second soon. I'm also preparing to take the MCSE Certification exam at some future date.
What makes you unique and why should we hire you over any of our other candidates?
I am, no doubt like most others that you are considering, a recent college graduate. I have academic training comparable to many other Computer Science graduates.
There is something, however, that sets me apart from the other candidates that you may be considering. This, for me is a career change. That means that, unlike other recent college graduates, I have significant on the job experience. I know how to work with others as well as, if necessary, how to manage others. I have experience in getting the job done without supervision.
What sets me apart from the other candidates even more is the fact that I am changing careers from a technical field. As an electronics associate engineer I have developed testing, troubleshooting, analytical, production, design, and development skills that can only come with time and exposure to a technical environment.
What motivated you to change careers at this time?
As an electronics technician and a former computer consulting company owner I've had a lot of exposure to the software industry on a number of levels. Although I've always enjoyed working in electronics and working with technology, I came to realize that I would be more at home writing software.
Why did you leave your last job?
I haven't yet left my current job. I have, however, cut my hours back to a part time basis. I did this for two reasons; first so that I could finish my new degree quicker, and second, to accommodate my job search.
I've been at my current job for 17 years and would be staying there if the company had any facility for a programmer position.
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David Stasinos318 Stoneleigh Lane
Oswego, IL 60543 US
630-715-2560 (Cellular)
630-551-1035 (Evening)
dasc0917@hotmail.com
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