Winnie Tu

Achieving that Elusive Work-Life Balance

Blog, Development, Featured Posted: January 20, 2017

HCSS has provided balance to my life in more ways than one. I left my job as a full-time software engineer with a Department of Defense contracting company almost four years ago to work as a part-time software developer at HCSS. While I had multiple reasons for leaving, the primary reason was that I was stretching myself too thin trying to balance work and my family.

My husband had a long commute to downtown Houston everyday on top of long hours at the office. My boys were just 4 and 5 years old at the time, and since I worked remotely from home, I was always the one responsible for getting them ready and off to their separate schools, working a full day, picking them up again, making dinner, and sometimes even bedtime. Due to my husband’s career change from the Marine Corps to the banking industry, he had additional training and certifications to earn on top of his long work days and client dinners. I basically felt like a single mother on the weekdays (although I’m sure that is even harder, and I did get some respite on the weekends).

My whole life I had enjoyed staying active by playing sports or working out and was no longer making time to do so. I constantly felt rushed and would feel guilty leaving the boys in after-school care for too long. Frequently, I would cut my work day short and then finish working in the evening once the kids were asleep. I basically felt like all my time was either devoted to work or my kids. I knew something had to change.

Fast forward four years, and my life now is very different. Not only did I become a mom of three with the addition of our precious little girl a couple years ago, but I have finally found the work-life balance I had been longing for. HCSS has not only encouraged me to grow professionally, but instilled the importance of being active and leading a healthy lifestyle. Working part-time allowed me to devote time to my family, career, and myself. Now, even when I am busy, I make time to run, bike, or practice yoga. Through HCSS, I have been roped into (volunteered for?) three 200-mile, 12-man relays and have completed my first half-marathon. I also enjoy playing volleyball after work with my fellow coworkers when my schedule allows for it. I even played for a company-sponsored co-ed softball team for a while.

Six months ago, my husband became a wealth advisor for a company in Sugar Land (WJ Interests), cutting his commute time from more than hour down to 10 minutes. He is now able to help with the kids by getting them off to school in the morning so that we can stagger our work schedules. Now we can both shuttle the boys to and from baseball, flag football, basketball, and swim team (thankfully not all in the same season). Coming full circle, I recently went back to working full-time as a software developer with HCSS. I love the work I do here, and the people are pretty awesome too. I get to create innovative web applications using the latest technologies, and we make a huge impact on the construction industry. I am thankful to HCSS for giving me the job flexibility that I needed for the past few years and hope to grow with the company in the years to come.

Jump-Starting My Career and a Passion for Design

Blog, Development Posted: January 11, 2017

“A user interface is like a joke. If you have to explain it, it’s not that good.”
–Martin LeBlanc

“You don’t think your way to creative work. You work your way to creative thinking.”
–George Nelson

Enlightenment

A young, 20-something-year-old from Michigan finally graduates and receives his Bachelor of Science in computer engineering. He spends the next couple of years working with hardware as an automotive engineer while feeling completely unfulfilled and dreaming of creating software applications. So he moves to Houston, Texas, where family resides, and intends to use it as a stop-gap for finding a worthwhile position in the well-known technology hub of Austin.

One hundred applications and many interviews later, his frustration is at an all-time high. He still doesn’t have a job and just can’t seem to get his foot in the door at any tech company. He reluctantly starts hunting for jobs in Houston and, to his surprise, comes across a posting for an entry-level software developer. The position doesn’t even require a degree.

“Hmm,” he thinks, “that’s…different — but cool. It might level the playing field for an engineer competing against computer science graduates. Maybe it’s a lucky break.”

He checks out the company’s website and sees they create software for civil engineering and heavy construction companies. He notices a lineup of software products for PC, mobile, and web platforms. He spots an award badge indicating it is one of the “Best Companies to Work For in Texas.

Both impressed and intimidated, he takes the basic assessment test required to submit a résumé, attaches the file, and thinks, “Well, it’s a long shot, but let’s see what happens,” before hitting the “Submit” button.

