Bryan Akers

How did you start building your network?

I made a lot of great relationships so far in my career and keep in touch with people all over the county and world using LinkedIn. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is professional and organized--a bad LinkedIn profile can be as bad as a future employer finding your Facebook profile.

How did you pick your career? Did you know all along?

I really wasn't sure where I would land after college which I know as a parent isn't what I would want to hear. I started college with the plan to go into Civil Engineering. I attended a small college that I would complete my first 2 years then transfer to complete the degree. After the first semester, I knew I may not have been looking at the right field. So after some thought on what I may do, I changed majors and started working on a Business Administration degree. I completed the Bachelor program in a 4 1/2 years which included the first semester. So my degree was in Business Admin with an emphasis in Tourism and Resort Management. My plan was to work for a large hotel chain and manage a resort. I did an internship and loved the resort so after I graduated I returned--that lasted 4 months and I knew I had to find something to pay the bills-working at the Front Desk wasn't my goal in life. So my fiance suggested I look at a hotel chain but in the corporate office. 19 years I worked there mostly in IT! Did I get a degree in that-nope! But my business degree was a great base and I still use it today!

Did anyone ever oppose your career plans when you were young or push you in a direction you did not want to go?

No. I was provided with areas to consider but never forced. I think that is important to find what interests you...and what you thought did 5 years ago, may not anymore. Keep your options open and do something you enjoy!

In layperson terms, what do you actually do at work?

My job today is to consult with my customers on what technology may be best for their environment and user needs. It takes a mix of listening and knowing my products. My past experience as an IT Help Desk Manager and Desktop Services Manager allow me to guide the customers with what I feel would work in their use cases.

When you were a student, did you do anything outside of school to build skills or get knowledge that has helped your career?

I started working as early as I could. In Texas, I had a job at 15 then we moved to Colorado and I found another job after I turned 16. I worked with that company for over 10 years and they allowed the flexibility for me to work during breaks from college (they didn't have a store near me that I could work at while I was at school). While that was not related to what I do today, those experiences helped me learn how to work hard, meet or exceed expectations and advance in my career later in life.

When did you get your first Big Break? How did you get it? How did it go?

Well I could go back to some of my first jobs but I think a more significant one happened later. I had just graduated college and was working at a resort. My fiance (now my wife) thought I should look at a hotel company since that was my emphasis in college. Not even knowing what they did, I walked in and asked about openings, applied for a job (didn't really know what I was applying for) and got a call. I accepted a job in April 1997 working as a Tech Support Level 1 for hotels. Within a year I was a supervisor and things had gone from grossly understaffed to somewhat manageable. After a year, another position opened to support field teams doing large hardware and software upgrades. About a year after that I am back into a supervisory role over that team...and the path continued like that for a long time (19 years). Those steps and advancement gave me real life skills and made me valuable to the organization. I worked for the right people for over 18 years and then they hired "the bad manager". If she liked you, you were mostly OK. If you got on her bad side then things didn't end well. Ultimately, she cleaned out 5 managers before she was gone. It was not a fun stretch and the company I had enjoyed working for wasn't the same leading up to that. But the moral of the story is...I had built skills, relationships and in the end I wanted to get out anyway--you just hope to manage that on your schedule and not someone else forcing it. I was out of a job for a few months but during that time I cleared my head, focused on what I wanted to do and went looking for a job. Those relationships played a HUGE role in helping me find my next career!