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Provided by Career Street Roadmap

Today’s guest is Tom Corapi, director of technology of Networking Technology.

What is the name of the company you work for?

Networking Technologies

What does this company do?

Networking Technologies is an IT services and technology solution provider.

Describe your day-to-day job/work related tasks and activities.

My day-to-day activates revolve around the building and design of technology solutions for our customers. This includes wired and wireless networking, server and storage solutions, cloud service offerings and IT based-security. In my position, I am also responsible for research and development of technology strategies and offerings, as well as overseeing technical operations.

What are the best things about your career?

My career in technology exposes me to current and emerging technologies.

What are the challenges faced in your career?

Generally, the challenges of my career are related to the pace at which technology changes. Information Technology careers require constant education and training in the order to provide informed decisions and relevant solutions.

What’s your educational background?

I am a graduate of Cathedral Preparatory school. I attended Penn State Behrend- electrical engineering technology program. Several IT Industry Leader type certifications, including HPE, Extreme Networks, VMWare and the like.

What has led you to your current career?

I have always had interest in computers and technology. I began exploring simple programming languages in high school mostly as a hobby. While attending college, I was exposed to the other programming languages and computer technologies. During this time, I attended various job fairs for local employers and was offered a role as a computer technician.

From there, I enhanced my skills utilizing company- sponsored training, hands-on experience and other selfpaced training. Eventually, I was promoted to a technical team leader, overseeing a group of corporate level technical analysts.

At this position, I continued to utilize training classes and materials to improve my abilities. This includes taking additional college courses focused on programming languages and computer technologies. In turn, I moved in to a network administration role for a locally- based national retailer.

Having developed relationships with various support professionals and vendors has led me to a position at Networking Technologies. Here, I was afforded many opportunities for education and training and vast exposure to solutions and technologies across a broad range of industries. From there, I moved into a solutions architect role, which includes all aspects of information technology and its application to customer needs and initiatives.

Recently, I have moved into the role of the director of technology. In this role, I am responsible for the technology within the organization and direction to which we will architect and deliver solutions for the business.

What qualities are important for you to hold the position you have?

            It is important to understand that information technology is ever evolving. Education is key to maintaining a high level of competency and the ability to relate technology to a purpose.

What do you look for when you hire a new employee?

We look for preparedness. It is a good idea to understand the company that you are speaking with, so do your homework. Review their website and try to get an understanding of their business model and vision if possible. Also, practice answering questions related to your professional background, education, and learning styles/goals. Many interview questions are situational scenarios and may not necessarily have a right or wrong answer.

What size company do you work for?

            25 employees.

What would people be surprised to know about your career?

            Some may be surprised about the level of continuing education necessary in this industry. Also, the level of interaction with people, who may not understand aspects of technology but are looking to technology partners to help them make informed decisions.