He starts his new position as a software developer two weeks later.

(Spoiler alert) I was that 20-something-year-old. Cue the shock.

Now almost four years later, I realize looking back that moving to Houston and submitting that résumé was a life-defining moment and one of my smartest decisions for personal and professional growth. It’s up there with going to college and getting Netflix for the first time.

In those four years, I’ve:

written code for enterprise-level software,
helped launch a product as the lead designer,
analyzed businesses for new software solutions,
participated in our large annual software conferences,
facilitated customer usability testing,
attended a professional design conference in Dallas, and
sketched or prototyped close to 50 different software features.

Oh yeah, I also happen to be in the best shape of my life and eating healthier than ever thanks to our wellness culture. Actually, it just hit me after listing all this how much has happened in such a short time. Those experiences have absolutely enriched my life, and I would recommend working here to anyone.

You see, HCSS values character, passion, and potential for growth just as much as it does experience or qualifications. If you possess those qualities, they’ll take the time to train and educate you, as well as provide resources to ensure success. It’s the reason why no degree is necessary for some of our technical positions. It’s why we promote our culture. It’s also why I became a user experience (UX) designer.

The Development Experience

I mentioned earlier that HCSS originally hired me as a software developer. I went through a training course before spending close to a year working on our HeavyJob product. I was a good programmer but not great; yet I loved creating software and felt I possessed a broader skillset that could bring value to the company. When I expressed these feelings to my manager, he responded with, “Cool, what would you like to do?”

Think about that. No, seriously. At how many other companies would you have an open conversation with your boss and then have him encourage you to change positions and pursue whatever you wanted?

“Well, design seems really interesting, and I think I could be good at it,” I told him. And thus, without any formal design education or previous experience, he allowed me to join the team part-time as an experimental test run. While splitting time between being a developer and designer, I found my true passion, immersed myself in creative thinking, and was a full-time designer just a few months later.

#UX @HCSS

Most people assume that I’m artistic or have a graphical background because of my profession. When asked, I always chuckle and respond with, “Not really, I’ve never been very artistic — just creative.”

The truth is, design is far more than making things look pretty. Good design is natural, intuitive, and hardly noticeable. Being a UX designer has as much to do with psychology, statistics, and business analysis as it does with colors, fonts, and spacing.

A designer must be able to see inefficiencies in processes, think like a user, gather data, stay up-to-date on modern technologies and standards, possess a technical understanding of feasibility per platform, collaborate closely with peers, take risks, and — most importantly — receive criticism. In return, he or she gains incredible satisfaction when the design makes it through the development process to release and is well received by customers.

The Scrum Life

Our development process follows a scrum-agile framework. For the uninitiated, we have two-week iterations, i.e., sprints, with small releases at the end. In that time, teams estimate work and plan what to accomplish, then design and develop those items, and finally test before releasing — all in two weeks. This ensures products are consistently updated, flexible to change, and can be developed in small chunks with improvements over time. But because of the quick creation process and speedy turnarounds, it is paramount that designers break their projects into pieces, work closely with developers, and can juggle multiple different tasks at one time in order to finish all the work in a sprint.

The designers act kind of like consultants to product teams that have the most design work. Therefore, a designer can be actively designing small items for one team, have a project ready for the next phase in another, and be mocking up or researching a new feature for a third.

See How These Converse Fit…

My typical day looks something like this:

Morning

Attend daily scrum to recap what was worked on before and what is coming up.
Meet with developers individually to answer business requirement or design detail questions.
Make sure no one is blocked or confused.
Tour the building to check with teams working on other projects I’ve designed.
Attend Design Team daily scrum, and then peer review each other’s work.
Craft smaller in-sprint items that came up in the daily scrum, e.g., phrasing, specific colors, etc.

Rest of the Day

Sketch mock-ups. (I love graphing paper and colored pencils for initial ideas.)
Create high-fidelity interactive prototypes.
Detail upcoming features and review mockups or changes with product managers.
Write feature notes for my mockups and prototypes.

