Hello My name is Ryan and I am a student at DeVry University
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My condolences.

What is your name, job tittle, and company name?

Anonymous, Sr. Software Engineer I, Anonymous.

How long have you had this job?
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~3 months. I have been a professional programmer for 6 years, and doing other tech jobs (Customer support, sysadmin, QA) for 7 years before that.

What type of skills do employers look for in your field?
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Problem solving
Communication
Program design
Math
Leadership
Debugging/Problem Analysis

What educational background do you have?
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GED, 2 years of college in Aeronautical Engineering.

Is there any training when hired into your position?
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Heh, no. There was training about the company and our products, but certainly nothing about programming. Hell, I gave training to others when I started here.

In your career field, is it difficult to balance work with home/family or personal life?
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Not at all, but I'm also not in the gamedev industry. In Bizdev, it is very easy to make that balance as long as you value it and aren't horribly unlucky in your job selection.

What are your duties performed in a typical day?
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Fix bugs
Design, Implement, Debug, Unit Test requirements
Review junior programmer's code/designs
Collaborate with peers regarding the overall direction of the group
Collaborate with product owners to determine scope/schedule
Collaborate with minions to ensure they're happy/busy/learning/on-schedule

What were the main steps that helped you to obtain the position you are currently in?
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Wow... umm... I'm not sure I can answer this one well.

The key I'd say was that I've spent probably 6-8 hours per day on a computer for 25 years. That knowledge of how things work really got my foot in the door when I couldn't prove I could program.

After that, being good at programming (practice, practice, practice) and a whole lot of patience/persistence got me my first programming job. It helped bump me to senior very quickly.

The next step was a propensity to take charge due to my intolerance of bad leaders. You have to be an absurdly good programmer to advance after a certain point. Most people just can't tell the difference between a good programmer and a great programmer. At that point, it was better for my career and for the productivity of the team if more of my time was spent being a leader. Keeping people in line towards the goal. Pushing people towards being better programmers. Preventing disasterous designs from ever getting past the design stage.

Do you have a set schedule (i.e. - 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or are there flexible hours?
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Flexible.

What kind of strategies do you use when your job gets stressful?
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I tend to put my head down and focus on the problem at hand. Stress is caused by interruptions and too many things going on. I ignore the other things going on and focus on one thing if it ever gets that far. Ideally, it never gets that far. Managing your schedule is important so that time pressures do not cause stress. Managing people is important so that interpersonal issues do not cause stress.

And in the end I can go home, have a steak dinner, play some video games and have a good night's sleep. Resetting your stress level is important too to avoid burnout.