It’s that time of year again when undergrad seniors scramble to decide “what to do with their life” as graduation approaches. Undoubtedly, there are some who had a clear vision of what they wanted to do after graduation and lined up very specific positions after a number of internships. Congratulations to those lucky few! Not unlike myself in the not-too-distant past, many will find themselves in a different boat, one going in a circle with no clear direction, the fear of that three letter J-O-B word looming large. For some, grad school will buy a little more time and hopefully some direction. For others, the time is right to head down a career path, but which one?
We’re actively talking with CS/CIS/MIS/ECE/EE undergraduates to find bright minds with an interest in an entry-level consulting position at AppliedTrust to provide infrastructure, security, and opensource services to a wide variety of clients in pretty much every vertical.
What we find during many discussions with possible entry-level hires is that while candidates may have a great grasp of subtype polymorphism, they can’t necessarily explain how typing 'www.google.com' into their browser results in a connection to Google’s web server and acquiring content to display.
What’s sad about this is that there seems to be a big gap in the computer science curriculum related to formal infrastructure education. Infrastructure, architecture, and management of infrastructure are as much a science as programming, but for some reason infrastructure is often relegated to vocational training schools. While these schools are fine, the value in a four-year degree often arises from the experiences acquired over those four years — the interaction with others and traits like ownership, time management, responsibility etc. Having smart, talented infrastructure engineers is a need that will continue to grow, especially as the traditional LAN/WAN paradigms blur and services migrate to one of many “clouds in the cloud,” with compliance requirements and user access requirements and preferences changing at a frantic pace.
It’s also sad that infrastructure doesn’t even really pop up on the radar of many students, and that they don’t even have the data to make an informed decision. To sum it up in a single word, infrastructure is fun! Infrastructure makes things like the Internet possible. It supports the application layer and ultimately all of the services you use on a day-to-day basis. Some students will have been exposed to the seven-layer OSI model. As developers, layer 7 and possibly 6 will play a huge role. But what about the other five? That’s where a career in infrastructure exists. Perhaps it’s just not seen as being as sexy as programming? Maybe we need more “Infrastructure Engineers are Hot” t-shirts? What is nice to see is that what we do as infrastructure engineers falls squarely into the buckets of several of the top-paying degrees that CNBC listed for 2011.
Based on our experiences, while demand for programmers may wax and wane, talented infrastructure engineers are always in demand. The need for managed, stable, and secure infrastructure doesn’t go away during harsh economic times; at worst, it becomes more maintenance-oriented for a short period. It’s telling that AppliedTrust is busier than ever right now — a good sign, to be sure. As our consistent placement in the Inc. 5000 shows, 24% growth over three years under what many would agree were sub-optimal conditions is not too shabby. Worried about stability working for a small company? With more than ten years in business, a controlled growth rate, and high demand for our services, there’s not too much to worry about! On the flip side, a small company offers an immense capability to change and react to the needs and desires of employees, and as a result of that we feel like we have a fantastic culture and work environment to offer.
The variety of people, projects, and technologies to which a consultant in this space is exposed is staggering. On top of that, consulting builds a strong skill set outside of the purely technical realm that is a huge asset in the long career road ahead.
If you’re in that spinning boat with no clear path (or you know someone who is), let’s talk! We think we can offer a lot, including:
- Benefits best described as kick-ass. ($500 annual ski-pass, anyone?)
- An amazing team of engineers to help you succeed who are passionate about technology and building a place to work long-term.
- An opportunity to grow your own career in a direction of your choosing.
- An opportunity to still develop, as well. AppliedTrust has a growing Drupal practice that you could be a part of! We also regularly work with companies to help with programming-related elements such as secure programming, formal SDLC creation, etc.
- An opportunity to get paid to work on fun projects with a huge variety of clients.
- A chance to build an immensely valuable set of consulting skills without the usual demands of frequent travel required for similar positions. We live and work in Boulder for a reason, and believe a work life balance is possible.
At worst, you lose a few minutes. At best? Maybe you set your course.
P.S. We're also looking for interns!