It may sound like a lot going every day, but that’s what makes it so enjoyable! No week is ever the same, the work is constantly changing, and I build relationships with more groups of people than probably any other department in the company.

A Community of Awesome

These relationships are a huge incentive, too. There are many reasons to be thankful for a job at HCSS: a casual dress environment, profit-sharing, company-paid health insurance, paid time off rollover, annual education funds, etc. But what makes it truly stand apart as an incredible workplace are the employees.

Have you ever held a job where your co-workers were difficult to work with, inappropriate, negligent, malcontented, or unqualified for their position?

Not here.

The company is brimming with fun, intelligent, multicultural men and women who are positive thinkers, passionate techies, and complex problem-solvers with helpful attitudes and friendly dispositions. Thanks to them, coming to work never feels like a chore or something to dread.

Oh, and our activities here are also pretty sweet. Here are some of the highlights from 2016 alone:

We played flag football during lunch.
We held a company-wide dodgeball tournament.
Developers regularly played cards or video games together after work.
Our annual crawfish boil was excellent, as always.
Office pranks were pretty common.
The Design Team took second place in a seriously creative gingerbread house contest.
A large group of developers took a half-day see the new Rogue One movie together.

And if you have hobbies of your own, chances are others here have an interest in them, too. We have clubs for anime, books, movies, yo-yos, basketball, soccer, poker, learning Mandarin, tea, and more that I don’t remember or haven’t heard about. It really is like seeing all your friends at work every day.

Let’s Wrap it Up (I Hear Music)

So what’s my point? What does it all mean? Who am I? What is life?

(Maybe I get too carried away.)

My point is that HCSS gives opportunities. It gave me the opportunity to grow my career (in a direction of my choosing), learn the software industry, and collaborate with talented individuals. It’s why I, and so many of others here, have such an appreciation for this company.

Financial freedom is the reason I have to work; the HCSS community is the reason I want to.

Credit: Photography by Josh Espinoza

Every Day is Different for Support Techs

Blog, Tech Support Posted: December 12, 2016

I have been working in the HCSS Support department for a year and a half. This company has really been a dream come true in so many ways.
I got the job three months before graduating college. It’s less than 10 minutes away from my childhood home, and it’s just the coolest place to work. As a Technical Support Analyst, I am part of the crew responsible for first response to customers who call in with issues using our construction software. We handle anything that comes our way, from simple how-to questions to “My server exploded!” calls — not an actual case, but you get the idea.This job keeps me on my toes because I never know what’s going to happen when I pick up the phone. It’s a kind of work lottery, if you will. Depending on the scope of the call, my day could drastically change from how I thought it was going to go that morning.But I’ve been very impressed by our customers. They are smart, goal-driven individuals who are striving to accomplish their task as effectively as possible, and it’s a privilege to play a small part in their success. In my 18 months at HCSS, I have answered nearly 5,000 phone calls, so I hope my role has made a difference.

That’s not to say that I’ve helped that many individual people, though. We have plenty of customers who utilize our services regularly, and it’s always fun to hear a familiar voice. I like to think that we build a rapport and have more of a working relationship than just being a voice on the other end of the phone giving out information.

Fortunately, HCSS gives us plenty of opportunities to get out of the office and meet our customers face-to-face. The majority of my recent travel has been for work, having had the privilege to assist in HeavyBid trainings in Philadelphia and Chicago this year. Our Users Group Meeting, or UGM, is a blast, and it’s amazing to see how many people love to use our software and the actual impact it’s making across the country. UGM is a huge event, and it’s really great to put names to faces with the customers I get to work with every day.

I’m excited to see where my career at HCSS will take me, and I know that it will be great. If you ever call in to support, ask for me. I’d love to have the chance to talk with you.

An Intern’s Perspective of HCSS Culture

Blog, Interns Posted: December 12, 2016

I have been a Digital Marketing Intern at HCSS for a little more than a year. Before starting with the company, I was a little intimidated. It was my first real job, and I was barely scratching the surface of the skills that HCSS needed.

