Consultant (Software Developer)
"Always be yourself, the best version of yourself but still yourself."
Robert calls his career path a winding one, and every turn gave him something he still uses. Today he is a software developer and consultant in IT consulting services in Atlanta, working directly with clients to solve their technical problems.
His first jobs were in retail, at Family Dollar and later Walmart. Robert says the consulting skills he relies on now started there, serving customers every day. Ambition pushed him further. He enrolled in Job Corps, trained in an advanced trade as a railcar mechanic, and went to work on the railroad, where finding solutions to mechanical issues became his daily work.
Through it all, Robert carried a lifelong love of technology and a desire to do more than skilled labor. He found Per Scholas, a nonprofit training program, and learned software development. That path, he says, transformed his life and his career.
Getting hired as a developer was its own test. Robert won a hackathon hosted by his current employer, but when he applied for a role there afterward, his application was initially rejected. The company didn't normally hire software developers without a degree. "Not having a bachelor's degree is often a non-starter when applying for software developer jobs. Most companies won't even touch you," he says.
So Robert found another way in. He leveraged the connections he made through winning the hackathon to get his application reviewed and accepted, and he was eventually hired into the job he holds today.
Since then, he has been part of galas and dinner parties, had an award named after him, and been featured in a Fortune news article, milestones he never thought were possible. Robert knows both the struggle and the reward, and he wants other workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) to know that success is available to them too.
His advice: "There is always more than one path forward. And often, it is harder to stand out on a road walked by millions of people than it is to cut your own path with the tools you uniquely possess."
Alternative Routes:
- Job Corps
- Per Scholas
- On-the-job learning (retail, railroad)
Top 3 Skills:
- Software development
- Client consulting
- Mechanical problem-solving
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
