CTG at Work: Brenden N.

Name: Brenden N.

Company Title: Network Analyst

Years at CTG: 13

Hometown: Clarence, NY

Current City: Lockport, NY

Favorite thing to do outside of work: Teaching snowboarding and just spending time outdoors with my family. Reading, listening, and constantly learning about tech, science, or finance.

I start my morning at 5:30 a.m. with a run, stretch, or yoga, and hopefully with some decent coffee also.

My first tasks of the day include checking for alerts or signs of network trouble or outages, pruning and maintaining systems located in later time zones during their off-peak hours, and assisting CTGers and/or troubleshooting production systems, usually in the EU to start.

In the afternoons, I usually work on security-oriented tasks like patching end systems and servers, and assisting CTGers in North America with various computing and networking issues throughout the day.

A typical evening is usually spent having dinner with my wife and two daughters, getting outside with them to play as much as possible, a walk before dark, then getting my girls to bed. Then I spend a bit of time with Google, a book, or some form of infotainment before bed.

What I really enjoy about working at CTG is the diversity of projects that need to be addressed in my department, as they tend to cross over into all different facets of IT. This keeps things fresh and keeps me in a constant state of learning. I also enjoy the autonomy and freedom to tackle problems differently, and that my team is always open and receptive to new ideas or methods. 

My career advice is to be fearless and make as many mistakes as you can, as early on as you can! Try absolutely everything that you think is worth trying, but seek a healthy balance. Remain a student of your craft and follow the paths that seem to have the strongest pull on your intrigue. This involves plenty of self-reflection and re-assessment. It will keep you in a constant state of discovery, and will ultimately lead you to the kind of work you most want to be doing.

I’ve learned at CTG that willingness to help goes a long way in building trust and strong relationships with coworkers. This creates a very satisfying and happy work environment, which ultimately builds opportunities. I’ve also learned that you don’t need to have all of the answers at the tip of your tongue.  You just need to have a willingness to seek, as well as a bit of persistence. 

I’ve learned that a certain level of humility is always needed in order to truly understand a problem and all of its implications. This is the key to getting it corrected in the best and most efficient way possible.