First, I should talk about the hiring process because it can be a huge deal for people looking to apply. You have to pass two logic/math tests — one online and one in-person — in addition to a phone screening before coming in for multiple in-person interviews. Now, this may seem like a lot, but I cannot explain how worth it the entire process is. The company has a thorough application process for good reason: they are looking for a good culture fit.

The HCSS culture is extremely unique, and therefore hard to explain, but the best way might be to describe a normal morning going into work. After getting out of my car I see a worker ahead of me holding the door open. The support team is on the phone with customers while walking around with NERF® guns. People are coming into the kitchen to grab some fruit and coffee for breakfast. Half of them are in jeans and a graphic tee. I am greeted with smiles by at least five people before I even reach my seat (one of them was the CEO). I sit down to start working on my assignments for the day. I get to a problem I don’t know how to solve and have professionals surrounding me ready to give me a helping hand. I’ve seen people come in on their first day surprised by the way our company runs itself, and I cannot understand why. How could a company not run day-to-day like HCSS?

My career goals are constantly developing. I am 20 years old and at that time in my life where I must question what I want to do for the rest of it. Initially, I worked in social media marketing. Now, I am a video production intern. HCSS is a unique place when it comes to careers. Managers work with employees to make sure they are happy in their current position. But if someone sees themselves working in a different department in the future, HCSS will gladly hear them out.

HCSS is by far the best place to intern. As a University of Houston student, I have many responsibilities outside of work. I know I can go to my manager and voice my concerns when finals come around or a big project is near. HCSS understands that school comes first for students and time is needed for studies. As an intern, I have been offered an endless amount of opportunities in my field, opportunities that my fellow students are struggling to find. I get to work alongside professionals with the same passions. I have access to top-of-the-line photography and video equipment, free creativity to apply to any project I am taking on, and nice pay.

HCSS has fully supported my growth as a student and in my career. It would be near impossible to find another company with workers, support, and culture like at HCSS. I cannot imagine working anywhere else.

I Might Actually Like Running, Thanks to HCSS

Blog, More Posted: December 8, 2016

The tank top I wore during my last leg of the 2016 Texas Independence Relay sums up my general feelings toward this sport: I HATE RUNNING. But in order to truly understand the significance (and humor) of that outfit choice, I should probably provide some background to set the scene.

Commitment to Wellness

HCSS is uniquely invested in employee wellness, providing a Google-like work environment with access to a track, jogging trail, gym, basketball court, onsite workout classes, healthy snacks and lunches, and other fun amenities that help us maintain both physical and mental health. In fact, I’m writing this while sitting on a leather couch watching my colleagues put equipment away after a rigorous dodgeball tournament held earlier today.

In addition to the daily activities, HCSS sponsors the Texas Independence Relay (TIR) – a 200-mile relay race across Texas – for 24 employees and any friends and family members who are crazy enough to participate with us. Every year the 12 fastest runners load into two huge white vans on a Saturday morning and head to Gonzales, Texas, to pose for pictures by a cannon before starting their first of 40 total legs for the weekend. In their picture, the team always looks well rested and excited as they shield their eyes from the mid-morning sun. They’re eager to take on the challenge of running as a group for 26 hours straight.

And every year the other 12 runners load into another two vans the Friday night before and drive to Gonzales as part of the “fun” team. We have to start five hours earlier than the fast team in order to (ideally) finish around the same time. So, our pictures look vastly different from the one I described earlier. We are standing by the same cannon, but since it’s 6 a.m., we have sleep in our eyes from waking up so early, probably desperately need coffee, and are shielding our eyes from the camera flash because it’s still pitch black outside as we begin our first leg of the race. Oh, and we have to run for 30+ hours straight.

What Was I Thinking?

