Month: September 2018

From the readings regarding Boeing’s handling of their computer security employees and the ensuing whistleblowers, it seems as if Boeing’s interactions with their computer security employees was not ethical.  As the readings stated several times, the two whistleblowers were “trying to save the company” and also looking out for the best interest of the shareholders of Boeing, as the data and privacy of Boeing’s clients would be in grave danger under the current circumstances.  I believe that Boeing could have handled this situation better.  If I were one of these potential whistleblowers, I would have gone to the company first and spoken to my manager or another higher-up about the potential computer and data security issues that I had found, and I believe that most people would do the same.  If these whistleblowers did this, and were still told that Boeing would not be doing anything about the issue, then Boeing is completely at fault and these whistleblowers were ethical in their decision to go public about this potentially disastrous issue.  I believe this because I believe that ethically we must look out for the general public and for the stakeholders in any product that we oversee at our occupation.  These employees were doing just that in finding and reporting an issue that would compromise the safety and privacy of a great number of people.  They were ethically responsible in reporting this to their higher ups and making sure that there were other people in the company that knew about this issue.  However, if they did not report this issue to other individuals within Boeing and instead went straight to the media, then I believe that this is completely unethical by these whistleblowers.  I believe that, while this issue is definitely very problematic, the company should have at least had a chance to fix this issue without anyone outside of the company knowing and also leaving a very shady reputation about both the company and the computer security department.  If these whistleblowers did go straight to the media and the Seattle PI report was the first that both the company and the computer security department had heard about this issue, then I believe that Boeing was completely in their right to fire these two employees as they did not have a chance to fix an issue with their system without these two employees relaying this to the media.  With regards to whether these two employees should be protected under the Whistleblower protection laws set in place, I believe that the same issue should be looked at.  I believe that if the company was aware of this issue and still said that they did not want to fix the issue, then I believe that these whistleblowers should be protected under these laws.  I also believe that if the company was unaware and not given the opportunity to fix this issue, then I believe that these employees should not have been protected under the Whistleblower protection laws and that Boeing was entirely within their right to fire them.

While I do believe that diversity is important, I believe that the recent focus on diversity is a little bit overblown and diversity should only be important up until a certain extent.  I believe diversity is important in solving problems because different viewpoints and ways of looking at problems can lead to solving problems that may not have been solved if there was not diversity within the problem solvers.  This is extremely important because it will allow companies to be able to solve problems that they may not have otherwise.  Having people from different backgrounds will allow for different ways of solving problems and can lead to an overall better program.  This is why I believe that diversity is important, but I also believe that the recent focus on diversity is too much and that diversity should never be the sole focus for deciding on whether or not to hire a candidate.  I believe that, recently, there has been this focus on diversity because companies will be ostracized  if they do not publish higher and higher diversity numbers.  I believe that once this wave of diversity focus started, it became impossible for it to stop as companies can be shamed or ostracized by the general public for not putting this same focus on diversity that other companies are at the same time.  As a result of this, we have seen a lot of companies starting to offer internships and job programs specifically for women and minorities as they look to give this demographic a specific avenue to be able to get into their company.  However, I believe that this is unfair and should not be a common practice by companies.  While I do understand the point of view coming from this demographic that says there could be a bias against them in the general hiring pool, I believe that gender and race should not be considered at all when hiring.  This again goes back to my belief that technology and all industries actually should be hiring based solely off of merit and that hiring diversity for diversity’s sake is wrong.  Companies should be hiring the best candidates and have a duty and responsibility to their employees and stockholders to be hiring the best possible candidates at every hiring cycle.  If a company is willing to sacrifice quality in their new hires to solely hire a person of a specific demographic, then I believe that this is wrong.  This also would include hiring the demographic that everyone assumes gets this benefit of the doubt, and I believe that hiring white men just because they are a white man is completely wrong and the best candidates should always be hired.  This is why I believe that these diversity programs are wrong because, I believe, there should be one hiring pool where race and gender are not looked at and the only thing that is looked at is the quality of your candidacy and whether or not you would fit into the culture of the company.  Hiring someone for any other reason is wrong in my opinion and should not be a common practice.

