Speaker: Allie Smith, Career Services Instructor
Introduce yourself! What is your role and how long have you been with ACI Learning?
Allie Smith: Hey there! My name is Allie Smith. I currently live in Colorado Springs, Colorado with my husband and our two wonderful fur babies. We have been down in the Springs since 2019, but I've lived in the Colorado area since 2004. At this point I say mostly native but if you ask me where home was, I definitely tell you Michigan. My parents are both from there, my family all still lives there, and I spent summers there as a kid. So you can take the girl out of Michigan, but you definitely can't take the Michigan out of the girl. One thing to know about me is I am a better person after I drink my coffee. I am so happy to be here at ACI Learning. I started in March of 2023 as a Career Services Instructor. It really combines two parts of my background that I never thought I'd be able to use together, which is recruiting and education. I love helping the students here. A few things to know about me in terms of personality, I love baking, cooking, reading, camping. Frankly, now that I work from home, it is my mission to get out on the weekends and really enjoy what our area has to offer, whether it's in nature or exploring new bars, breweries, restaurants, those types of things with my husband.
Tell us about your professional journey.
Allie Smith: As far as my experience goes, I'm actually a career changer like many of our students. So I know how hard that path can be to walk sometimes but most of my experience falls in recruiting and education. As far as recruiting goes, most recently, I was a DoD IT recruiter for a local DoD contractor here in Colorado Springs. I've also done health care staffing, I actually like to tell people I went to jail for fun because I've been to most of the Colorado State prisons and private jails across the state. I staff their clinics and infirmaries with health care professionals anywhere from NPs, PAs, CNAs, even up to mental health techs, x-ray techs, those types of things. As far as education goes, I've actually taught all the way from elementary to high school students. I did mostly in critical thinking, neuroscience, and brain health topics. Believe me, I am much happier teaching adults than I was kids even though they are a ton of fun to be around.
What is your favorite thing about working in career services?
Allie Smith: My absolute favorite part of career services is helping people find their forever home. As a professional recruiter, I often had to deal with that "butts in seats" mentality. I just needed a person to fill the spot so that we could move forward with our next requisition. It was one of my least favorite parts of recruiting frankly because if I'm taking the time to help you, I wanna make sure it's a step for you into your dream career and ultimately finding that piece of your forever home. I love being here at ACI because I get to see where you're coming from and then give you some of the tools to help you get to that dream career.
What has been the most valuable lesson you have learned from your education?
Allie Smith: The most valuable lesson I've learned from my education is the ability to be flexible, and taking on new opportunities, whether it comes in terms of like a new certification, or a class, or something like that because never in a million years did I think I would take a background in psychology and neuroscience, apply it to education, apply it to recruiting, apply it even to event planning as part of my background. So really be open to the educational opportunities provided to you as they come along.
What's something you want students to know about you?
Allie Smith: One thing students need to know about me is that I am a night owl. I heard he told you that I'm a better person after I drink my coffee, and that's true. I even have mugs and t-shirts that say "nightmare before coffee" if I'm being honest. In all seriousness the one thing students need to know about me is that I'm here at ACI, because I believe in the process. Getting your certifications, finding a bridge role so that you can get your foot in the door in a new career, and I believe in it because I've lived it. About 2.5 years ago, my husband was in appliance repair and realized it just wasn't as calling anymore. Like many of our students here at ACI, he had capped out on salary earning potential and just didn't want to be doing it the rest of his life. He was in the Reserves at the time and realized that Security+ was probably the best way for him to break into DoD IT. Unfortunately, we didn't know about ACI at the time, so he did all of his studying and things on his own and enrolled in his bachelor's at the same time. While he was doing that, a local DoD contractor offered him a systems administrator apprenticeship role so that he could gain some experience while he was still getting his education, and we are so glad that he took that opportunity because in less than 2.5 years, he has an upgraded clearance from Secret to TS/SCI, he has doubled, nearly tripled his initial salary offer and they just paid for him to get another certification. So I'm here, I'm willing to help you get the tools that you need because I've seen them work in your favor and I want you to be just as successful as my husband.
What advice would you give to students starting out in the IT industry?
Allie Smith: The absolute best advice that I would give to my students starting out in a new career in IT, as a career changer myself, is actually something that my father taught me when I was first starting out as a professional is never close a door unless you have to. So if you leave a position, make sure that you leave it on good terms, you're able to get references if you need them, or if you're applying for jobs for example don't stop applying until you find the right position for you. For example, my husband had accepted a travel position prior to finding his systems administrator apprenticeship with the local DoD contractor, and if he would have stopped looking, would have stopped answering recruiter messages and things like that, he never would have found the greatest opportunity that was offered to him.