When I started at HCSS almost five months ago, I was drawn to the company culture and appreciated the wellness focus. I have been an athlete my entire life: an elite national softball player since age 5, indoor volleyball player (and now competitive sand volleyball player), and sprint swimmer growing up. But I never ventured into track or cross-country. In my mind, they require a lot of running. Softball, volleyball, and swimming require bursts of speed and energy, not the same type of endurance you need to run for miles at a time.

At HCSS, your colleagues aren’t just people you work with, they’re real friends. And one of my new friends convinced me to sign up for this relay race since, you know, all athletes are great long-distance runners, right? While I appreciated her confidence in my ability to translate my sports history into running excellence, I knew better. I reluctantly agreed to honor my commitment to the team, but was very upfront about my slow running pace.

Then something crazy happened: I was asked to be the captain of the fun team. Now, how did I go from avoiding running at all costs to captaining a team of people who signed up to run this race alongside their fearless, running-loving leader? I want to say I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I believe it was actually the other way around; I was in the right place at the right time.

The Main Event

HCSS has sponsored TIR for years, so several of our runners are veterans of the event. On the fun team, five of the 12 members participated in TIR last year. Of course, they were all in one van (why didn’t we split them up?), along with only one rookie runner (who surprised us all with a significantly faster running time than anticipated). So, you do the math: the remaining six people in the second fun team van were newbies, both to running in general and to this non-stop relay event.

Leg 1
The first van started off strong, setting the bar high for van number two. While they were running at record-breaking speeds (at least compared to my pace), our van was cruising through rural Texas, taking in the scenery and getting to know each other better. I might have seemed completely calm and collected, but inside, I was stressing out. I’m pretty sure my body had already begun to reject the idea of running before I even started (think: racing heart, nervous sweating, and a phantom headache). Luckily, no one noticed.

When it was my turn to run, I was extremely intimidated. I did very little training before this (I honestly thought my natural athleticism would carry me through, which is delusional based on my aforementioned issues with running). My teammates rallied around me and helped motivate me to at least get out of the van and stand at the starting point for my leg of the race, which happened to be in the middle of a German festival. (Yes, the oompahs from the tubas were interfering with the perfect running playlist I’d created).

I was so proud when I saw my teammate running through the crowd toward me because he’d been dealing with the flu all week and was about to finish a six-mile run despite his illness. And then the fear of running hit me again. Another teammate knew I was terrified of disappointing my team, so he ran the first half mile of my leg with me despite running a six-mile leg about an hour before. And guess what? I successfully made it through my first leg even after he stopped running with me!

During that first leg, I had an interesting dialog going on in my head:

“Man, I really hope I don’t die out here.”

“Actually, I’m an amazing runner and will pass everyone on the course!”

“Oh wait, that guy just passed me. And that one. And that one. Great.”

“I swear if my headphone batteries die, I’m quitting.”

“Maybe a rattlesnake will jump out of the bushes and bite me so I’ll have to go to the nice air-conditioned hospital and never run again.”

“Well, that would be a mistake because then I’d have to deal with snake poison issues, and that seems like a hassle. Plus, my family would probably be sad.”

“This is a great song! I’m going to sprint!”

“Sprinting was a bad idea.”

“I am regretting so many decisions I’ve made in my life right now.”

“Is that the finish line?? I think it is! And it’s a downhill slope? Awesome! Maybe I should sprint!”

“Okay, note to self: stop sprinting.”

“But I’m so close!”

“Almost there!”

“DONE!”

It felt amazing to finish my first leg and hand off to the next team member. We were on a roll!

Leg 2

The nighttime run about five hours later was so exhilarating for everyone in our van. The air was crisp and cool and we’d all had a chance to shower and eat. The night was pitch black except for the thousands of stars in the sky, the occasional passing car’s headlights, and the glow of other runners’ head lamps.

When I ran at 1 a.m., I felt isolated from the rest of the world. The only person I was competing against was myself. I’d never felt this type of peace and calm before, and I didn’t even care when other runners passed me. Did I just fall in love with running?