In terms of work-life balance, I believe that there is a lot that companies can and should do to promote a healthy work-life balance for their employees.  Companies can encourage employees to leave work without working upwards of 70+ hour weeks or can offer more employee benefits such as more days off or company events for the employees to socialize. Companies can also try and discourage the idea that “facetime” will allow for upward movement within the company and instead try to promote an environment where good work will be the sole consideration when promoting employees.  “Facetime” will lead to employees staying at work longer than they would need to simply to give off the impression that they are working long, arduous hours, instead of being as productive as possible when they are at work.  It is my firm belief that if employees have a healthy work-life balance then they will be more productive when they are at work and will also be more inclined to take a second or third job with the company instead of trying to look for other work.  For this reason, I believe it is in the company’s best interest to promote a healthy work-life balance for their employees and they are ethically obliged to do so.  Promoting work-life balance for employees will lead to employees being happy with their life and their work.  Trying to promote happiness for others is always what is ethically right to do and companies should be no different.  Working their employees into the ground is not right and companies should not try to do that as their employees will quickly burn out and not produce the quality of work they would if they had a healthy work-life balance.  The company that I interned with this past summer wholeheartedly believed that a work-life balance is extremely important for their employees and pushes their employees to leave at 40 hours a week and to only work overtime if they absolutely needed it to finish work on a deadline.  While work-life balance is not the only or most important thing I looked at when looking at jobs or my career, I do believe that work-life balance should not be overlooked.  In the long run it will lead to more productivity and a healthier, better life for me, so, while I will not place it at the top of my wishlist for a job, I definitely will be looking at it going forward when considering different offers.  I believe that there are different ways to try and maintain a healthy work-life balance.  For example, doing things on the weekend that are of interest to you is one way that is easy.  I am a big sports fan, so attending sports games on the weekend is an easy way for me to promote a healthy work-life balance.  Also, doing little things throughout the week such as going out to dinner or meeting up with friends is an easy way to make it seem like the workweek is not entirely work.  These are some easy, simple ways to try and be able to promote a healthy work-life balance and companies should try and make this way of life accessible to all employees.

My internship and job interview process has been a little different than a lot of other computer science students, from what I have heard so far.  Personally, I am a little hesitant about working in solely tech and instead wish to use my technical skills and computer science background in the financial field.  More specifically, I would like to apply data analysis and computer science in investment and asset management.  While I am still expected to know the technical side of things as everyone else is, I also have to know at least a little bit about finance and how I can apply computer science and data analysis in investing.  While most of the firms that I have interviewed with will teach me most of the financial know-how after I would start, usually around a third of an interview with these firms is talking about finance and how I would solve different financial problems using my technical background.  The way I prepare for this is by keeping up to date on the financial markets, so that when I have to answer questions such as these, I will be up to date on what is actually happening in the world and can try to incorporate what others in the field are actually doing in my answers.  From feedback and my initial thoughts on my question, I feel that I have been doing well on these types of questions.  What surprises me most about the interview process for me is that most interviewers really don’t care about if you’re able to get the “right” answer when they ask questions, especially when interviewers are asking financial questions to a non-finance major.  Most interviewers simply want to hear your thought process and want to see if you can try and understand concepts outside of your area of expertise.  They want to see if you can learn on the fly and on the job, as I would have to do that with a job in this area as I have already mentioned.  Personally, my overall impression of the interview process is that it is a fair and effective way of identifying the best candidates for whatever job it might be.  While at times I don’t think it is as efficient as it could be, with some firms having 3-4 rounds of phone interviews before even getting an in-person interview on site, I do believe that the interview process that I have seen if effective in its current state.  When speaking to how ethical it is, I believe that the interview process is ethical as of now, but I could see how some people might not believe that it is.  I could see how some might view it as unethical due to the amount of time required to interview, not even to mention the amount of time put in to be able to impress the interviewers and company with your resume.  However, while I see this point of view, I believe that the process is still ethical because when companies are hiring, they should strive to hire the best candidates and putting in this time is one way to show that you are committed to the job and, once hired, will put in every effort to be as successful as possible both for the firm and for yourself.