They always say listen to your elders. However, I did not take other's people weary words when they warned of the full time recruiting process and the difficulty of applying for jobs in today's market. Upon graduation, I interviewed with numerous firms. Many went well, some could have gone better, but I was feeling empty on the inside because no prospect seemed to be the dream job.
After several intense months of networking among individuals in the computer science industry, I stumbled upon the Summit Program offered by IBM. I researched the program in much depth and gained a better understanding of the role that IBM was looking to fill, which was an IT Architect in my case. Specifically, the role would exist in the service unit under Sales & Distribution to financial service clients. My condensed summary of the position can be best described as the overlap of programming, financial services, and client interaction in a Venn diagram. This position was ideal for someone with my background. I felt my excitement rise as I read more and more about IBM's IT Architect role. This could be what I was looking for all along.
As I went through the interview process, I realized that I enjoy my conversations with IBM's IT Architects and the Summit Programs managers. My conversations with these key people led me even further to believe that I had discovered the Holy Grail of first year hire programs for myself. I fell in love with IBM and the IT Architect. The interviews progressed smoothly, and I was accepted to the Summit Program! I would be a future IBMer in hopes of creating a Smarter Planet.
Although the interview process was rather intense and challenging, I enjoyed the entire process. I found myself attached to the culture at IBM. It was one that was very business oriented, but also required a dosage of innovation in a perfect recipe. Although the program started on July 10, I had several months before beginning work because I was hired in late January. I was looking forward to starting my career at IBM so much that I wanted to start work as early as possible. IBM handled this process with extreme helpfulness and found a Co-Op position for myself, which began in early May.
At this point, I was still anxious to begin my enticing career as an IT Architect. I decided that the best place to start was ordering Java books, which IBM considers one of their main programming languages. I sifted through these books in my ample spare time. Although I was introduced to programming through C++, Java was close enough to C++ that I had minor difficulties in adjusting to the new language. I began writing sample programs to affiliate myself even further.
As I await my start date at IBM, I plan on continuing to grow my knowledge base as much as possible. Namely, I am blessed to have discovered this dream job. The IT Architect role in the Summit Program could not fit my personality better than any other job out there. I may have struggled through finding my job match up, but the wait was worth it. IBM, here I come!
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