Leg 3

Okay, I think I fell in love with nighttime running. I ended up getting about an hour of sleep between our second and third legs, but it was on the floor of a teammate’s apartment wrapped in my University of Texas snuggie with my duffel bag as a pillow.

Sunday morning came way too quickly. If you had seen our team stumble out of the apartment, you would’ve thought we were trying to survive the zombie apocalypse (minus the weaponry). We were sweaty, unwashed, and wearing the same clothes we slept in, limping on tired legs and struggling to get into our van to meet up with our comrades for the next handoff.

That last leg was brutal. Everyone cramped up at some point, some of us felt nauseous, people got lost, and I’m pretty sure the guy with the flu started hallucinating. We ran past all of the dedicated morning runners in Houston, along the treacherous downtown sidewalks, and through some “interesting” neighborhoods. I’m almost positive I walked more than I ran during that leg, but it felt amazing to finally reach the end of my last leg, with my teammates and other participants cheering me on.

Redefining My Perspective

During those two grueling days, everyone on the fun team ran at a better pace than expected. We all stopped along the way to give water to our runners and cheer them on as they blazed through their mileage under the hot Texas sun. Everyone got out of the van at each exchange point to congratulate the runner who just finished and start the next runner off on a high note. The entire team bonded, and it was really amazing to be a part of it.

At the end, we ran, walked, hobbled, or stumbled as a team toward the finish line at the San Jacinto Monument. I was proud to hand medals to my teammates who worked so hard to earn them. We even finished second in our division!

Because of my background in team sports, and as the oldest of four daughters in my family, I was in my comfort zone leading and coaching the team. I love encouraging others to reach their full potential, break through mental barriers, and achieve what they may consider unachievable. One teammate later described me as:

The Organizing/Updating/Run Hating (and Loving?) Glue of the Operation – Ashley used her organizational skills to get everything moving and stable. She constantly had the whole group connected by text messaging while we were on the course. She also seemed to hate life and embrace the run all at the same time. Ashley did all of this while never having run more than five miles at one time (until TIR).

What a privilege to have been part of a team that achieved so much in one weekend. I am grateful that HCSS gave us the opportunity to take on this challenge, and that they trusted me to anchor the team.

I must be crazy because I’ve already started planning for next year and have a goal to improve my pace time significantly. I guess that means I have to trade in my I HATE RUNNING tank top for one that says I LIKE (LOVE?) RUNNING.

Pouring the Foundation

Blog, Tech Support Posted: December 7, 2016

We’ve all been there before:

It’s broken or you can’t figure out how to use it (whatever “it” is), so you pick up the phone and call the 1-800 number for customer support. Secretly, you dread the confusing, never-ending automated menu, the long hold times to speak with someone likely unqualified to answer your question, and the lack of empathy for your plight emanating through the phone’s speaker.

Eventually, the support tech will escalate your call to a (hopefully) more considerate person, labeled “manager,” who also has little to no power beyond the scripted notebook handed to them in training to answer your questions. Maybe your issue is resolved after an hour on the phone. Maybe it’s not.

Who is HCSS support and what do we stand for:

At HCSS, we don’t do this to our users. Our public and employee-driven mission is to provide exceptionally helpful service to our customers. We make this promise to every customer at the time of their purchase, and we reiterate it when they walk through our door or ring our phone lines. We even go a step further and product-test our support for customers during our implementation by calling support on the spot with live questions.

The expectation of an “exceptional” product or service seems to have disappeared from today’s society. Many believe that mediocrity or “if it serves my needs” is an appropriate way to walk through life or do business. Exceptional, however, should be the standard, and exceeding expectations should always be the goal. On paper, it may be hard to believe that any company could live up to its mission or mantra. Is this just an advertising slogan? Are we going to find out later, when we need help, that we have been duped after spending thousands? Are we going to be heard?

