Day in the life of
Software Engineering Manager – Jim Hall
I work for a software integrator in the professional services department. I manage a team that implements the software that we sell. It’s hard to describe a typical day for myself because what I’m doing can change radically day to day. As a team manager, I split my time between working directly with clients and overseeing my team and their work with our clients. We have a wide variety of clients with different processes that we work on. Some days I come in and have a full day of working sessions with clients, some days it’s a day where I can come in and focus solely on development and building solutions to help automate processes and solve specific problems, and other days I am meeting with my team and reviewing their solutions and assisting them with questions.
One of the biggest pros is working with a great group of people. KeyMark is a group of talented individuals that are also fun to talk to and we really have a culture that encourages us to build friendships that extend outside of just work talk.
Another big plus for me is getting to work directly with our clients and building those professional relationships. I’m not just an email signature to our clients, I work closely with them and have a lot of calls and repeat work with the same clients. There’s a big difference between the first time working with a specific client and that initial highly professional communication vs the more relaxed and friendly relationship that quickly develops when working with them over a period of time. That makes our work easier and helps the client feel more comfortable communicating their needs with us.
One aspect that is equal parts Pro and Con is the wide variety of work we perform. For one thing, you don’t get bored because you’re always learning new things and solving very different problems. I’ve been here for 9 years and still get surprised and I’m always reminded that I don’t know everything. It can be challenging, as you have to be flexible and willing to learn and change as the work demands.