Sacramento IT Student 'Shadows' His Way To Success

Robert Westendorf along with his lovely wife, Christina, came to Sacramento all the way from Rockford, IL for better job prospects eight years ago. Jobs were scarce in the midwest at that time, so the couple set their sights on a brand new future on the west coast. Within just a few years, Westendorf finished an IT program at MTI College where he 'shadowed success.'

"The education I received from MTI College is the sole reason that I was able to gain employment at my current location. The school offers its students a voluntary shadowing of the IT staff at the school, that helps tremendously when utilized properly," Westendorf said.

MTI Director of Career Services, Toni Lewis further explains 'shadowing.' "Any student open to learning what the day-to-day duties of IT professionals at the college actually are, can shadow the technicians in troubleshooting computer related difficulties, observing printer issues, or even just watching staff help folks find a file. Students can also witness monitoring, and help resolve PC networking and other support issues in a 'real world' situation. Students are also invited to assist our technical support department on any upgrades in the network, when the school sessions are out."

Now Westendorf works and lives in Sacramento as part of the Server Management Unit for the State of California at FI$Cal project. FI$Cal is an acronym for the Financial Information System for the State of California. This is a business transformation program to develop, implement, and maintain an integrated financial management system for budgeting, and accounting including procurement, and financial reporting. In fact, there are currently a number of IT openings within the program.

Westendorf has even bigger plans for his career that include continuing on at MTI to obtain a Microsoft Server 2012 R2, Cisco and VMware certifications - in addition to his current Microsoft Server 2008 R2.

What does Westendorf like the best about his job? "My current job is always challenging and advancing me. This keeps me advancing in my education and chosen field of IT."

Karen Hansen M.S. Earth Sciences, has been an educator and consultant who is currently an analyst regarding land and other public information records. She lives and works in Sacramento, CA. She has been writing about earth and the environmental sciences for Examiner.com since May of 2010. Find her work in several sections of the publication. You can find her work at SF Solar Energy Examiner, SF Environmental News Examiner and Environmental News Examiner