But every HCSS employee has a reason to stand behind the goal of serving our clients’ needs because every employee is a part-owner of the company. The effectiveness of this ownership mentality is evident in the way individuals at HCSS will step up for even the simplest task when the need is discovered, rather than after someone has asked or begged for help. We clean our own kitchen, take out our own trash, and vacuum our own work areas. We have access to executives as easily as we do our direct supervisors. We look to ourselves first when we see something wrong, and then collaborate with others without hesitation to solve issues. We actively look for deficiencies or struggles, and work towards lifting each other up in a constructive manner. As a support department, our company policy is to answer our calls within 3 rings or less. To honor this goal, every employee in the company is held accountable to answer the phone (including the CEO).

This does not mean we are without fault, but we promise to learn from our mistakes, try to always improve and better our processes, and strive to provide an exceptional customer experience. We treat customers as we would want to be treated, so self-accountability and self-improvement are not just idealistic concepts to us. If something is not good enough for us, regardless of the standard, we will find a way to step it up and take action.

We are a Sugar Land, Texas-based, employee-owned construction software company. We help the majority of the top construction companies to organize and revolutionize their bidding process; manage the job and safety for foremen, accountants and managers; track fuel and equipment maintenance requests; and even provide cloud services to replace outdated and costly IT needs with simple products that work. We exist to serve our customers, community, employees, and industry to the best of our abilities. We are committed to exceptionalism in everything we do. Please feel free to leave a note, and find out more about us at www.hcss.com.

All Hands on Deck

Blog, Tech Support Posted: December 7, 2016

If you are part of a support department that promises 24/7 coverage, you know the impossibility of holding department-wide meetings. This is a struggle we’ve faced at HCSS. Previously, our support department held meetings once a quarter, in the evening, recalling all daytime support technicians and managers to the office so that everyone would be in attendance. The meetings are important to stay informed as a group about what we have achieved, and what we hope to accomplish moving forward. However, the timing was a big commitment, forcing employees to leave their families and carve out extra hours to be at the office in the evening.

With the implementation of TinyPulse and 7Geese to help keep the department organized, open to ideas, and available to the needs of others, HCSS managers were able to see and understand this struggle and take action. An employee suggested holding the required meeting during the day to alleviate the burden of scheduling so many outside of work hours. That suggestion turned into reality this quarter as the Services Department held its first department-wide meeting during business hours.

“Feedback from employees led us to this decision, Technical Support Senior Manager Admir Hadziabulic said. “We want to provide a quality life for employees, and that includes making meetings more convenient to attend and be engaged in.”

In the spirit of providing the best support in three rings, or less, our development team of programmers, product managers, and quality assurance personnel answered the call for help, volunteering to stand in for the support technicians and take calls as they attended the meeting.

“The development group takes great pride in the customer service provided by our support techs, and we love to hear customers gushing over them,” Software Development Manager Brad Schaefer said. “We know that building quality software does not end when the software is released and that both departments need to constantly help each other. That’s why we were happy to step outside our comfort zone and man the phones when support needed us.”

To prepare for this assistance, volunteering development team members attended training meetings during their office hours and committed to learning support’s process of logging calls and providing thorough resolutions. They managed their own daily tasks ahead of the support meeting and took the time to be there for HCSS customers.

“We support each other, and that is why we are here,” Senior Software Developer Diego Rincon said. “We only push the company further by working together.”

As a company, and from employee to employee, HCSS is driven to provide customers with the best support experience they have ever received.

And as a support department, we are thankful to our brothers and sisters in the development team for helping us reach that goal.

Tech Support: Dead-End Job, or the End of Your Job Search?

Blog, Featured, Tech Support Posted: December 7, 2016

“Who would want to waste the start of their career with a dead-end job like tech support?”

I’d heard that from friends, former classmates, even family members. If you had asked me a few years ago what came to mind when I heard the words “technical support,” I would have vented about being on hold for 20 minutes only to be asked, “Have you tried restarting it?”

From that perspective, a job in technical support didn’t sound like the most promising of career choices. But what I found at HCSS was completely the opposite: it has been a launching pad for the rest of my career.

