Alumni Spotlight – Sean Henry

Sean graduated from MTI College’s IT Network Administration program in November 2015. He chose this degree because he believes it to be a skill that is in high demand and realized it is something he is very passionate about. It took him some time to come to this understanding, but the payoff has been well worth it. Immediately after high school, Sean enrolled at his local community college, bouncing from major to major, unsure of what he wanted to pursue. “I really couldn’t find something that would hold my interest and be able to pay the bills,” he recalled. He began looking into IT at the community college but became frustrated with the timeline. If that was something he was going to pursue, it would have taken him about three or four years, because classes were only offered at certain times and dates. Unfortunately, it was something that was just not able to work out with his schedule. “So, I looked around and tried to find a place to get IT training done,” Sean explained. “I found MTI and I loved them because the whole campus works in conjunction with one another. You never had a problem getting the classes you needed to graduate on time.”

According to Sean, the other main factor that determined his decision to enroll at MTI College was the Career Services department. After his first year at MTI, he would have access to temp agencies and job listings that would be mailed out to him to help find jobs within his field. “The job placement rate, within six months after graduation, was 95% when I was there. It couldn’t be beat. I wanted to go to school, and after I was done, I wanted a job. And a 95% chance I’d get a job after the program? That is icing on the cake.”

Sean’s experience at MTI was both humbling and impactful. “My first year there, I walked in thinking I knew so much about computers and the first several classes were introductory and would be very easy.” Although Sean was innately skilled at IT work, his courses were not as easy as he expected. He had one professor in particular who really made an impression. “He is an amazing human being and changed the way I looked at the IT field. Previously I looked at it as something I was good at. Something I could do to support myself and make decent money doing it. But, he helped mold it into a passion for me.” With both respect and a laugh, Sean added, “He really cultivated me and my fellow students into IT professionals as opposed to computer nerds.”

Prior to MTI, the extent of Sean’s experience was fixing computers for his family members and friends. But now, he just finished signing a contract to work as a PC technician for the Roseville Joint Union High School District. He was drawn to this position because his family is in education, as well. His mother works in upper-level management for a university in California and his father is a professor. This position combines his passion for IT and working in an educational environment. “I love being around people who want to learn,” he explained. His responsibilities will range anywhere from basic troubleshooting, to hardware and software updates, to fixing malfunctioning machines and removing viruses. Previous to this position, Sean worked at a software company as a helpdesk analyst, his official title being Customer Experience Specialist. He would work over the phone with employees, utilizing remote control assistance, for a CRM program that the company had built in-house. Sean would also troubleshoot email problems as well as help people get set up with new email addresses and domains.

Sean’s confidence in his ability to perform well in the IT field is inspiring. He attributed this to how well prepared he was through his education at MTI. “I learned enough there that I have not had any problems at all,” he explained. Not once thus far has he felt he did not know what he needed to in order to succeed. “So far with the credentials I earned there, if I get an interview, I get the job. I’ve only interviewed twice since I left MTI and I got the job both times. Partly because of the credentials I earned that they offered and partially because of the shop courses they had.” Sean also had two courses that were focused on preparing students for their career search. These classes taught him how to interview and how to write a resume. “They taught me everything I needed to know about walking into an interview and making the best possible impression.”

Looking back on his journey, Sean undoubtedly made the right choice. “One of the things that a lot of people don’t realize about the IT field is how fulfilling it could be. Because everyone thinks it’s just sitting behind a computer and typing, but really, in all of the jobs that I have had so far, I very much enjoy the fact that I am making other people’s days better.” Before MTI, Sean was a bit of a wanderer. He did not know what he wanted to do with his life and went through multiple majors to figure it out. He started off in culinary science, then went to biology. From there, he tried chemistry and then nutrition. But now, Sean is fixing problems for people and he could not be happier. “A lot of people discount just how people-oriented the IT field really is. And that’s my favorite part of it. I arrive with a smile on my face and leave with a smile on theirs.”

Moving forward, Sean wants to continue building his work experience to move into a higher-level position. He would enjoy being either a network engineer or a server administrator. He has all of the certifications he needs for a server administrator position because of additional courses he was able to take at MTI. He will have to take additional courses in order to be certified as a network engineer, which he plans on doing soon. In this moment, however, he is embracing how far he has come. “I’m employed. I’m a proud member of society. A few months ago, I was able to move out and am paying the bills on my own. MTI really was the launching platform for my adult, professional life.” He even referred his “better half” to MTI, as well. “I basically dragged her behind me,” he laughed. She went through one of MTI’s healthcare programs and had no problem getting a job in the medical field once she graduated.

