CHAPTER 14
During the next two weeks, Jim spent much time with Monica, teaching her loads of documentation about the Quagmeyer Corporation. He was very helpful to her and never once did he mention her handicap as being an obstacle to her work.
"I hope I have not been too hard on you, Monica," Jim said as they sat at Monica's desk on Friday afternoon of her third week.
"No, you have only tried to show me what you can about how the real world operates. Our instructor in the computer school did teach us about some of the things you covered with me over the past three weeks. I am really glad that I had the teacher that we did because he did try to broaden our knowledge without making everything difficult. Now that I found out he wasn't giving us a lot of baloney, the school is in for a little sadness because Mr. Beers quit after completing our term."
"I don't know how some of those schools operate, Monica, because they surely cannot attract the best people and hold them. Well, they are in the business to make money and not necessarily to turn out high quality graduates."
"It makes me happy to land this job with your company, Jim, particularly when there must have been plenty of applicants."
"Most of the individuals who applied, Monica, never made it past Harry's questions. He is one tough interviewer who likes to ask questions about things one is supposed to know or was trained for, and if you can't, or will not, answer his questions, you are finished."
"Then I must have done OK on his questions," Monica smiled.
"You most certainly did answer them correctly, and not only did you answer them correctly, you answered them quickly. Response time is pretty important, and Harry likes people who do not horse around. If you don't know something, he would rather have you say so right off, that you don't know, rather than hee-hawing around. Harry mentioned to me about several of his experiences with applicants where he has actually had the prospective employee get angry with him regarding the manner in which he asked questions. But those who got mad at the questioning, or the way their answers were lacking, had to be told by Harry that they didn't know the correct solution to the problem. One thing Harry doesn't do is give any of the solutions to the applicant. He bases their answers on how they lead the problem. In other words, he doesn't try to hold someone to a strict and absolute result, and if someone can justify their answers, he would probably go along with them. I remember him telling me about a former data processing manager whom he was interviewing for a programmer/analyst position, who kept trying to call him a liar."
"Did he get the job, Jim?"
"Not quite, Monica. I believe the man said more than he should have and through a little further investigation by Harry, he found that the person had some difficulty with several other places of employment, and was asked to depart the scene because of his argumentative attitude. It wasn't the arguing that bothered some of his former colleagues, the fact was that the individual was wrong and just would not admit it."
"I suppose we had better get started on my job, otherwise you might think about getting rid of me, Jim."
"No, Monica, we would not thing of letting such a pretty girl find a job with another company."
Monica blushed.
"You are getting red, Monica. Heck, all I said was that you are a nice looking chick."
"Yes, I know, Jim. Thanks."
"You are right though, Monica. We should get moving on your first analytical problem. Your first task will be to talk to the individuals in the personnel department and find out their requirements for some Equal Opportunity reports, which they would like to have the computer pump out for them. We currently do something in that respect and you would just be adding to an existing program or, just possibly, writing a new one. I would like for you to contact Miss Orin, whom I believe you already know, and find out exactly what personnel would like to have. When you finish that event, then we will sit down and discuss the procedure by which you will accomplish your objective. I will also contact Miss Orin and let her know you will be in to see her."
"I will study up a little more on the reports which they are receiving now, Jim, so that I have a better understanding about the things as they now exist."
"Monica, you are talking like a true analyst and before long we will make a true programmer out of you, because you certainly are showing the stuff from which good data processing people are made."
"It is two-fifteen, Monica," said Jim, looking at his wristwatch. Would you want to spend some time this afternoon with the people in personnel if they are available?"
"Certainly, I would like to get started on this project as soon as possible, but only if you think that I will not look foolish by not having a complete understanding of the reports being supplied to them at the current time."
"If you are worried about credibility, Monica, don't be, because your primary contact will be Miss Orin, who isn't one of the dipsticks within the company. She is very understanding and will help you in any way she is able. I will give her a toot on the horn to see if she can talk to you this afternoon and while I am doing that, I can check for any messages."
"Okay, Jim, I will be waiting for your call."
Monica was looking through her desktop calendar, when her phone rang about five minutes later. "Monica Rawlings," she spoke into the mouthpiece.
"Monica, this is Jim. Miss Orin can spend some time discussing your project with you around three o'clock this afternoon. I have her on hold right now and she wants to know if you want to go to her office or do you want her to come to yours."
"Since most of the documentation is now if my office, Jim, would you please ask her if she could come up here?"
"Sure. Hang on."
Twenty seconds later, Monica was once again talking with Jim. "Miss Orin said she would be pleased to have you entertain her in your office."
"Thank you, Jim," said Monica, then she placed the receiver back into the slot.
Monica continued on with studying the documentation of the system and procedures prepared for the personnel department until Miss Orin arrived in her office at five to three.
"May I come in?" she asked as she peeked into Monica's office. "Sure can, Miss Orin."
Monica grabbed some of the charts and write-ups and slid them to the right side of her desk.
"Please sit down, Miss Orin," Monica motioned her to take the blue chair which wasn't covered with computer printouts or manuals.
"Looks as though they have you doing most of the work around here, Monica, judging from all the junk I see laying around in here. Or is it junk?"
