HCSS Career Center

HCSS Career Center

Winnie Tu

From Managing Construction Projects, to Building Construction Software

Blog, Development

In the past, when I told friends or family members that I wanted to pursue a career in software development, they looked at me as if I were crazy. I grew up on a farm and have always been a mechanically-inclined person who enjoyed hands-on work.

I attended Iowa State University to study Agricultural Engineering, thinking that a mechanical-based future was my calling. It wasn’t until I had taken some basic programming courses during my senior year that I really started to take a career in software development seriously. But rather than start over in a software-related major, I decided to give my chosen field another shot, and I took a job as a project manager after completing my degree.

My main responsibilities were to oversee the planning, design, and construction phases of new construction and maintenance projects at an ethanol plant. I quickly realized that I was too far away from the actual work being done, and wanted a career where I could directly impact or “build” the solutions to problems. This led me to try my hand at software development.

I started to teach myself the basics of programming to confirm that I wanted to pursue a career in software. I spent most evenings and weekends reviewing and studying every possible resource I could find. It became my hobby, and soon I knew for sure that I wanted to take a leap of faith and change careers. I discovered a company called HCSS that developed software for the construction industry, and, as it turned out, they were hiring entry-level software developers. HCSS was also consistently rated as one of the “Best Companies to Work for in Texas.”

Even after I was hired, I wondered to myself if HCSS was too good to be true, but it really is an awesome place. Aside from getting so much fulfillment out of my job — every single day, I get to tackle problems head on while creatively building solutions to problems — there’s also an awesome workplace culture here. The people here care about each other, and are passionate about creating great products for our customers.

One of the best examples of that came during Hurricane Harvey. Unfortunately, I was flooded out of my home, and I sought refuge at the office. I hadn’t been there more than 30 minutes when some coworkers (whom I hadn’t even met yet) offered their home to us to give us shelter. This incredible act of kindness was repeated throughout the company, as many of my coworkers offered up their time and their homes to help people devastated by the flooding.

Now I am no longer overseeing job sites, but I am empowering our customers in their efforts to build America. HCSS provided an in-depth training program for one of our core programming languages, and upon graduating that program I was able to hit the ground running. Every day is a new adventure, and HCSS has given me both the skill and the opportunity to tackle them.

 

Credit: Photography by Josh Espinoza

Goodbye BuddyBuild, Hello Appcenter!

Blog, Development

HCSS has used BuddyBuild to help us build our construction software apps for iOS and Android mobile devices.

In my opinion, BuddyBuild had the most seamless experience for Android continuous integration (CI). It could build multiple variants and run instrumented tests on an Android emulator out of the box. Unfortunately, BuddyBuild discontinued Android support on March 1, 2018, so HCSS developers were left to explore other alternatives.

Here’s the quandary: most CI companies have built super-generic workflows that can be customized. Customization is great, but the reality is that none of the super-generic workflows “just work.” Even for a standard build-test-deploy workflow, we have to write custom scripts.

We checked out Appcenter for Android to see if it would fit our needs.

After signing up for an account, Appcenter was able to find our GitHub repositories, and we were able to get a basic build up and running fairly easily. Creating and running unit tests was also straightforward, because there’s a toggle in the build configuration for each branch.

Getting instrumented UI tests working, however, required a lot of trial and error. Appcenter provides three different hooks into the build process: post-clone, pre-build, and post-build.  These scripts need to be placed in a certain part of your Android project.

Problem No. 1: The documentation states that you need to place your appcenter-post-build.sh at the same level as your project-level build.gradle file, (i.e., $APPCENTER_SOURCE_DIR/build.gradle). This is NOT correct. In order for Appcenter to correctly pick up your build scripts, they need to be at the module level, (i.e., $APPCENTER_SOURCE_DIR/app/build.gradle).

Problem No. 2: Even though Appcenter is able to run a basic launch test on a device, it does not automatically build your instrumented test APK file, nor does it have the ability to automatically kick off the test service to run your instrumented tests. In other words, the post-build script has to generate the test APK file and send it up to Microsoft’s test service.  

