Thanks to Steve Marcinek, a systems engineer at Cisco, five HITT grant students from Michael Gordon’s CCNA class, toured Cisco facilities on Wednesday, April 2, 2014. Marcinek, a St. Petersburg College Computer and Information Technology advisory committee member, informed students, staff, and faculty about Cisco products and the IT profession.  The tour began with a self-introduction about how Marcinek acquired his position at Cisco.  Mr. Marcinek conducted an informal Q&A session to encourage students to ask questions about Cisco products, the company, and careers in information technology.

Students took advantage of the Q&A portion, inquiring about what employers seek in entry-level IT candidates, how to obtain positions, what additional education Marcinek thought would be beneficial, and specifics about Cisco products and services. Marcinek explained his belief that his MBA coupled with his technical background paved a solid path for his current position as Systems Engineer.  With this tip, Marcinek advised that an MBA would assist a potential IT recruit with navigating the corporate environment.

The final tour segments showed students the latest networking equipment, including Cisco routers, and demoed the use of Cisco’s cutting-edge teleconferencing equipment. Marcinek wrapped up the tour with an open invitation for the students to network and ask questions. When interviewed, one excited student said of the tour “…enjoyed seeing how Cisco incorporated technical expertise with sales skills into providing customer solutions. It was a great example of how the IT field is built on people AND technology… Ultimately an IT solution or project should  solve a problem or fulfill the need of a business, organization, or person.”

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