Community Connections
Tony Mitchell
For my community connections I interviewed Tony Mitchell, an independent consultant that specializes in Enterprise Architecture and Software development. I choose this individual because, I have an interest and passion for coding. So, I am interested in doing a similar profession. I learned that it’s important to finish your major in Computer Sciences to grasp a foundation of math, coding, learn a coding language in depth, being up to date in new technology, and skillsets. Also, to retain new information and devote your time wisely to studying different concepts. I learned about the benefits of having this job: flexible locations, wage, compelling work. You can also pursue your other interests at the same time.
- This interview opened up a whole new perspective on my future career. Before I was unsure what the process, benefits, and obstacles, I had to face to become a computer scientist and how many hours I would have to work per week. I also had no Idea what to improve my knowledge and understanding of computer science. I am more reassured about the process of following this path, and I am very glad that I asked these questions. The detail and guidance given in this interview really broadened my knowledge in the career I want to choose.
Q & A:
1. Can you explain your roles and responsibilities with your current position?
“I am an independent consultant and specialize in Enterprise Architecture and Software Development. As a consultant, I don’t work for a specific company, but instead I am hired by my clients to help them in areas where they don’t have sufficient expertise or resources. For most of my clients, this involves designing, building, and/or improving large software systems to help them achieve their goals. My primary client right now is with the BC Ministry of Health and Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) where I am working as part of their Digital Health Strategy Office that is responsible for building and deploying province-wide health systems such as the Get Vaccinated system that managed the COVID-19 vaccination program, or the Health Gateway that enables patients to access their medical records. My responsibilities vary depending on the project, but am typically responsible for the system architecture and technical design of the solution, often in collaboration with others who may specialize in certain areas (networking, security, etc.). For some of my projects and clients, I also build and operate the systems I design.”
2. What obstacles have you faced to get you where you are today?
“One obstacle I faced was that I never finished my Computer Science degree. I left university after 2 years in Computer Science to join a software development company in their Quality Assurance department (since I didn’t have enough experience programming yet). However, since I wanted to be a programmer I had to do a lot of studying on my own to learn the necessary skills and convince my company that I could do the job. It took a lot of hard work and studying programming in my free time, but after a few years I moved from the QA department to the Development team as a programmer. Had I finished my degree I might have been able to go straight into a programmer role.“
3. What advice would you pass on to someone interested in what you are doing?
“For my job, depth and breadth of knowledge is important. To design and build systems I need to understand all the technologies involved and how they can be used together to achieve the goal. Having strong knowledge and experience in all the components that make up the system (databases, networking, UI, APIs, security, etc.) helps to ensure that I’m designing a system that will work well. While some of this knowledge will come through school and on the job, you should expect to spend time on your own learning new subjects and really understanding how they work. Also when it comes to programming languages, I’d recommend that you learn at least a few different ones so you can understand what they have in common and how they are different. They are like different tools. Each has strengths and weaknesses. I’d also recommend that you pick at least one programming language and study it very deeply. Learn everything you can about how it works and all the features in the language as you’ll come away with a better understanding of programming languages in general and will be able to learn new ones quicker. The better you know your tools and what they can do, the more effective you’ll be at getting your work done and understanding why something isn’t working.”
4. Why are you passionate about your job or role?
I have always loved technology, understanding how things work, and building things. Architecture and software development is very creative, and lets me solve problems and create new things in the digital world that didn’t exist before. Software is used in some form in pretty much every company and in our daily lives, so it is hard to imagine a job that can have a bigger impact on the world than a software developer. Additionally, it means that you can pair software development with other interests and do two things you love at the same time. For example, if you like photography you could work on photography-related software such as image processing software like photoshop, or even the software that runs inside the latest digital camera or your phone.
5. What are some benefits of your job?
A few of the benefits are:
– Interesting work. I find architecture and software development work to be very creative and interesting work. There is always something to learn, and many ways to solve a problem.
– Location Flexibility. Software development can be done from just about anywhere and all you need is a computer. I work remotely from home, so I don’t have to commute to an office everyday which saves me time and I get to be around my family more. This also means you can work for companies in other cities or even other countries. For example, I have a client in Ontario that I do a lot of work for and I’ve never had to travel to Ontario to do it.
– Compensation. Software development is generally paid well. While pay can vary significantly between roles and skillsets, on average most software developers are paid well.
6. What was the process to get this job? (education, job offers etc.)
The role I have isn’t one that you can get straight out of school as it depends on having many years of experience and expertise in a lot of different subject areas, however you can work towards it over time. Typically you’d start in a Junior Programmer role, and work your way up from there.
Education: Even though it wasn’t my path, I’d recommend that most people start by getting a Computer Science degree, as that will provide you with a foundational understanding of computation, math, related concepts, etc. that will help you down the road. After that you can learn most of what you need through online training, tutorials, books, etc. Some people choose to take formal classes and get certified in certain technologies, but I haven’t found that it was necessary. That said, certifications can be a way to compensate for lack of experience when you’re just starting out.
Job Offers: Like most jobs, you find jobs by looking online for job postings that match your skills and experience and apply along with your resume. Don’t worry if you don’t have all the skills required, often companies are happy to hire people who are eager to learn and can learn on the job. During your job interviews the interviewers will typically ask you questions to test your knowledge and may ask you to complete some small tasks to demonstrate your programming knowledge. The job requirements for software development/programming jobs tend to be about skills and experience. Self-study, personal programming projects, and reading code from open source projects can help you build knowledge and experience, but the sooner you can start working as a programmer the better as you’ll be programming 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
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Mr. Barazzuol