For us at HCSS, one of our build variants is “devDebug.” Here’s what the script looks like:


#!/usr/bin/env bash
# generate test apk
$APPCENTER_SOURCE_DIRECTORY/gradlew assembleDevDebugAndroidTest
# launch the test service
appcenter test run espresso \
--app "{username}/{appname}" \
--devices "{username}/{deviceSet}" \
--app-path "$APPCENTER_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY/app-dev-debug.apk" \
--test-series "master" \
--locale "en_US" \
--build-dir "$APPCENTER_SOURCE_DIRECTORY/app/build/outputs/apk/androidTest/dev/debug" \
--token "{apiToken}"
 

Catch #3: When entering spaces in a user name or app name, appcenter automatically converts them to hyphens.  Our app name is “HCSS Field”, but the expected app name in the post-build script is “HCSS-Field”. This is not obvious.

Problem No. 4: The documentation for starting up the test service includes the command Appcenter login, which opens your browser and generates an API token. A post-build script obviously cannot be interactive. In order to authenticate the post-build script, you need to include a token, which is generated by going to account settings at the bottom left of the screen.

Problem No. 5: The locale setting in Appcenter-cli does not work on all devices. (The Pixel 2 device we were assigned is in French). Make sure your tests are locale-independent. We had to fix a few tests that assumed the device was en_US.

Problem No. 6: The appcenter-cli –app-path is looking for the full path to the APK, while the –build-dir is looking for the path to the directory containing the test APK. In hindsight, this is obvious given the name of the flag, but it’s strange because the test service is ultimately looking for an APK in both places.

Problem No. 7: The documentation seems to indicate that using the ReportHelper is necessary only if you want to add custom labels to your tests. This is NOT the case. If you don’t add it, your tests will pass, but Appcenter will mark the test suite as failed.

After a bit of back-and-forth, we got our build-test-deploy workflow automated, but it wasn’t easy. Hope this helps anyone migrating to appcenter.ms.

Customer Success: A culture at HCSS

Blog, Interns

I am often asked what customer success is about, and most people picture this role as a contact center position. However, customer success goes beyond phone assistance and traditional customer service. At HCSS, customers are considered the most valuable asset and are the reason we strive for excellence.

The goal of a customer success program is to quickly and effectively resolve issues and enhance relationships with clients. We want to make sure our customers are getting the most out of the products they have purchased. We commit to this, and our goal is to show that we value our customers’ trust.

I joined HCSS just recently as an intern for the Customer Success team. Even though I had previous experience interacting with customers at other companies, I never expected to experience company whose culture included such a commitment to ensuring the success of its customers. At HCSS, the relationship with customers transcends a contract.

Customer success – it is not just a group of individuals working towards the benefit of certain users; it is an objective to which our whole company is committed. From the executive team down through every level of the organization, there is a collaborative way to meet the company’s objectives. It is admirable that the company emphasizes doing things right so that no one is disappointed.

HCSS focuses on creating a proactive interaction with customers in order to create value. We want to understand our customers’ challenges so that we can provide the best answers or solutions and help them achieve their business goals.

When it comes to interacting with customers, we have to be better listeners than talkers, and we have to understand what the user wants to communicate in order for us to select the right roadmap in the search for a solution.

Our goal in the Customer Success team is to be the perfect liaison to transform areas for improvement into opportunities. We want to make a difference by offering helpful and proactive service to our customers in order to build long-term relationships.

A World-Class Opportunity

Blog, Interns

I joined HCSS as a Strategy Intern, hoping it would give me some of the “real-world” experience I need when I graduate. It has now become my favorite internship to date because of all the knowledge I have amassed in the span of a few months. Along with that, HCSS has a culture that is unmatched by most other companies, which creates a great environment in which to work. Fellow employees will go out of their way to help someone, and that’s why I’m proud of my company.

I am part of a team working to push a newly-developed product to market. That entails analyzing the market, gathering feedback on the product, assisting in marketing, finding and fixing bugs, conducting market research, managing projects, and other responsibilities. You can see that HCSS doesn’t spoon-feed us and make interns fetch coffee for managers. HCSS gives its interns everything we need to succeed and will help us to do so.

My favorite part of working here is the culture. HCSS works to be more than just a software company. Among other things, it strives to be a valuable part of the community. Another thing I like about HCSS is that it sticks by its values, which are not just words on a wall. What makes this company different from others that I have worked with is that it sets an example. The values and mission statement have meaning here and are not taken lightly. It can be seen in the way people interact and work. For me, HCSS has shown how a company sets an example for people and what others can learn from that.

