Industry Awareness and Life Lessons
Alumni, Aware
Like the students in attendance, Brandon Stephens was once, too, a college student with uncertain expectations of the future ahead of him. Between his time as a student at the Digital Corps and his start as a software developer at Generation Tux, Brandon worked in six different positions, each for one to two years.
For college students, it can be difficult to know what to expect beyond graduation — from living on their own to landing the job they really want. When it comes to “real-life” jobs, there is no better source of knowledge than advice coming from industry professionals themselves. So, every month, Corps alumni are invited to return to their old stomping grounds to share their experiences, answer students’ questions, and clear the air about what it’s really like in the different professional fields Corps employees are aiming to join.
In January, Brandon Stephens was the Industry Awareness speaker. Rather than talking about his current position at Generation Tux, Stephens spent considerable time talking about the path he took to get there. Despite graduating from Ball State as an advertising major, Brandon has held a variety of jobs, from designer and front-end web developer, to adjunct professor at Indiana University South.
Burning at Both Ends
While Brandon had gained some valuable experience from working with the Digital Corps, he couldn’t be fully prepared for many of the challenges that came with joining the workforce. One of the biggest hurdles he faced became a topic of interest for students in attendance: burnout.
Especially during his time at his earliest jobs, Brandon found it difficult to ration his time and work, and use his energy in an effective way. He attributes this, in part, to his inexperience, saying “I was too young here and too ignorant of, honestly, the way I worked.”
As time went by, however, Brandon was able to learn from his burnout. The more projects he was part of, the better he became at knowing his limits and his abilities.
“You have to be honest with yourself. Am I just getting this out the door at B+ so I can get on to the next thing?”
The New Normal
During the question-and-answer session of Brandon’s presentation, Video Team master, Blake Conner, asked a simple question: “Do you think you’d consider your experience normal?” While it seems a fairly general question, Blake had a specific piece of Brandon’s story in mind: why so many different jobs, and should current students expect the same thing?
Brandon’s answer? Absolutely.
“Everyone on our team [except one person] has hopped three or four jobs before they got here, and I’m one of the older ones at the age of thirty.”
Numbers Don’t Lie
Stephens’ response checks out when it comes to his generation of employees as a whole. According to a LinkedIn blog discussing generational differences in job-hopping tendencies, the number of companies college graduates work for in their first five years after college has been steadily climbing since the 1980’s. And, based on information provided by LinkedIn users, those who graduated between 2006 and 2010 worked for an average of nearly three companies in just the first five years after graduating college.
Still, these numbers aren’t universal. Based on data from LinkedIn users, certain industries are above average in their turnover rate, while others are on the low end. As for Brandon’s field, Software Technology, it lies in the middle. On all accounts, then, Brandon’s answer to Blake’s question can hardly be contested. Whether job-hopping is seen as a positive, negative, or entirely neutral practice, Brandon assures students that it’s nothing to lose sleep over.
“I don’t know if this is right or wrong, or healthy, or whatever. But this is the path that I took, so don’t make the same mistakes, or make the same ones — just know that you’re not the weirdest person if you do hop around.”
Students in attendance appreciated Brandon’s honesty, one expressing admiration for his determination to find a job that he truly enjoyed and found fulfilling. Seth Winslow, a member of the Development Team, offered his personal response: “I found it interesting in the sense that it took him a little bit, but he really found his work that he loves and people he loves to work with.”
