Working in Tech - Alumnus Interview, and Career Prospects Exploration

Snow was still coming down this morning as the group gathered to Skype with Alex Kent, a New Hampton alumnus and the Director of Analytics at 24/7 Wall Street. The company's primary revenue source is from advertising on their website. A challenge that they face is attracting users through sponsored content boxes and advertising on sites like Facebook and AOL. The company makes an initial investment to attract users to their content. If a user views multiple pages, 24/7 Wall Street is able to generate sufficient ad revenue to recoup its investment. Bulk demographics is one source of input that helps them target potential viewers effectively. Their profit is dependent on user interaction. Therefore, it is important that they produce quality content.

The 24/7 Wall Street Media Network also includes other websites that cover Finance and Investing News. Alex loved economics in high school and recommended taking a Computer Science class. He said that relationships with advisors and teachers are invaluable. He works very hard and noted that “everyone is trying to program me out of a job.” This exemplifies the dynamic nature of the technology industry. He also recommended dedicating time to learning one new thing every week. His technology skills are critical for job performance and were almost entirely self-taught, primarily on his own time after his "day job." As one of New Hampton's home-grown lifelong learners, he continues to build his skillsets and cultivate a mindset of growth. (Contributor: Keenan Fitzmorris. Edited.)

Skype with Alex Kent.

When the call ended, the students led a passionate discussion about many of the comments Alex had made referring to the personality traits, personal commitment, and interpersonal connections required to achieve success... in any job, certainly, but especially in any field that relies heavily upon technology. Just a few years out of college, Alex is doing well, largely due to his intrinsic motivation to stay current and do whatever he can to succeed. 

We couldn't have asked for a better segue into our next activity: a trimmed-down, "teenage-version" of the Myers Briggs personality test, with results presented in the context of career selection for each personality type. The resource we used for this exercise can be found at interactiontalks.com - a site dedicated to information about teenage education, careers, and jobs.

Part 1 of the instrument we used as a fun exercise, with the understanding that it is very general and definitely does not substitute for the real test as administered and explained by a trained consultant.

The students tabulated their results and then we headed over to http://paulsohn.org/the-best-jobs-for-all-16-myers-briggs-personality-types-in-one-infographic/ to get a high level indication of the types of careers that may match well with each student. 

Visit the link in the paragraph (not photo) above to view the entire infographic.
Also, ask your child about his or her opinions about the test and its results.

Again, we had a spirited discussion on this subject, and even speculated about the personality types of some of the people we had met earlier in the week. The conversation transitioned naturally into the theme of compensation and benefits for these possible careers. Where better to get solid numbers about compensation than from a respected recruiting firm? Robert Half has released its 2018 salary guides, so we looked at the wide ranges of salaries for the careers students imagined they would enjoy... and then surprised ourselves by considering the market variances for compensation, available within those guides. I cannot republish the data here, but your child has a copy and should be able to guide you through our exercise if you're curious.

Mr. Fay had some interesting reactions as we looked at tech industry salaries!

Students were happy and laughing as we wrapped up for the day, eager for our visit to FirstLight Fiber tomorrow!