The best skill I have learned is leadership. When I am in control of my projects, I am responsible for my actions. It has helped me become more decisive and better at delegating tasks. Other skills I have improved upon are teamwork, communication, organizing, and self-management. Since I am also a student at the University of Houston, I can apply my learned skills to my classes and the organizations that I am a part of.

Overall, HCSS has helped me develop as best I can be, and it’s something I can’t thank the company for enough. The key to success is something anyone can create here because HCSS will give you the means to do so. It’s great to work with a team that teaches me something new every day, and I look forward to seeing what we all can accomplish together.

Enhancing My Skills as a LMS Intern

Blog, Interns

I never thought I’d be working in an internship that is as engaging, inventive, and creative at this point of my life. I was given the opportunity to work at HCSS, a software company, as a Learning Management System summer intern, and, to be quite frank, I had no idea what to expect. I was extremely nervous since this was my first internship at a big company, and I had very little experience applying my skills outside of school.

However, all my doubts were quickly diminished once I started working. I was given small tasks to start off with, and then my supervisor set up a meeting with a representative from the learning management system (LMS) that HCSS uses. In this meeting, I was able to see the ins and outs to what I’d be primarily working on, which is the HCSS Academy. After I became familiar with the Academy, I started editing videos and organizing courses within the LMS.

Projects

I started off by being handed some small internal projects within the company. My first task was to create a PDF for a course by the Cloud Services team, and I got to debut my design skills. I was then given the responsibility to re-design certain elements of the LMS. My supervisor gave me free reign on the design, and now it’s going to be the new look of the LMS. (On a quick side note, HCSS actually allows their interns to make decisions and have their work integrated into the company and its products.) Coming from a previous job where my work as an intern wasn’t used a whole lot, I was extremely excited when my design was going to be implemented into the LMS.

Another unique project that I worked on for a couple of months was actually for the support department. I was asked to create support stickers that were going to be used as a form of recognition and achievement throughout the support department. It was a great way to meet more co-workers and actually work with them to create what they need. With this project, I was actually able to enhance my graphic design skills and creativity in a way I’ve never done before.

Now I’m currently working on creating a software certification exam, and I’m also re-designing the HCSS Community website. As a Digital Media major at the University of Houston, I am constantly building and improving my portfolio of work, and having an internship where I can keep adding more and more to it is extremely rewarding.

New Technical Skills I’ve Learned

Through this internship I’ve also been able to acquire some new technical skills. I learned how to use Camtasia, a video editing software that we use to create the training videos for the LMS. I learned how to use Adobe Captivate to create simulation trainings that also include tests and quizzes. And I learned how to work in the Skill Jar platform and understand how it works to form the LMS. As an LMS Intern, I now know some basics to e-learning, which is an up-and-coming concept in this digital age, and I already have some hands-on experience with it.

HCSS Culture & Experience

I love what I do as an intern, but the culture at HCSS makes it even more worthwhile. It’s exciting to wake up and see what’s new at work. HCSS is always incorporating new things into the workplace for their employees, and that makes employees feel special about working there.

One particular thing I enjoy at work is going outside with a few coworkers and getting to play with dogs. (HCSS allows employees to bring their dogs to work and keep them in kennels outside.) It’s such a fun way to take a quick break, and I also get to socialize with some of my coworkers.

HCSS genuinely cares about their employees and really knows how to give us an excellent work life. My overall experience here has been extremely rewarding, and I am very grateful to have this experience. I’ve been able to learn so much and grow my skills, and I’m excited that I get to continue into the spring semester.

 

Credit: Photography by Josh Espinoza

Being Young and Being Part of the Construction Industry

Blog, Development, Interns

Few kids say they want to work in the construction industry when they grow up. It’s perceived as an industry that only employs blue-collar workers who spend hours out in the scorching sun.

While in reality, the construction industry encompasses many jobs and career fields that suit all sorts of people, the stigma still clouds the industry and keeps the younger generation from envisioning a career in it. Honestly, it never crossed my mind that I’d find myself working alongside this industry, but here I am. These are my thoughts on construction.

