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+--- Thread: The MM Network (/showthread.php?tid=11439)
Re: The MM Network - WRXtranceformed - 04-23-2017
2005 - BS in Psychology, minor in Interior Design. Unless you have always wanted to become a doctor or something and stay on that one track, I encourage you to take some wisdom from a recent speaker I saw (first female Apache attack copter pilot): Bloom where you are planted
Worked all throughout high school and college as a temp in luxury model homes making good money and connections. My first sales job at 16 was actually at an Adidas outlet.
Graduated from JMU and worked at a builder as a construction supervisor and then went into sales. Did well there, then the housing market crashed. I was fortunate to not make the rounds of layoffs but didn't see much of a future there, and I had also been looking for a reason to leave the mess of northern VA for a while anyway. Took a job in corporate insurance sales down in Charlotte, then I helped two friends of mine open up an energy efficient window and siding franchise in the area. We did really well but long story short is that I will never go into business with friends again. Then I got a job in advertising and software sales with my current parent company through some professional persistence (and track record). I got promoted fairly quickly, was making almost a quarter million a year and made presidents trips a few times but I wanted to (figuratively) blow my brains out from stress.
The silver lining was that I found a passion in one product set that I sold and I sold a lot of it. That gave me the chance to become a subject matter expert and I began training other reps internally about how the products meet client needs and how to sell them. We owned another company that focused on developing these products, and I became close with their CEO due to our obvious shared interest and the fact that I loved their ethics and company culture. I told him one day on the golf course that if a spot ever opened up with them I would be interested. He called me a few months later and they created a role for me as a sales engineer / non-technical solutions architect. About a year later, the CHRO called me and asked me to take over one of the consulting groups so that brings me to the current role as Director of Consulting. Future goals I keep close to the chest but they are super ambitious as they have all been throughout my career, and I have hit all of them so far.
If anyone is looking for a career in sales or IT I can be a resource for you through an internal referral process that gives you preferential looks with our hiring managers. I just ask that if you reach out to me that you are legitimately interested and actually professionally follow up with the process until you decide whether it is a good fit or not. If I am willing to put my name out there for you it would be great for you to put your best foot forward.
So yeah, "bloom where you are planted" and don't be afraid to network and do stuff outside of your wheelhouse because you might find yourself with a new passion in life and a much better quality of living!
Re: The MM Network - ispoonwithmugen - 04-23-2017
I'll have to find that LinkedIn group.
Graduated in 2016 with a degree in Intelligence Analysis with a concentration in competitive business intel. Sounds fancy but if you want to do anything but Intel Analysis for a three letter or consulting agency don't do it. I fall into the group that doesn't want to do that. I interned with a wealth management firm freshman year. Fun but not what I wanted to do my whole life or at least don't think it is. Two years later started working with 2 alumni, Pete and Scott, on a project called SportStickers. Also spent the last few years running my Photography business (and losing almost all my clients by moving out here).
Currently living in San Diego after cruising around the US for a few months. I love it out here and highly encourage people to look into it! I pay $1,495 for a one bedroom apartment three blocks from the beach. It's not as expensive as people say it is (except gas, gas is unreal). Here in the new future I'm most likely moving into a backend developer or data science role.
One piece of advice. If you're going to move across the country, don't do it spontaneously like me, have a job lined up and it'll make it so much less of a headache. Bonus points if you can get your employer to pay for your move too!
Any questions fire away!
Re: The MM Network - rherold9 - 04-23-2017
Graduated in 2016 with a CIS degree. Was originally CS but I had no idea what I wanted to do and still don't. So I switched to CIS.
I somehow nailed a platform engineer internship at Cap One even though I had no major in it. I'm guessing my previous support experience helped out a lot as I felt like I did not do well in the technical interview. During the internship I actually did something useful that they are still using today in production support issues. My manager gave me good advice to not pursue platform as it was dying which led me to move to software engineering.
After the internship I accepted an offer in the Technology Development Program at Capital One as a software engineer. I'm working in .Net more front end side. It's meh and doesn't make me want to stay in the software side but I'm doing actual work and developing features. I'll be rotating to Java with real time data/micro service development this summer. I'm hoping this turns my mindset around working with newer things. It looks more interesting but I'm not sure of software engineering is where I want to be. If I don't like it I'll have to figure something else out. I don't think I could deal with pure consulting gig too long like most CIS majors move to. Security or more hands on support work like I was doing in the past is something I'd look into.
Edit: Located in Richmond
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Re: The MM Network - Senor_Taylor - 04-23-2017
rherold9 Wrote:I don't think I could deal with pure consulting gig too long like most CIS majors move to. Security or more hands on support work like I was doing in the past is something I'd look into.
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Right there with you, pal.
Re: The MM Network - JustinG - 04-23-2017
Class of 08, Located in the Richmond Area
It was a great time to graduate, and move to a struggling job market in RVA.
Did some Retail and Sales roles til 2011, where I started as a contractor at Capital One as an IT Project Coordinator thanks to a good family friend who got me in the door, I was basically a Junior PM supporting multiple IT projects and programs.