Honestly, Sean would recommend MTI College to everyone. “MTI really sparked a fire in me that nowhere else really had. And every day now I go to a job that I love doing. I wake up in the morning happy to go to work. I don’t think that had I picked one of those other fields that I could have said that.”

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Women in Technology: Blazing Trails in a Male-Dominated Industry

Throughout history, boys have been encouraged to enter technical fields, and girls directed toward the arts because some have felt girls aren’t as competent as boys in those fields. What a misconception! Although this stereotype of women has permeated the work force for years, corporate leaders—especially those in technology —are rethinking that unfair classification.

According to NCWIT’s Women in IT, women in technology are making strides, but the numbers are not there yet. In the computing workforce, only 26 percent are women; just 7 percent are minority women. Only 20 percent of Fortune 100 companies are led by female CIOs. Even though women do the work, they are not getting the compensation they deserve.

On average, women must work 15.5 months to reach the salary a man earns in 12. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is one of those leaders who is trying to close the gender gap, hoping for a change that will bring equality to the work force and put more women in technology. Many Silicon Valley tech firms—Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Dropbox, Facebook and LinkedIn—are following suit. Last year, they signed the White House Equal Pay Pledge, promising to conduct an annual gender pay analysis and review hiring practices to check for biases.

Although there are still some roadblocks to overcome, there are opportunities. LinkedIn reports that the rate of female technical new hires rose 24.4 percent between 2008 and 2016. That’s promising—especially for women contemplating studying information technology. MTI College is the place to start. MTI’s IT program prepares you for an entry-level position as a technical support specialist.

Women have made tremendous achievements in the field of technology. Perhaps one day you will make your mark in the world as these women did with their breakthrough discoveries in computing, communications and gaming.

First computer programmer, a 19^th century royal

Ada Byron, Duchess of Lovelace, could have followed in the footsteps of her famous father, poet Lord Byron. Instead, she chose mathematics—unusual for a female born in 1815. She helped document notes on the “Analytical Engine” that her boss, Charles Babbage, invented in 1843. Ada’s algorithm to help Babbage’s machine count Bernoulli numbers earned her recognition as the first computer programmer. Sadly, Babbage was unable to secure funding, and his “computer” never came to fruition.

Rear admiral at the forefront of programming

Grace Hopper was a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy during World War II, but her other titles included “Queen of Software” and “Grandma COBOL.” She was known for developing English-language programming language, including FLOW=MATIC language that Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) was based on. In the 1950s, she was senior mathematician for a company that developed UNIVAC, the second commercial computer produced in the United States. At the same time, she created the “A compiler,” a program that translates source code from one computer language to another. Curiously, Hopper was the first to coin the word “bug” to describe a computer glitch after she discovered a real moth that got into her computer and caused a problem. To honor her legacy, the largest conference of women in technology, Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, is named after her.

From Golden Age of Hollywood screen sensation to Wi-Fi pioneer

In the 1920s, Hedy Lamarr dazzled Hollywood as a beautiful screen star, but during World War II she used her talents to fight the Nazis. She and her co-inventor, George Anthiel, developed spread spectrum technology, an early form of encryption technology. They manipulated radio signals to control torpedoes remotely, forming an unbreakable code to prevent the interception of classified messages by the enemy. The technology was first used on naval ships during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and years later was the foundation for Bluetooth technology, Wi-Fi and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMI).

“Necessity is the mother of invention”

Police were slow to respond to emergencies in Marie Van Brittan Brown’s crime-riddled Queens, New York neighborhood. She took matters into her own hands to keep her home and family safe and secured a patent in 1966 for a home security system that featured peepholes, a camera, a monitor, a two-way microphone and an alarm button that reached the police. Her system was the basis for modern CCTV systems used for home security and police work today.

Bell Labs employees make strides in communications

Talk about multitasking! Dr. Erna Schneider Hoover worked in the technology department at Bell Laboratories during a time that they had an excessive volume of incoming calls. While she was in the hospital after giving birth to her second daughter, Dr. Hoover developed a telephony switching computer program that kept phones functioning during periods of heavy call volume without dropping calls. Her patent in 1971 was one of the first software patents issued.

Another Bell employee, Dr. Shirley Jackson, a theoretical physicist and the first African-American woman to earn a PhD from MIT, conducted breakthrough scientific research that enabled others to go on to invent the portable fax, the touchtone telephone, fiber optic cables and the technology behind Caller ID and Call Waiting.

Contributing toward a big slice of the Apple pie

Back when Steve Jobs was creating the Apple computer, graphic designer Susan Kare worked alongside him as the artist who, in a way, humanized the Mac. She crafted many of the now-standard pixelized interface elements, like the Mac smile, the trash can icon, the invaluable command icon and more. When Jobs left Apple in the mid-1980s, Kare followed. She worked for Microsoft, making Windows 3.0 user friendly, and then went on to do work for Facebook and PayPal.

