Question Interview

Name: Ann Evilsizer

Questions and answers:
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What is the title of the person you are interviewing?

Assistant Vice President, Technology Services
What are other commonly-used titles for the position?
Sr. Lead System Developer (maybe?)
What degree or certificate do employers look for?
Typically a 2 or 4-year degree in computer programming
Does the typical worker have a set schedule (i.e. - 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or are the
hours flexible?
Set schedule 8-5
Is there a typical chain of command in this field?
Yes, report up to department manager and Chief Information Officer
Do other people in your company with the same job title that you hold have
the same responsibilities?
Similar.
What was your title when you first started here?
Systems Engineer
What precisely do you do? What are the duties/functions/responsibilities of
your job?
Custom programming for the various departments (Accounting, Claims,
Certificate Issuance, Underwriting sometimes). The end user typically
describes the functions they do or need to do and I design the screens,
programs, and underlying code to facilitate their process. If reports are
needed, they identify the data elements needed and reports are then
generated using report software or generate to an Excel report. Since I was
hired to initially handle the financial elements in our database, I am also
called upon to create rating programs for underwriting, including our online
programs. Have also had to build export programs to pull data from our
database to transmit to insurance carriers or business partners. We also have

to document what we program, including writing instructions for end users.

Since we have a very small IT department, we do everything ground up from
start to finish where a large company might split duties among multiple
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people.
What kind of hours do you normally work?
8 hours/day Monday-Friday
Do you ever take work home with you?
Infrequently, but occasionally need to move programs into production in off
hours.
How much flexibility do you have in determining how you perform your
job?
Quite flexible
Is your work primarily individual or predominately in groups or teams?
Individual for the most part, but occasionally work with others to

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accomplish program completion

What do you like and not like about working in this job?
I like the creative aspects of developing programs from scratch. Not a fan of

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cleaning up database errors that are made.

What are the educational, requirements for this job?
Would expect either a programming degree or comparable work experience

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in programming.
Is graduate school recommended?
Graduate degree not necessary here
What is the job title of your department head or supervisor for this job?
Chief Information Officer
What do you feel is the best educational preparation for this career?
Definitely need exposure to various programming languages;
communication (verbal and writing) classes
How do you think IPFWs reputation is viewed when it comes to hiring?
Boss has degree from IPFW (Purdue)
What was your major in college?
Business Administration
What is the job above your current job?
Dont have a job path here for IT
Do people in your department function fairly autonomously, or do they
require a lot of supervision and direction?

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Autonomous
What is the best way to obtain a position that will get me started in this
occupation?
I kind of fell into this career path so not sure. I had some programming
classes in college that were required for my Business degree. Then while
working in a Data Center at a large insurance company, I was able to take an
aptitude test and get into an in-house training program for computer
programming. That was very intensive training in a lot of different
languages. From there I was hired by someone who retired from that
insurance company and became a consultant here.

I interviewed Ann Evilsizer. Ann has a degree in Business administration and was
taught how to program computers at home through an aptitude test. She started out as a
systems engineer and is now a lead system developer at American Specialty Insurance &
Risk Services, Inc. (formerly located in Roanoke), she also was hired to initially handle the
financial elements for their database. American Specialty does insurance for sports and
recreation such as miniature golf locations/business. They have also been involved in the
Atlanta and Utah Olympics. Ann Evilsizer does custom programming for various
departments in American Specialty. The end user typically describes the functions they do
or need to do and she designs the different screens, programs, and underlying code to
facilitate their process.
The chain of command for Anns field is you report to the department manager
who reports to the Chief Information Officer. She works a set schedule of 8am-5pm

Mondays through Fridays. She rarely brings work home but sometimes needs to bring
things home so she can move programs into production in off hours. Ann is quite flexible in
how she performs her job so she doesnt always have to do it the exact same way every day.
The people in Anns field function autonomous and dont have any supervision. You do not
need a graduate degree to work as a system developer but typically you need to have a 2-4
year degree in computer programming. If you do not have a programming degree than a
comparable work experience in programming would also work.
Finally I think I may want to go into this type of field because Im already
thinking of going into programming so this type of job would be nice. You need exposure to
different programming languages and I am already learning one language so that is a good
start if I do get a job like Anns. I like the fact that Anns boss went to IPFW because that is
where I want to go to college, so I know that I can get a job with a degree from IPFW. I
thought what Ann does is interesting and may be something I would like to do because it
involves lots of programming and being creative with that programming. I think getting a
job of this type would be good because I could learn the things needed to continue on
through the field.