Up Close and Personal with TheRealBarefoot

Barefoot: Software Analyst Sr. Programmer.

Viktorya: What do they make you do?

Barefoot: I handle all the software design and implementation of a NASA Human Resources application suite. It's a two-fold system.

Viktorya: Whoa this is not what I expected. What is the two-fold level?

Barefoot: On one level we interact with another government agency's web site, USAJOBS.GOV, which is run by the Office of Personnel Management. There we post job opening announcements via and XML interface and receive resumes the same way.

Internally the NASA system I maintain most of the recruiting activities for the various Human Resources departments. The system dissects resumes using artificial intelligence and builds a list of skills. Those skills are weighed against the job requirements to find the best candidate. The system also enforces the myriad of government hiring regulations so that NASA stays in compliance.

Viktorya: What do they expect you to know?

Barefoot: There are three things that are vital to my job. One is being detailed in documenting all the changes to the software. The government has documentation standards that are required. Plus, detailed documentation is just a good programming practice. We use a couple of software packages to track our changes so I have to know how to use those.

Second, my job requires fluency in HTML, javascript, XML, perl, and SQL. This is the heart of any changes or additions we make to our suite of sites. The most important part of any programming effort is the design. Analyzing the problem and designing the right solution takes up most of my time. Once that is done, the coding is relatively minor.

Lastly, the most important aspect of my job is good people skills. I spend a lot of time with our end users, gathering requirements and creating test plans. Being able to communicate effectively with my client is the most important part of my job. Anyone who thinks programming means sitting in a cubicle and typing code all day, won't last long on any job. The ability to communicate your ideas and translate technical jargon into common, understandable English is vital.

Viktorya: Describe what you do on a day to day basis.

Barefoot: My typical day is spent triaging trouble tickets, providing a technical analysis of the impact of the changes needed to meet the requests in the tickets, designing solutions (database changes, code changes, etc) to support the changes, and coding the actual software for the changes. There are regular meetings schedule to keep both the client and the program management updated.

Viktorya: What other jobs have you held that paved the way for your career with NASA?

Barefoot: Prior to my job as a programmer with NASA, I spent many years in computer hardware and software sales. The most important skill that transferred between jobs was the ability to talk to people effectively.

Viktorya: Ahh, people skills are definitely a necessity. Do you have people who work for you, and what are their responsibilities?

Barefoot: In the past, the project required two other programmers working for me. Since I was the most experienced, I was the de-facto team lead though we keep the atmosphere one of equality. Currently, I have one junior programmer working for me. He is assigned some of the easier changes while he learns the system and does our unit testing.

Viktorya: What would be considered your most challenging task or tasks?

Convincing the client that their vision for a solution is not always the correct one.

Viktorya: Yeah, I can see how that could be difficult. So what do you do about that?

Barefoot: It is often my job to tell my client why the best way to do something is not the way they imagine it needs to be done. Since they don't understand the underlying technical reasons why one way is better than another, I have to convince them, in a non-technical way, why a different approach is best. No one likes being told they are wrong and trying to sell them on something that isn't their idea, but is better for the project, is most challenging.

Viktorya: What is the best way to manage time in your position?

Barefoot: Back it up.

I see so many programmers ignore the first rule of computers which is "Always have a back up." There have been numerous occasions that I jump ahead of my peers after a system problem simply because I have a local, current backup of my work. So much time is lost trying to recreate days of programming work all for lack of a backup.

Viktorya: In this day and time balance is hard to find. How do you do it?

Barefoot: Since I am on-call 24/7, balancing my time becomes a real effort. The best thing I've done to help ease my workload is train other people to be able to do my job. Many people fear that sharing knowledge makes them dispensable, but quite the contrary is true. It makes you a valued member of a team of people who then look to you for leadership.

Viktorya: Wow I really value that last statement. What advice would you give to someone interested in this career?

Barefoot: First, get a degree. A college degree in computer science or information systems is the key to getting started and progressing in the IT field. Second, stay current on the latest technologies. Though often, IT systems by nature are legacy systems, being able to intelligently talk about the latest technologies with your peers and managers put you in a good position when new projects open up.

Lastly, don't ignore the social aspect of your work. Too many brilliant people in the IT field lack the social graces to work effectively in a team environment. Interpersonal skills are essential to every-day work and advancement.

Viktorya: I can definitely agree on the social aspect. Without communication and people skills (no matter what for) will cause anything to fail. It's been a joy, thanks!

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Be sure to find Randy's links in the resource area.