First Jobs

Computerworld -

David Jordan

Chief information security officer, Arlington County Government, Arlington, Va.

Back in the '80s, I was a senior test and system integration engineer in the Satellite Business Systems labs in McLean, Va. SBS was formed by Comsat, IBM and Aetna Life & Casualty to use satellites to broadcast broadband data. SBS1 was the first commercial satellite to be launched from the space shuttle.

Gordon D. Wishon

CIO, associate vice president, associate provost for IT, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind.

After a couple of years in the cockpit of an F-111 fighter during the late 1970s, I spent several years as a consultant to the command staff on issues related to fighter aircraft technology. During this time, I worked on the design and development of the next generation of aircraft and missile systems.

Marina Levinson

Vice president, CIO, Palm Inc., Milpitas, Calif.

I started my career in IT after emigrating from Russia in 1980. My first job was with TRW in San Jose and focused on selecting and implementing a relational database for analytical applications.

Carlos M. Recalde

Executive director of technology, Americas region, KPMG LLP, Montvale, N.J.

I started in IT as the director of information services at a New York women's fashion house in the late 1970s. I talked my way into a new position by claiming that I could cut in half the expenses in the shipping department, which comprised 54 people who hand-wrote picking slips and typed invoices. We bought a rudimentary system that had been written by a noncompetitive garment company in California that allowed us to decrease head count to 12 people within nine months. But the real benefit came from getting goods out the door faster.

Gregory S. Jackson

CIO, State of Ohio, Columbus

My first IT job, in 1985, was to build a LAN at my U.S.-based company's new Mexican plant. The LAN would run the inventory control and customs management systems, which needed to tie into the company's U.S. IT systems. I was challenged with provisioning a T1 line from Telefonos de Mexico and coordinating with AT&T. With little industry guidance, no internal experts to lean on and a second language to contend with, I had a blast. The outcome was a success.

Mark F. Hedley

Senior vice president, CTO, Wyndham International Inc., Dallas

I began my career as a systems analyst at the Sheraton Grande Hotel in Los Angeles. A fine introduction to my chosen field – not only did I touch all the hotel's systems, but I quickly became very familiar with all facets of hotel operations and the vital role technology plays in supporting the business. The Sheraton Grande piqued my enthusiasm for hospitality technology.

Debra Anderson

CIO, Novell Inc., Provo, Utah

My first IT job was at Eastman Kodak in Rochester, N.Y., as a beginning programmer in the photochemicals division. I was one of only three IT support people, and we worked in the plant along with our business customers. We handled everything from their financial system to inventory management to chemical procurement systems.

Compiled and edited by Jean Consilvio, assistant Management editor.