When Alex Davis was high school senior, a representative from a small college in Laurel came and talked to students about how they could obtain the skills and education they needed to land a job at one of the large government agencies or leading technology companies.
The school was Capitol Technology University. Alex’s interest was piqued. The more she found out, the more she liked, and she decided to apply.
Fast-forward to 2016. Alex has graduated with a degree in information assurance and now works for Red Hat, supporting federal agencies and other customers that use satellites for communication and storage. She loves the company and she loves her work. And she has advice for current students on how to best to maximize their time at Capitol and turn their education into solid job prospects.
One key for Alex was developing a broad palette of skills. “I took a variety of programming courses,” she notes. “It looks good on your resume to be able to say you have Perl and Python, for instance, and a background in Linux. For someone starting out their career, it’s not necessary to be an expert in any one of those areas – but showing that you have familiarity with them counts. Employers want to see that you have a solid foundation to build on.”
Gaining experience through internships and job opportunities on campus is also an important piece of the puzzle, Davis said. While at Capitol, she worked for the advancement office and in the university mailroom, and also served as a resident assistant in the dorms, and as a Capitol student ambassador.
These experiences provided her with an opportunity to strengthen her communication and people skills. “As a consultant, you need to be able to interact with people effectively,” Davis notes. “Being a student ambassador especially helped bring out that aspect of my personality.”
She also completed a summer internship with the NSA, working with cryptographic equipment. “That helped me build work experience and flesh out my resume,” Davis said.
In addition to gaining the needed skills and seeking out resume-boosting experience, she points to another key factor: networking. Personal contacts are a major avenue for finding out about job opportunities, and that was certainly true for Davis. Through Capitol’s Alumni Council, she met Red Hat senior open stack consultant Yonathan Goitom, who holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in information assurance from the university.
Goitom told her the company was looking for someone with her background.
“He suggested that I look into it, and I just fell in love with Red Hat. It’s a great place to be,” Davis said.
Careers are built step by step, and currently Davis is focusing on excelling in her current position. However, that doesn’t mean she isn’t thinking ahead.
“Eventually I’d like to become an architecture consultant,” she says. “Currently, I’m an associate consultant, having come to Red Hat straight out of college. So I’m looking to grow, gain certifications, and move up the ladder in my career field. Like most people, I have dreams of accomplishing significant things and making a contribution to the world – and Red Hat is the kind of place where dreams like that come true.”