Nancy
Sinclair
Position:
Applications Developer
Employer:
Self Employed
Job description:
I'm an independent contractor
who builds websites for financial services companies.
Salary range:
$125,000
Job satisfaction:
The best part about my
job is also the worst -- it's constantly evolving. The rate of change
in technology is so fast that I constantly have to learn new skills.
This is very exciting and challenging, but it can also be tiring.
I work in an extremely fast paced part of the business world (Finance)
and I'm frequently put in the position where I have to completely
rebuild an application using a new language or tool set that I've
never seen before, and the project was due last week! Fortunately,
I seem to thrive in this environment and would generally rate my job
satisfaction as extremely high.
Employment history:
I've worked in consulting
my entire career. I was lucky enough to join a fledgling startup in
1992 called Sapient Corporation. It's now grown into a very large
and successful consulting firm. After doing a couple of years in traditional
consulting, I decided to strike out on my own. I work with an agency
that helps match me with contracts. I like the fact that I remain
outside of the company structure and can concentrate on building applications
instead of performance reviews and promotions and the like.
Suggestions for students:
I got an "F" in the very
first computer class I ever took my freshman year in college and would
never, ever in a million years have thought I would end up building
complex computer systems. I would say to keep your mind open and not
have preconceived notions about a specific career. Also, always take
the stock options. When I worked for the startup, they couldn't really
offer me a decent salary, so they gave me stock instead. At the time,
the stock was worth nothing, but over the past few years it's grown
to the point where it's worth much more than any salary they could
have given me.
Advisor/Student relationship:
I don't really know much
about the undergraduate program, but I do remember that as an undergrad
myself, I was advised to take as many business classes as I could
(Management, Accounting, Economics). Taking those classes have given
me a greater understanding of the business and makes it easier for
me to communicate with my users (who are all Finance grads).
E-mail Nancy
Date of last update: Oct. 25, 1999
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