Got converted to an associate, ie a Capital One employee, in 2013, as an Operations Project Coordinator. Obtained my Certified Scrum Master working on a program supporting process improvement for our Credit Card Operations.
Got canned at the beginning of 2016, and landed a role with Wells Fargo as an "Analytics Consultant", but I am really a PM/SharePoint admin, implementing process improvements and building SharePoint sites for our Wholesale Customer Service and Processing teams.
Love the world of Project Management, will probably start working towards my PMP in the next month.
I am digging the SharePoint stuff but I am also trying to dive into the analytics side of my team to get experience in that area.
Work 100% remote with my team being disbursed across the country.
Wife works for Wells Fargo as well, pays to know people when you are seeking out a job :thumbup:
For those of you seeking out opportunities in Richmond let me know, I have contacts with some of the larger employees here as well as some legitimate recruiters who can find opportunities in RVA. Not the call center based recruiters who spam your inbox with shit opportunities.
Also really awesome to see people wanting to make their way down here. We absolutely love the area, and if you have questions lemme know. Only other place we would consider would be Charlotte, which happens to have a large Wells Fargo presence.
Re: The MM Network - Sully - 04-23-2017
^ I messaged you about jobs when I got fired. Where were you?!
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Re: The MM Network - Senor_Taylor - 04-23-2017
+1 on Justin being a good plug for Richmond IT. Obviously I signed elsewhere but the people he connected me with had great opportunities.
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Re: The MM Network - JustinG - 04-23-2017
Sully Wrote:^ I messaged you about jobs when I got fired. Where were you?!
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I'll connect you with some people tomorrow. Look for some linked in messages.
Re: The MM Network - .RJ - 04-24-2017
What's the job market doing in Richmond? My wife's family has all moved down there.
Re: The MM Network - WRXtranceformed - 04-24-2017
Very ironic, I just had a networking call this morning with a long time Charlotte-based contact who owns an IT / engineering placement firm. He places people all over the nation though, including the DC area apparently. If anyone in IT wants me to plug you in with him let me know. In case you don't know how these types of recruiters work, they get paid by the companies they place you in so they in essence help you get a job for free. That's overly simplistic but it doesn't cost you anything to use their services and they are (usually) motivated to help you find the best compensation and best place for you because they get paid a % of your base salary
Re: The MM Network - davej - 04-24-2017
Another (old) outsider here, 2001 graduate of Messiah College, Business Administration with a concentration in Business Information Systems. My roommate in school was from this area so after graduation I said goodbye to upstate NY in pursuit of that good sweet tea.
First job was at an antique & sterling silverware place as a one-man show building out their computer network and developing an online sales division. Nothing existed when I started, so it was a good crash course in all things IT. Owner was happy as my work selling/promoting them online was grossing about 1.5M annually. I guess technically I achieved my goal of making my first million by the time I was 25, it just wasn’t my money to keep. =( Let this be a lesson, always be specific when writing your goals.
Wife is from upstate NY also and around 05 we got the itch to move back closer to family and start our own, so I took a job with Lockheed Martin for the DoE at a nuclear propulsion development site doing….things, lots of things. I started a consulting company on the side with a co-worker at LM and we had enough clients for him to jump full time to that, As we were getting close to supporting both of us FT, I found out my daughter was coming and chickened out, but kept on PT while still at LM. After a few years, I ended up being picked off by a recruiter that waved lots of green under my nose to switch to health care insurance at CDPHP. Fairly stressful but rewarding career there as their Chief Engineer and then Technical Architect. Too much to cram into this post, but a lot of technical and business system design, security, performance tuning, project mgmt., overseeing teams of system engineers, dba’s, programmers, etc.
Living in NY as an adult wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be, long cold winters, high taxes, etc so we took aim back here circa 2011 and decided to plop roots down with hope the grandparents would move south after retirement. Not much in the area for tech work but ended up at JMU as the endpoint mgmt. lead. It’s a lot of client/application management for pc and macs, mixed with my own personal quest to unify Information Technology at a University level. It is such a redundant environment of isolated pockets doing whatever; it drives me insane. This was several steps backwards in every facet as far as career tracking goes, but the job serves its purpose and I have not had my phone ring once after hours for work related issues, so there is something to be said for that.
As far as the other side of the coin goes, my wife has a masters in early childhood education and is Montessori certified. She started her own program here, <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ValleyMontessori.School">http://www.ValleyMontessori.School</a><!-- m --> and has continued to grow to the point she bought/remodeled her own building. I do a lot of behind the scenes/office stuff for that, but if any of you have friends/significant others that want classroom time/experience, let me know. (or if you need to satisfy community service hours…for some reason…there’s always stuff to do at the school)
Future: I knocked out the CISSP cert after meaning to do so for years, so I might start looking around soon for other opportunities. Not planning to leave the area, so something remote with a couple days travel to nova/Richmond if needed might be the ticket.
