[0:22] Tell us about who you are and what you do.

I am Vice President of Information Technology at TIE Industrial, an aftermarket robotics CNC controls shop. We do a lot of rebuilding.

[1:05] Can you explain more about what aftermarket robotics is?

The larger arms that you see, like the ones in the automotive industry. We deal a lot in CNC, which you see a lot in machine shops across industries. We do motors and controls for those. We have also just acquired Robots.com as well.

[2:45] Before recording, we talked about how the volume of work has changed since the pandemic. Is this the new normal?

Across industries, people are struggling to hire. COVID, the economy, and other factors lead people to be more conservative with money. At the beginning of COVID, we went from having a few people working from home to half of our staff. That quickly moving notion will be around for most companies for the foreseeable future. All of these things affect IT in many ways.

[4:34] Is there still a large number of staff working remotely?

Around a third are now. Our production staff has to be onsite obviously, but a lot of other departments have people coming in part-time. We’d just switched to Teams pre-covid so that worked out. It was just a case of getting people up to speed.

[7:20] Let’s talk about how the market has become more competitive for hiring recently.

The concern when the economy slumps are keeping employees happy. There’s also the issue of constant training to keep up with the constantly changing technology.

[11:06] Do you offer incentives or time for employees’ professional development?

I try to provide resources. It’s rare to find the time to have them go out and learn. If I see an opportunity on a project for learning, I might use it to teach or have another staff member mentor. Taking it slower can help them and the company in the long run.

[13:18] Tell me about the beginning of your career.

I began as a C and Unix programmer in 1994. I did a lot of coding for software companies in the Atlanta area. When I was an undergrad, I changed majors and settled on Math with a minor in Computer Science. I realized eventually I would need a real job and I was good at it.

[17:20] Where did you go from there?

I eventually moved into a Team Lead role. In this industry, if you can communicate, you’ll find you move up quickly. Then I moved into management and learned from that before moving on to consulting.

[19:15] What did you learn in the consulting world?

There’s the advantage of not being stuck in one place and pigeonholed. Listening is important, but companies will ask if you can do something without the end goal. Ask what the problem that needs solving is. Have empathy for their situation.

[26:00] Tell us about your project management experience.

That’s where I honed my skills and decided to take my PMP test. I just tried to learn more about organizational skills and planning and take it with me. Training and learning now have moved on from the waterfall approach to the more agile approach, and I think that works for the best.

[33:15] What advice do you have for people either just starting out or looking to get out of the programmers’ closet?

Find a job that is right for you and make sure you are set up for success. Moving into a middle management role, you don’t have a lot of control, but you do have a lot of expectations. Make sure you have some control over your destiny and future.

[35:30] How do you find a job that’s right for you?

A lot of it has to do with your life circumstances, family, etc. What is important to you? Flexibility? Enjoyment? Travel? Do you align with the company and the people in it?

[39:00] What do you do in your downtime?

I coach club soccer and go to music festivals when I can.

[42:00] How often are you dealing with management things versus hands-on work?

Probably 40% helping the team, 10-15% hands-on, and the rest dealing with management duties.