The critical moment
Ben Olson took my “Introduction to Software Engineering” class fifteen years ago but he did not continue with other courses. In university environment where students come and go, you do not know what happen to them. Last week, Ben came to see me. I did not remember him but he remembered me. He said: “I really like your class but unfortunately I could not finish my education here. I just want to come to see you and thank you for what you taught me.” Since Ben is a vice president of a software company, I assumed that he probably went to another university for his education but he said: “No, I never finish school. My parents died in an auto accident when I was in the second year at CMU so I had to quit school and went to work to take care of my younger sister. I worked in an automobile factory in Detroit.”
He probably saw my surprise so he continued: “I worked hard to put my sister in school. After she graduated and got married, my uncle asked me to come to California since he could get me a better job at Intel as an assembler of electronic circuit board. It was at my time in Silicon Valley that my life took an interesting turn. A friend who worked for a software company told me: “My company is hiring a lot of programmers so give me your resume and I can help you get a better job than assembling circuit board.” Few days later he called me: “Ben, what kind of degree do you have? You did not fill in the section on college degree.” I told him that I did not have a college degree. He hesitated for awhile and said: “This job requires a college degree but if you write that you have a computer degree. They probably do not check, I know that they need to hire hundred programmers immediately and they are very busy.” I told him that I did not even know how to program. He laughed: “You work with me and I can help you, it only takes a few months to learn programming.”
“At that time, I knew that I had a choice. I could lie; the worst thing was if they found out, they could fire me. If they did not check then I can get a good job. I told him that I would think about it. After a few days I sent him my updated resume and he sent it to the company. Few days later I was called into a job interview. There were three people who interviewed me. The last interview was with a software director. He said: “It is interesting that you wrote in the degree section: “one year of college” that means you do not have a college degree.” I nod my head: “Yes, I did not have a college degree.” He stared at me for few minutes as he wanted to know why a person without a degree would apply for a job that requires a college degree. Finally he said: “Tell me what you did when you quit college.” So I told him about my situation and my years of experience in a car factory and at Intel. He said: “You took a class in Software Engineering, tell me about what you have learned in that class.” I explained to him why I loved Software Engineering but I did not have a chance to finish it.” He asked more questions and I answered most of them based on what I learned from your class. I did not remember all the details but I knew that I am very passionate as I learned from the way you taught us in that class. When I finished he asked me about my working experiences. We spent another fifteen minutes on topics that had nothing to do with software. He looked at me for a long while but not saying a word. I was exhausted and did not know what to do. Then he pointed at the door, signaling me to leave and said: “Thank you for coming in.” I left the company and thought to myself: “I should never do something like this again.”
“That evening I got a call from the company that I had a job, not as a programmer but as an assistant to the Director of software. To my surprise, the hiring officer said: “I did not know what happen but the Director liked you. In fact he had to convince the company and others who did not want to hire you. Please come to work as soon as possible.”
“I went to work as the assistant to the Director. My job was to interact with project managers and provide status reports to him. Few years later, he moved me to Marketing to run advertising and public relation for the company. After seven years, I got promoted to vice president of Marketing. The director who gave me the job is now the president of the company. I never forget what he told me on my first day at work: “Honesty is the virtue that many young people do not pay attention to. I hired you because of your sincerity and honesty. Technical and other things could be learned but honesty and integrity are something that you must have. I am sure your parents did a very good job of raising you.”
“I always remember the critical moment that I had to make decision at that time. If I lie, I will be faced with ethical dilemmas all my life. I may be able to get a job but I always worry that somebody will find out. If I lie, I will have to continue to lie and cheat all the time. Of course, it is the easiest choice and it seems inconsequential at that time but it will have a lasting consequence all my life. I can cheat other people but I cannot cheat myself. I remember the lesson that you taught me in your first Software Engineering class: “Be honest, be ethical, and work hard to make a difference in this world.” That is why I came back and thank you for your valuable lesson. I might not learn much about technical but I do learned something important: “Make all your decisions wisely and honestly.”
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