Well, this turned into more of a mini-biography than a ‘what can I offer graduates’ but I have enjoyed reading through the posts, great to get a sense of the people behind the cars. Happy to answer any questions or give unsolicited career advice, i.e if you're in a technical field, grab whatever certs are related. Lockheed and CDPHP both footed the bill for a ton of good training, but their policy was not to pay for cert tests and I figured I didn't need those, so no need to pay out of pocket. I now see how useful they are to demonstrate proof of knowledge for future employment opportunities, and sometimes are a pre-req for certain positions. I missed out on a CISO position because the CISSP was required.
Re: The MM Network - JustinG - 04-24-2017
.RJ Wrote:What's the job market doing in Richmond? My wife's family has all moved down there.
Given your experience and everyone's desire to hire Scrum/Kanban I'd say it would be easy enough for you to find a spot.
Market is no where like NOVA obviously. But, during my search I was knocking out 2-3 interviews a week.
Lots of contract to hire opportunities floating around. Smaller consulting firms have deals with the Medium/Large companies in the area for placement. Because of the openings vs job seekers, my best leads came from legit recruiters who had received first notification of jobs available.
Capital One, CARMAX, VCU Health Systems, PFG, Snag A Job, Royall & Company etc have opened their doors again, and there are a large amount of smaller established companies and start ups hiring as well.
Health Care and Insurance is pretty big here, (VCU Health Systems, Bon Secours, Patient First, Merkel, Allianz, VA Farm Bureau)
All the major banks have a presence here.
No idea if that helps at all, but....
Re: The MM Network - Senor_Taylor - 04-24-2017
CarMax seems to have great workplace culture and their office is absolutely amazing with a fantastic location. Highly recommend.
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Re: The MM Network - Apoc - 04-24-2017
I was going to type everything out, but realized I've already done that: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/derecola/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/derecola/</a><!-- m -->
cliffs notes:
-- BS Finance 2000 Philadelphia University, MS MIS 2009 GWU
-- Funcoland > Allstate > AMS (CGI) > AOL > Neustar > Amazon
-- moving out of the area where I grew up (Nova) was the best life decision I've ever made
Re: The MM Network - .RJ - 04-24-2017
WRXtranceformed Wrote:Very ironic, I just had a networking call this morning with a long time Charlotte-based contact who owns an IT / engineering placement firm. He places people all over the nation though, including the DC area apparently. If anyone in IT wants me to plug you in with him let me know. In case you don't know how these types of recruiters work, they get paid by the companies they place you in so they in essence help you get a job for free. That's overly simplistic but it doesn't cost you anything to use their services and they are (usually) motivated to help you find the best compensation and best place for you because they get paid a % of your base salary
Yes pls. Charlotte was on the short list of places to GTFO to.
<!-- e --><a href="mailto:rpjenkins@gmail.com">rpjenkins@gmail.com</a><!-- e -->
Re: The MM Network - V1GiLaNtE - 04-24-2017
Message sent to you Justin.
Re: The MM Network - WRXtranceformed - 04-24-2017
.RJ Wrote:Cool no problem! I got everyone else's PMs as well and I will respond back here to you guys in a little while! I got crushed here with stuff this afternoon so bear with me :thumbup:WRXtranceformed Wrote:Very ironic, I just had a networking call this morning with a long time Charlotte-based contact who owns an IT / engineering placement firm. He places people all over the nation though, including the DC area apparently. If anyone in IT wants me to plug you in with him let me know. In case you don't know how these types of recruiters work, they get paid by the companies they place you in so they in essence help you get a job for free. That's overly simplistic but it doesn't cost you anything to use their services and they are (usually) motivated to help you find the best compensation and best place for you because they get paid a % of your base salary
Yes pls. Charlotte was on the short list of places to GTFO to.
<!-- e --><a href="mailto:rpjenkins@gmail.com">rpjenkins@gmail.com</a><!-- e -->
Re: The MM Network - .RJ - 04-24-2017
Sweet, thanks!
Re: The MM Network - Sully - 04-24-2017
Btw, mainly directed at Justin, I'm not IT fluent at all. One Msoft access class in school. But I did take a project management class and a few hr style classes. I'm really not sure what you do with a management degree starting out. Especially a TIE one as opposed to HR based. I know it's entry level, but entry level what. That's why I tried to get my foot in the door at Specialty and move into ops management but they always hired from outside even after saying how much they love to promote from within.
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Re: The MM Network - JustinG - 04-24-2017
So I was Mgmt, with a TIE concentration.
If you want to go into a Project Mgmt IT/Ops role get an entry level Project Coordinator role via a 6month to 1yr contract somewhere with hopes of getting hired by the company. Most Proj Coord roles have admin like job responsibilities (Schedule meetings, track/create documents in Word/Excel, manage a shared mailbox, etc)
I got my role at Capital One via S3, which is a contracting firm that places people with companies in the Richmond Area. If you haven't already, hit me up on LinkedIn, and I can put you in touch with some people.
Discalimer: That is the path I took, YMMV