Read more about Heartland Business Systems.
This January, Cody Holoday ’22 began a full-time position as a consulting engineer at Heartland Business Systems’ northeast Wisconsin, location, but it wasn’t his first day on the job. Holoday graduated from Michigan Tech in December 2022 with a bachelor of science in Computer Network and System Administration (CNSA).
Holoday interned as an engineering associate at Heartland during the summers of 2021 and 2022. “The internships at Heartland are considered an extended interview. The company wants to see how you function on a team and how you interact with customers,” he says. “The company is aware that interns don’t know everything and that they’re going to have to teach us. Interns are there to help and learn.”
As an intern, Holoday worked closely with an experienced engineer with his own group of customers. Today, much of his work at HBS is serving customers who request repair service from Heartland. Day to day his work varies.
“Some days I’ll be in the office all day doing the work that can be accomplished remotely. On other days I visit different sites all day,” he says. “I am also responsible for persuading customers to upgrade their infrastructure and making sure that their security practices are keeping the business as secure as possible.”
“At Heartland, we’re making sure everything’s up to date and safe for our clients so they have as few disruptions as possible,” Holoday says. “Things like ransom attacks, viruses, and malware can be very detrimental to the businesses Heartland serves and disruptions can affect just one computer or the entire system.”
“I broadened my horizons very quickly at Heartland,” Holoday says. “My work touches basically everything, and that’s a challenge. But it can also be very interesting and fun. There’s lots of problem-solving. One of the best parts is that I get to see and touch everything,”
Holoday says advanced job opportunities with Heartland are many, such as senior consulting engineer, team leader, and director positions. Some Heartland employees concentrate on something more focused, such as voice networking and there are opportunities to apply for positions at one of the many branch offices.
“My CNSA degree from Michigan Tech gave me a very good groundwork for how to function in a job role like this,” Holoday says. “I definitely learned the base knowledge that I needed and that helped me get to where I am today.”
Holoday believes that his bachelor‘s degree from Michigan Tech has opened more doors than a degree from another institution may have.
“Using Heartland as an example, they hire almost exclusively from Michigan Tech and the University of Wisconsin-Stout,” Holoday says. “So, with a Michigan Tech degree, I was halfway in the door. What that means to me is that Michigan Tech and the CNSA program are teaching graduates what they need to get started on successful careers.”
“Michigan Tech is rigorous, but it really prepares you for how the world works,” Holoday says. “When I graduated, I felt prepared, or even overly prepared, for what life might throw at me in the workforce.”
As both a teaching assistant and a CNSA graduate, Holoday offers current CNSA students this advice: “Read the manual and documentation to learn the basics!” he says., “Also, talk with your instructors if you need help. You don’t need to be afraid; they’re helpful and very nice.”
Holoday is from Allen Park, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. He graduated from Southgate Anderson High School.