The day after I graduated from Ranken I had three job offers with small companies. I accepted a job working for a gardening company that needed a web developer to build the new company site. In my time there I also built a custom email service that integrated with the company’s current CRM.
My next move after The Garden Kingdom could possibility be the most influential career move I have made to date. I took a position with a startup marketing firm goBRANDgo! in the Benton Park area as a lead developer and turned out over 100 web sites in my first year. The company ended up grossing a million dollars in the first year they were open. After I felt that I had outgrown the work that I was doing at goBRANDgo! I went to work for a much larger marketing agency downtown called Group 360 Worldwide.
My time there was a blast and I got to work on much larger brands such as Busch Beer, Rolling Rock, Johnson & Johnson, and Bass Pro Shop. This was my opportunity to show off my ability and have a chance to do some real public facing work. I left Group 360 Worldwide for a chance to really dive deep in to PHP with a smaller company named Tuva Interactive in Kirkwood MO. This job allowed me to get hands on work that dealt with big data and high traffic sites. This brings me to where I am now. After about four and a half years of hard work and long nights, I was able to catch a bigger fish. I landed my current position here at Graybar Electric, my first fortune 500 company. I have not been here long enough to really elaborate on what the work experience is like or to cover any real major accomplishments. I will say that Ranken opened the first door to many doors for me and my career, and even almost five years later the opportunities have not stopped popping up.
Ranken for me was the beginning of my new life. Out of high school I had no idea what I wanted to do or who I wanted to become. I tried out community college for a semester but found quickly that having my head down in books was not for me. Ranken provided me with the hands on leaning experience that I need to thrive.