Separating HCSS from the construction industry, you’ll find a high-tech software company that creates products to help make construction professionals’ lives easier. The company provides great customer support, and our tech support analysts know everything they need to know about our products to provide quality service. In fact, walking through the tech support wing, you’ll see a relaxed team that enjoys what they are doing.

Before I worked at HCSS, I imagined tech support as a call center with phones ringing non-stop and people rushing to get each call over with to move to the next one. But that’s not the way it is at HCSS. Our tech support representatives take their time with every customer to make sure their questions or issues are resolved.

Because I work with the product managers, I get a glimpse of all the different departments of the company. Seeing all the cogs working together and chugging along makes me proud to be working at HCSS.

HCSS is deeply embedded in construction. We introduce newer technology to an industry that is perceived to lack the innovation needed to thrive. The industry may be on an innovative track, but the lack of information about the industry is a reason why there aren’t a lot of kids who dream of working in it.

As an intern at a company whose customers are in construction, I find myself questioning why there is no information given to the younger generations about the opportunities in this industry. They are told about engineering and architecture, but people separate construction from those other career options. I even find myself separating what I do at HCSS, which is programming, from construction. To be fair, software development and construction don’t sound like they go hand-in-hand. And when friends and family ask me where I work, I tell them I work at a software company, but I don’t really elaborate on the industry I serve. I do tell them about the slide and the Segways and the other fun perks of working here, which paint HCSS as the best company to work for. But calling HCSS a construction company unfortunately doesn’t paint an exciting picture.

However, there is a push to get information about construction out to younger generations. HCSS President and CEO Mike Rydin created I Build America [www.ibuildamerica.com], a movement designed to bring awareness and pride to the men and women who work in the construction industry and highlight the opportunities available for the next generation. It is a great way to mobilize young people to start thinking about a career in construction. The perception of construction jobs is that all you need is a high school diploma, but there are many jobs available for those with a higher education. Again, it goes back to the overall public perception that construction is just manual labor in the sun, but a construction company still needs all the office jobs that other types of companies need.

I Build America is a noble movement to bring respect and appreciation to an industry that does not receive enough credit, and it makes me proud to be working for the company driving it. Whenever I’m on the road, instead of seeing construction as a nuisance, I have learned to appreciate all of the work involved in building America, both literally and figuratively.

Putting My Education to Practice as a QA Intern

Blog, Development

My internship experience this summer as a Quality Assurance intern in the Research and Development department has been very engaging and has provided me with many opportunities. The R&D team was created to design new products that encompass the vision that so many employees at HCSS have for the construction industry. An idea can only be visualized to a certain extent before it takes a team to come together and make it come to life.

I came into this summer internship with only one college semester left before I graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems. The QA role seemed to be a great fit to reflect all the things I had learned in classes up to this point, and it provided me with an opportunity to implement and further expand that knowledge. In my college classes, I learned about a lot of the daily workflows and terms used around the workplace, but I had never had the chance to apply them to real-life scenarios.

Most of my daily work consisted of finding bugs in new releases and posting them to a scrum board for our developers to pick up and fix. Afterwards, I would grab the bugs they had worked on and verify that they functioned properly. This process would run in roughly two-week cycles called sprints, and, at the end, we would call a meeting to analyze the positives and negatives that happened and ways we could improve for the next sprint. This was the routine Agile development system the team had been going through for months before I joined them.

One unique learning experience I got was visiting a load site where dump trucks were getting loaded up with dirt by an excavator to create a retention pond. The HCSS Trucking application that I’ve been testing all summer is optimized to make the ticket writer’s job extremely simple and eliminate the use of the paper ticket system that the trucking industry has always used. Out at the site, we would go to meet up with the ticket writer who is using the app. We would gather bug info and ask for input on improving our app based on their usage in the field. Getting to see their jobs and bring those thought processes back to the office allowed me to create better use-case scenarios for testing. This also allowed me to offer feature suggestions that will help optimize the user experience.

When I reflect on the experience I had with this internship, one thing that sticks out is the relationships I’ve built with so many people at this company. It has been great to see how much a team can get accomplished through clear communication and the common drive each member has to innovate an industry in so many new ways.