My Background

I spent the past 16 years — from elementary through college — working towards a degree, believing a better education would lead to better opportunities. Though it wasn’t easy, I graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics with a minor in economics. One of the lucky graduates in this economy able to find work, I immediately jumped into full-time employment, eager to start my career. And I found myself at HCSS in an entry-level position in technical support, unfamiliar territory compared to what I had studied in school.

I didn’t know much about the position except what the Internet had told me.

“You’ll sit in a cubicle listening to customers complain all day.”

“You’re just another person there to answer a phone.”

“It’s a dead-end job; don’t waste your time.”

All of these negative assessments obviously placed doubt on my decision to accept the job.

It’s a good thing I didn’t listen to them.

New Perspective

At HCSS, I’m doing more than just answering a phone. I troubleshoot difficult customer issues on a multitude of platforms and environments, keeping me up-to-date on the latest in technology. I act as a business partner for our customers by not just solving their immediate problems but impacting their business decisions and long-term success.

I provide great customer service each and every time I interact with a customer. I have had opportunities to work with other departments on projects involving quality assurance, development, marketing, implementation, and sales, and with each interaction I develop skills that make me more valuable in today’s workplace. Just two years into my career at HCSS, I find myself in our Leadership Academy with the unique opportunity to learn from our executive team. There aren’t many companies that will provide the same level of growth for their employees, especially so early in their careers.

Commitment to our Customers

HCSS strives to find innovative ways to provide software support and, in the process, has created arguably the best customer support in the industry. Providing “exceptionally helpful customer service” has been embedded in our culture since Mike Rydin founded HCSS in 1986, and we continue to operate on the same principle he did 30 years ago: providing instant support by answering all calls in three rings or less, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Every day our support team looks for new ways of better serving our customers, whether it be via online knowledge bases, help articles, instructional videos, or the good, old-fashioned telephone.

Looking back at all my hard work in school, I genuinely believe my efforts paid off. Being an HCSS Technical Support Specialist turned out to be exactly the opportunity I was looking for coming out of college. I’ve found more than just a job; I’ve found a career.

Two Main Questions Commonly Asked About an Award-Winning “Best Place to Work”

Blog, Talent Posted: December 5, 2016

I often get asked two questions about our company: how did I find out about HCSS, and what is it like to work there? Starting with the first, I have to give major thanks to my colleague, John Cappello, and the power of social media.

Being in the Talent Acquisition realm, I admit that I have a slight addiction to LinkedIn. It’s one of many sources I use to keep up with the latest trends and connect with professionals from all over the world. When John’s status popped up on my newsfeed about the growing hiring team, I was intrigued. I’ve seen HCSS ranked on multiple “Best Companies to Work” lists since, at the time, I was part of another organization on similar lists. To make a long story short, John and I started conversing, and the rest is history.

I’m in this pretty cool situation where my role would traditionally fall under Human Resources, but I actually work under our Marketing department. I’m basically a blend between the two areas. It’s a solid fit since I’m a huge fan of the employment branding/recruitment marketing side of my field. Although my role deals more directly with people than with our suite of software products, I know that what I do makes an impact. As we continue to recruit and retain the right teammates, our company performance grows even further.

At HCSS, you’ll see at least one of the following every day: dogs running outside, people working out at the gym, a pickup game on the basketball court, someone riding down the hall on a Segway, or someone going down our indoor slide. From company-sponsored races to on-site classes on topics like budgeting and finances, your experience at HCSS stems from how involved you want to be with the variety of activities going on each day. It’s not only the fun perks that make HCSS an attractive place to work; it’s also the way we collaborate with each other and how we all align with the mission, vision, and values of the organization.

If you’re ever interested in joining an award-winning “Best Place to Work,” feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, tweet on Twitter, email me at allan.leung@hcss.com, or use an out-of-the-box way of communicating (to which I’m 100 percent open). Perhaps one day when you’re part of our team and you also get asked these questions, you’ll be able to share your story.