Name: Ohamien Uhakheme
Title/Employer: Senior Consultant/The Revere Group
Age: 22
Education: Bachelors of Science in Information Systems Technology
Tenure in IT industry: I've been employed in the field for four and half years, spent about nine years learning about IT.
First ever tech job: Network engineer at network operations center at the University of Central Florida.
Current role/responsbilities: I work in many different roles, including Cisco Team Leader, Cisco Lead on incoming Cisco unified communications projects and as part of the support team for network-based incidents. My other job responsibilities include creating internal processes/best practices for Cisco projects, working with Cisco to keep our partnership up to date, and to ensure that we make use of the different Cisco programs.
What's been your best job and why?
The Revere Group as they have given me the opportunity to learn and grow with different technologies and leadership roles.
What do you think is the number one non-IT skill IT professionals need today?
Personality. People have to like you to respect what actually goes into IT, without a good personality people tend to think that IT is just a black box that never listens to the users.
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What do you credit your career success to (mentor, influence from colleagues, education, etc.)
Mentors along the way have helped tremendously, and Cisco certification helped also qualify me.
What are the top three skills a high-level IT manager needs today?
Leadership, influence and working knowledge. To be a good manager, you must have leadership skills and influence, another key skill is working knowledge of what your employees are doing; that way you earn the respect of your employees.
What's your favorite IT resource site and why?
I honestly can't say that I have one other than www.cisco.com, as it's where I am for most of the day.
What is the best career advice you've ever received?
Luck is nothing more than preparation and opportunity.
What's the top advice you'd give to a new IT staffer?
I'm big on the college degree, it seems to show that someone is actually trying to make an investment and not use IT to 'get rich quick.' Staffers should consider the whole person, and give consideration to those who don't have much experience, but have the aptitude to learn and the certifications/degree to qualify that.
What would you advise someone looking to find the type of role you currently have?
Prepare now, and the job you want will come. If you cannot get any job experience, then do something else, (e.g. school, certifications) that way when the experience comes you can take full advantage of it. Have hope, the experience is out there and there is always a need for people.
What is the one career decision you would change if you could?
I would have studied more about network switching in high school. Cisco was all about routers at the time and I undervalued the switch, big mistake.
If you had the choice to jump into any other job, tech or non-tech, what would it be?
That's a hard question. Teaching may be fun.
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