The Life Of A Computer Science Major in QA Automation

Blog, Development, Interns

When I accepted the opportunity to work for HCSS as a Quality Assurance Automation Intern, I really had no idea what to expect. I originally wanted to work in software development, but all of the positions were already taken. I knew a little about Quality Assurance (QA) from my previous job but nothing about test automation, so I was all for learning something new. Luckily my supervisor sent me some links, so I was able to do a little research before jumping in. The team was also very helpful if I had any questions.

HCSS also has a very in-depth training program for just about everything, including automation. The training is similar to a classroom setting, with a lecture, some practical application, assignments, and a follow-up meeting to go over what we have learned and how we applied it to our work.

I was slightly concerned about going into QA instead of development because I was worried I wouldn’t get much coding practice in — and for a Computer Science major, this is important. Fortunately I can code my own test scripts in C# or use the software tools. I didn’t have background knowledge in C#, but, like most programming languages, the main difference is syntax. This was awesome because I was learning a new language and a new skill.

Let’s Get Technical

What I learned about QA

We don’t learn about QA in school, which is unfortunate because it is important to know and not many programmers or developers like testing (unless you’re testing out a friend’s program and he dares you to break it). We would all like our code to be perfect, but it almost never is, and even on development teams there is a lot of code review to help with good coding practices. I knew there was testing done prior to releasing an application or some new software, but I didn’t realize the extent of the testing or the amount of planning that goes into it.

After a few weeks I realized just how wrong my perception was. QA is a process used in every phase of development for new software or existing software with new features. It consists of reviewing product requirements, collaborating with developers, functional testing, documenting and reproducing defects, and much more. It is one of the main processes that gives the go or no-go with a software release. In short, QA develops and executes test strategies for software before it is even software and continues to test features after release. There are many things we don’t learn in school as Computer Science majors, and QA is one of them.

Automation

For the few months I have been at HCSS, my knowledge of QA has grown, and I have realized just how important it is in the development process. But now let’s get into Automation.

One of the main differences between QA and automation is how the testing is actually performed. For starters, automation does not require anyone at the driver seat while testing is being done. You can write scripts that will test features you specifically have chosen. This makes automation a very efficient way to find bugs since it can be run at any time. It also helps by reducing man hours spent on testing, giving QA leads more time to focus on more pressing matters, like reproducing and fixing a known issue or testing around a known issue prior to release. It can also help with smoke testing after a release to ensure the product features are working properly. If an issue is found, the automation software lets you know when and where the failure occurred so it can be investigated. Automation essentially helps by testing features that testers and users work with on a day-to-day basis and narrows down failures.

Cultural Experience

HCSS has a lot of cool things going on each day, which was something I wasn’t really used to. They have a gym, a track, a slide, a game room, and we even have a game night after hours, which is pretty awesome. HCSS also provides lunch every Friday, and members of the QA department provide breakfast for the team every Wednesday. When the QA department hired a lot of new people, they decided to have a meet-and-greet BBQ, which gave a lot of us the opportunity to meet each other. Each team also has a “Team Building Budget” that allows team members to go out and do activities together. Automation went to go see War for the Planet of the Apes. There is always something fun going on, and that’s just some of the things that makes HCSS culture amazing.

My Experience With HCSS And The Automation Team

My experience here at HCSS and on the automation team has been very positive, and it has a lot to do with the culture. I don’t know if I would have enjoyed myself as much if I had taken a job somewhere else. HCSS genuinely cares about their employees, their families, and the community. It is literally the best place I have ever worked. The automation team has helped me develop new skills and a new outlook on development. I am truly grateful for the experience and I am glad that I will continue to be a part of HCSS for the fall semester. I will share more experiences in the future, and I hope you come by to check them out.

My Internship Experience

Blog, Development, Interns

As someone who had just graduated from high school, interning at a software company like HCSS felt extremely intimidating. The only experience I’ve had with software development was from the courses I took in school and some personal projects I’ve done in my free time. So when I was assigned to work with the Android team, I was worried that I would hold the team back due to my inexperience.

However, my learning experience was surprisingly smooth. I was given basic tasks at first, such as adding fields to the user interface or performing simple bug fixes. Occasionally I’d run into some challenges or issues, but none that I felt was insurmountable. One of the skills I had to learn was to be willing to ask questions. Early on I would spend hours trying to solve a problem that had a simple solution, or spend time working on a feature just to realize that I had misunderstood the objective at the end. Over time, I realized that it was more efficient to ask for help once I’ve exhausted my options of figuring out the problem on my own or to clarify the details of my task if I feel there is any ambiguity.

