At the beginning of his sophomore year, Chris, an information systems major, started working for the CIT Help Desk on campus, where he troubleshot technical issues with faculty, staff and students in person and over the phone. During his junior year, he began a database administration internship at Gordon Food Service (GFS), where he continued to work until graduation.

“Both of these experiences taught me good work ethics, how to collaborate with fellow team members, and time management,” Chris says.

As graduation approached, Chris began searching for companies that offered rotational programs because he was uncertain of exactly what area within information systems to pursue. Vanguard, an investment company, offered such a rotational program, so Chris applied. He had a phone interview and then was invited to Philadelphia for an in-person interview. After one more web-cam interview, Chris was hired as a Database Administrator.

In this role at Vanguard, Chris works on Oracle and SQL Server databases, similar to what he did in his internship. He maintains and troubleshoots hundreds of databases, along with 23 other Database Administrators. In addition, he has had the opportunity to attend several Oracle courses that are helping him attain his Oracle certification.

Chris’s advice to current students is “to make sure that you participate in an internship. I truly believe that if it were not for my internship at GFS, I would not have been considered for a Database Administrator position at Vanguard.”