Small screens and big dreams

Mary Lou Jepsen is an innovative technical executive and industry leader in screen display and imaging. At Facebook, she worked with Virtual Reality. At Google X, she created Google Lego TV. And as founder and former CEO of Pixel Qi in Taiwan, she helped develop low-power, sunlight-readable screens for mobile devices. Jepsen had a dream, however, to provide a computer to every child. She produced the XO, a low-power, low-cost notebook prototype for the nonprofit she co-founded: One Laptop Per Child. Her latest endeavor is Openwater, a company she founded with the goal of using a high-resolution 3D camera to see far into the body with explicit detail.

Fun and games that pay off

A pioneer and visionary in the graphic adventure games industry, Roberta Williams is best known for her PC adventure game series King’s Quest, which has had seven sequels. She and her husband, Ken Williams, founded Sierra On-Line Systems (later known as Sierra On-Line). Roberta popularized the gaming industry with her games’ intricate storylines and complex puzzles that enticed players to fight their way to victory.

Technology’s potential is limitless, and job growth looks good. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for technical support specialists is expected to grow faster than average for all occupations. Industry leaders continue to acknowledge the importance of female workers and are vowing to employ more women. If you would like to be among the growing list, MTI College can help prepare you for a career in technology.

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MTI College Can Prepare You for a Business Administration Career

Getting an associate degree in business administration from MTI College is an important first step to put you on the path to a versatile career in marketing, general business, human relations, management, economics or accounting. MTI’s thorough training in business administration gives you transferable skills that you can build on and grow with.

 

Take a look at what you can expect when you choose MTI College Sacramento to begin your career in business administration.

 

How and what you learn in MTI’s business administration degree program

When you have an opportunity to get hands-on experience, you learn better. That’s one of MTI’s signature training methods. Since your instructors have worked in business, they share their experiences with you and use real-world scenarios to illustrate what you may well be faced with once you enter the business workplace.

 

Over the course of the two-year program to earn your associate degree in business administration, you will also learn the soft skills that you can use anywhere in the business world.

During your first year of study, your business administration courses focus on general knowledge and computer skills, providing you with a solid foundation in Microsoft Office Suite products and business communications. By the end of this year, you should know how to:

• Compose professional business letters and memos, as well as organize business documents.
• Perform basic accounting functions, including journalizing transactions, preparing financial statements and reconciling bank statements.
• Create and present professional-quality presentations featuring visual aids.
• Use Microsoft Office programs, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, to execute, maintain and improve office operations.
• Apply your problem-solving, customer service and interpersonal skills to real-time business situations.
• Work both independently and as part of a team in a confident, professional manner.

 

Once you have successfully completed your first year, you can continue to the second year, which delves more deeply into the core business courses required for your business administration associate degree. During this final year of study, you should be able to:

• Apply your understanding of global economic, social and environmental trends to issues in the current business environment.
• Use your knowledge, self-awareness and critical thinking skills to demonstrate an understanding of ethical decision making.
• Use the principles and best practices of management, human resources, finance and marketing to analyze concerns and problems, and help improve quality.
• Complete written business administration projects by applying methods and materials of research.
• Demonstrate behavior that reflects confidence, competence and professionalism.

 

Business administration program options at MTI

You have a choice of studying one of two business administration programs at MTI College:

• Business Administration (associate degree program), which provides you with business training in general administrative skills and the principles of business management.
• Administrative Office Professional (diploma program), which, in as little as nine months, teaches you the skills you need for an entry-level business support position as a secretary, an administrative assistant or an executive assistant.

With both program options, MTI prepares you with the hands-on training and skills you need to confidently work in business. The skills you earn are easily adaptable to any type of business, and they provide a foundation for job growth.

 

How MTI’s job placement services can help you get a job

Your business administration degree from MTI College gives you the flexibility to work in many areas of business, from HR to marketing to management. It never hurts to have help getting that first job.

MTI College’s Career Services Department offers free job placement assistance for current students either four weeks prior to graduation from the diploma program or within four weeks of completing the first year of the two-year associate degree program – if they are in good standing. Graduates and alumni are also eligible for help finding a job.

 

Since 1965, MTI has helped students find that all-important first job. These are the services that you, as a good student or MTI graduate, can take advantage of:

 

• Job search tips and mock interview scenarios
• Resources, web sites and lists of available positions
• On-campus career fairs
• Assistance with résumé writing
• Coaching and support during your job search
• Your name posted as one of MTI’s Top Grads on a list often viewed by employers

 

There’s no time like the present to begin your business administration training. Contact MTI today to get on the road to a desirable career.

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