"Contrary to our opinion, Miss Orin, Jim and his fellow workers do not believe this stuff is all garbage, even though they refer to the terms 'Garbage In' and 'Garbage Out'."
"Are they keeping you busy, Monica?"
"Yes, they sure are, especially Jim, who has been teaching me the ropes about Quagmeyer Corporation."
"I understand that Jim is supposed to be one of the best qualified people in the data processing field, and if you ask him, I think he will tell you the same thing." Miss Orin smiled as she made her statement.
"Harry did tell me that Jim was one of the best persons capable of instructing others in the field of data processing, and he had helped me very much to learn a lot of the principles one doesn't necessarily learn in school. I am happy your company selected me over the other candidates, and I will do my best to live up to the expectations which have been designed for me."
"I am sure you will prove to be one of our star employees, Monica, and I don't believe a doubt exists in anyone's mind as to your potential."
"Thank you for saying such nice things about me, Miss Orin. I only hope that I can meet the challenges here at Quagmeyer and maybe move on to other opportunities within the organization. But, I suppose we should move on the problem, which you would like the data processing department to solve for you. Would you like to tell me exactly what you are after in the way of reports and why you want them?"
"Yes, Monica. I will start with why we need a little better reporting than we are getting at present, particularly in the area of Equal Opportunity. It is not that we don't prepare reports for the government already, it is just that we don't do as much as we would like to with the computer. Since we don't make full use of the capability of the monster we have in this location to prepare the voluminous reports for the government, we wish to move in the direction of having the computer do much of the reporting. That is, as much as possible. To my knowledge, the master file for employees already contains space for coding of the type of person that is to be reported in certain staffing reports. Other fields may have to be set up to accommodate other statistics that we desire to have reported. If these items are not contained in the master file, I will give you the specifications of those items which we deem desirable to have an then you can tell me whether we can have them and how long it will take to get the desired results."
"Miss Orin..."
"Why don't you call me Peggy, Monica?"
"Alright, Peggy. What other reporting would you like to see accomplished through the use of the computer?"
"Another phase, Monica, would be safety reports, which we now do manually. Involved in this reporting is the number of accidents, the type of injury, the personnel involved, the days lost, and some other types of information. Personnel would also like to search the employee master file with the aid of a computer program and determine likely candidates for the positions that become available. I am not certain as to whether you have available space on the master file for obtaining the information I just specified."
"I know the Equal Opportunity code is available, Peggy, but as far as data being available for safety reporting and personnel evaluation and experience, that is something I would have to look at in more depth. Will you please write down for me in a memo the things we discussed today, Peggy?"
"Sure will, Monica. I will probably have it for you within a few days. After you study the memo, Monica, we may have to sit down and discuss all our requirements in detail."
"I have no doubt about us having to discuss what you want to accomplish, Peggy. Before I get back to you, though, I will talk to Jim about the problems. He will have a greater understanding of your needs and the steps necessary to do the job."
"Anything else that you want to discuss, Monica, as long as I am here?"
"No, I don't have anything more."
"Okay, then I guess I will see you later."
After Peggy Orin left, Monica began looking more deeply into the system currently being utilized by the personnel department at Quagmeyer Corporation. She was able to determine that most of the information which Peggy expected, or needed to use, was already contained on the master file layouts for payroll.
"All that I have to determine now is how much of thus stuff is being up-dated with changes and whether there was, or is, any instructions to do so," said Monica to herself.
"How did it go, Monica?" asked Jim, upon worming his head into Monica's office.
"Pretty good, Jim," she answered as he sat down into one of the chairs in front of her desk. Miss Orin seems to know exactly what she wants and maybe even how to go about getting the required data."
"She should, Monica, because she used to be one of us until she decided on a job in personnel."
"She gave up data processing to go into personnel work?"
"Yes, Monica. The company was pushing to get females into management positions and Peggy liked working with people and attempting to see if they fit certain positions and, above all, the management opportunity was there. She just couldn't pass up a deal where she had such a great opportunity to help others get ahead, particularly women."
"Is she just pro-women then, Jim?"
"No, she really goes out and tries to hire the best qualified individual to do the job. She isn't under any pressure to hire women...not that I know of, anyhow."
"Was she good in the field of data processing, Jim?"
"Yes, she was an excellent person to work with and to train for the company. As a matter of fact, she went out of her way to perform tasks not associated with her position."
"You must feel proud, Jim, to know you had something to do with Miss Orin, I mean, Peggy, getting ahead in the world."
"I am not sure about that yet, Monica, until I see how she rewards me with a promotion. I do keep joking with her about moving me up the corporate ladder, since that is the least she could do for someone who trained her so well, that she could be promoted. She insists she is looking for the right opportunity for me and one which will utilize my talents to the fullest."
"You think she means it?"
"One never knows, Monica. Hey, it is getting late and I am supposed to play tennis with some friends tonight. I will see you on the next working day, Monica. Until then, why don't you go home and forget about data processing and Quagmeyer until you get back to work."
"Sounds like a great idea to me, Jim, I believe I will knock off for the day and go on home. See you."
"Goodnight, Monica."
Monica filed the manuals she was using back into the cabinet and as she moved to the doorway, she glanced back to see if she had put everything away, then she flipped the switch to turn the lights off.