Software development grad Brandon Degarimore lands role at BECU
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Hustle is a key career development concept that faculty and staff routinely discuss with software development students at Green River College. We define it as the perseverance and passion required to achieve challenging long-term goals and believe it can be the single greatest predictor to landing an internship or finding a great job after graduation.
Hustle is showing up. Hustle is working hard. Hustle is helping others. Hustle is going the extra mile. Hustle is seizing opportunities in front of you. Hustle is bringing positive energy and a coachable attitude to the classroom or the workplace, day in, day out. Hustle is like compound interest — it improves performance, which encourages more hustle, which improves performance even more.
When it came to earning a Bachelor’s degree in Software Development at Green River College, Brandon Degarimore was all about hustle.
During his four-year career at Green River, Brandon maintained a stellar grade point average. He qualified for a comprehensive National Science Foundation scholarship through the college’s Technology Scholars Program — twice. And at last week’s commencement ceremonies, Brandon received the Technology Division’s distinguished scholar award, an accolade presented to one student every year who embodies academic and technical excellence.
My experience in Green River’s Software Development program has been one amazing adventure. I’ve learned a ton and made a lot of great friends along the way!
Brandon demonstrated hustle outside of the classroom as well by leveraging his coursework to earn a variety of marketable certifications and by volunteering in different capacities.
“Brandon capitalized on opportunities beyond the classroom,” remarks software development instructor Ken Hang. “He spent his first two years of study focusing on network and server infrastructure and focused on software development in years three and four, leveraging his coursework throughout to further extend his learning by earning a Certified Ethical Hacker certification, a ScrumMaster certification, and multiple Microsoft Technology Associate certifications.”
I would say some of the big success factors for me was to stay ahead of lesson plans by reading ahead and planning early with any group projects. While a student, I also always had a side project that I would spend up to an hour each day working on to further enhance my development skills and programming practice.
“Brandon also demonstrated exemplary volunteer service,” adds instructor Tina Ostrander. “His experience competing at the Pacific Rim Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition lead him to volunteer as a coach for a local CyperPatriot team, where he helped prepare high school students to participate in the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition. While earning his Bachelor’s at Green River, Brandon also served as an IT Bachelor’s Student Ambassador, where he shared his passion for technology with high school students. He even gave a guest talk on Cross-Site Request Forgery at our Web & Mobile Developer Meetup. Like I said, exemplary volunteer service.”
One of my favorite classes was “Agile Development Methods.” We used Agile Methodologies throughout the program, but this class really taught us the different strategies and different development frameworks that work when using Agile. We were also given the opportunity to practice Agile Scrum by working with a client outside of the classroom to build a real-world web application.
Having completed his Bachelor’s in Software Development, Brandon’s next move involves joining the Information Technology Management team at one of the Puget Sound area’s favorite credit unions, Tukwila-based BECU.
Ask any of his instructors or peers, and they’ll readily admit it comes as no surprise that he placed out of the college so quickly. As a student, Brandon routinely polished his resume and LinkedIn profile, attended meetups and other networking events, and with tireless persistence applied early and often for full-time jobs prior to graduation.
When I emailed him recently asking what specific career preparation tips he had to recommend for up-and-coming software development students at Green River, he (quickly) responded with a litany of best practices.
It takes more than good grades to stand out. Continue learning new tools and skills. IT is a field that constantly changes, so keeping track of what’s new and coming down the pipeline is going to help. Next, ask questions to professionals in the specific job and company you’re looking to get into. IT has a vast amount of career options and sometimes those responsibilities are not consistent to every company you apply to. Finally, just because a company rejects you doesn’t mean the end of the world! Take the time to reflect why you got rejected and send an email thanking the HR department for their time and if possible to keep you in mind for other possible positions.
Ask anyone and they’ll say Brandon’s future looks exceedingly bright. No doubt this particular Green River alum’s story is just getting started.
Hustle has a way of rewarding people that way.
Be like Brandon. Learn agile web and mobile development using the latest technologies at Green River College with a Bachelor’s degree in Software Development. Small class sizes, project-based learning opportunities, day and evening programs, and an industry-low cost of attendance. Apply at www.greenriver.edu/software.