I was also introduced to code review in HCSS, which is a system to ensure quality by having developers review each other’s code and request any changes they feel will make the code better. For me, code reviews were my primary source to learn about good coding practices and industry standards. Although I would sometimes feel disappointed in how many mistakes I made, I was able to gauge how much I needed to improve, and I was able to learn from each mistake in the code review.

The most surprising aspect of HCSS for me was how much emphasis the company puts on employee health and wellness. Compared to my previous experiences in fast food, where the businesses have little regard for their employees, HCSS actually cares about the work environment and the wellbeing of its employees, which is evident through all the amenities provided. For me, this makes me motivated to work harder and give back to the company.

Overall, I definitely learned several valuable skills and lessons from my internship at HCSS, and I’m continuing to learn more each day. HCSS gave me exposure to professional software development and its practices, as well as the opportunity to work with and meet brilliant people. The experience I gained is priceless, and I couldn’t ask for more from my internship.

 

Credit: Photography by Josh Espinoza

What HCSS has Taught me as a Development Intern

Blog, Interns

Some people may consider an internship to be a part-time job over one summer of college, with the sole purpose being to bolster the real-life experience portion of a résumé. In some minds, interning means arriving at work in a suit at some ungodly hour of the morning in a suit with a tray full of coffee, dreading the monotony of the next eight hours laboriously copying data from an Excel document into a database.

Thankfully, my internship at HCSS has proven to be much more fulfilling and worthwhile than those stereotypes. As I wrap up my fifth week and have had a good amount of time to get accustomed to the culture, I thought now would be an appropriate time to reflect upon how HCSS has empowered me as an intern.

I’ve heard time and time again how HCSS pours back into its employees to promote a healthy culture that fosters high-quality work and how employees rave about working for such a company. As such, I’ve looked at the ways HCSS has helped me grow as a software engineer.

 

1. Expanding knowledge and pursuing challenges

Interning at HCSS has meant being placed on a team of peers that nurtures my growth as a developer by capitalizing on my strengths, all the while helping me to pick up new skills. My first day here was exciting, but I also knew that within a couple days I would be diving into unfamiliar territory with regards to the code that I would be working. Moreover, I had no prior experience with C# and was unsure how to start working on the vast expanse of code that makes up Equipment360, our equipment maintenance software for construction companies.

But my project manager, Reji, helped me develop an understanding of C# through an array of online resources and his tutorial book, which ultimately simplified the process and eased the various concerns I had about the jobs I would undertake. HCSS has helped me pick up new technologies with ease so that I may quickly dive into getting work done. Furthermore, it has helped me understand that new materials and challenges are not something I should dread or try to avoid, but rather opportunities for growth to be tackled head-on.

 

2. Seeing what I’ve learned being put into practice

Interning at HCSS means working for a company that effectively contributes to and expands the toolbox of skills I’ve developed in school. It’s rewarding and, frankly, magical to see different software development methodologies you have superficially discussed within an academic setting actually getting fleshed out in the workplace. Whether that’s experiencing the different types of developer meetings that I learned about through my Software Engineering classes or visualizing sprint burndown charts, HCSS has helped reinforce my understanding of various academic disciplines by pushing them to the next level.

 

3. Encouragement from coworkers

Finally, HCSS has helped me develop and grow as a software engineer through the wonderful people who work here. Working with people who actively want to see you improve and care about your contributions means a great deal to anyone, especially an intern, and I’m thankful that this quality abounds in HCSS employees. My coworkers have taught me that my work has value and that I should actively seek to improve and engage in a continuous cycle of feedback and learning. HCSS truly provides the tools for anyone to succeed, and they will as long as the individual wielding them actively seeks to learn, request feedback for his or her work, and identify ways to improve.

 

Credit: Photography by Josh Espinoza

Footer

About

We’re giving construction a little tech shakeup! Our software solutions have been helping construction companies work smarter since 1986. Today, we’re the known industry leader, serving thousands of contractors across the nation. We’re always growing and looking for more talent as we continue to innovate, refine, and expand our products, year after year.

Connect

Contact