ATS Employee Feature – Chris S.

Every month, ATS will share the talent and hard work that we call our team. From help-desk and NOC, to consulting, sales, application development, and more – we pause to get a little bit personal, showcasing the faces behind thetechnologysolutionswe work on each day.This month we meet ATS Security Team Lead, Chris S.

1. What was your first job? Tell us about it
   I always heard that if you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life. With that in mind and my 14-year-old view of the world, I decided to pursue my passion and lobbied for a job at my local Dairy Queen. After asking a few times over a few days, I landed the job and quickly learned that the ice cream business was not all glitz and glamour. I learned a lot of lessons from that job and will never forget the unique smell of the trashcans.
2. Who has influenced you most in your professional path/career?
   I was lucky enough to meet a mentor at one of my early tech jobs who taught me to challenge everything and not to accept the status quo. It was a valuable lesson to learn early in my career and I’ve been able to use that mentality to improve situations around me both personally and professionally.I would be remiss for not mentioning my parents as well. I grew up watching both my parents work long hours to provide for their family. Of all the things I’ve learned from them, the most important is that there’s no substitute for hard work.
   
3. What’s your favorite part about working in the Technology industry? What drew you to security?
   I love the people I’ve been able to meet in this industry. On one hand, I get to work with some extremely technical colleagues that I learn from every day. On the other, I get to solve technical problems for clients at the top of their respective fields so they can focus on what it is that makes them great. The range of people I get to work with means I never get bored.As far as security is concerned, there is no field better designed to show you how little you really know. Security is no more than understanding how all types of things work at a detailed level. The challenge of always feeling like there’s more to learn has always been attractive to me and I’m glad there’s an entire industry around it now.
4. Looking back, what career advice would you tell your 18-year-old self?
   The mullet isn’t coming back in style, stop waiting.Oh, you said career advice? Sorry… Take risks, always earn respect with hard work and set clear goals then move towards them every day.
5. What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?
   Day to day, I like to push myself physically. I’ve been running since high school and can’t quite seem to kick the habit. In the last couple of years, I’ve found boxing to be a great way to clear my mind and focus on something outside of work. I have a life goal to compete at least once in an amateur boxing match, I’ll keep you all posted if that ever happens.
   Bigger picture, I love traveling. I went to Paris with my fiancée in 2017 and our honeymoon will be our big trip for 2018 – destination is still TBD.—————————————————————————————
   Chris is great to work with and it’s an honor to have him here.(We’re also ready to root him on at his boxing match!)
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   We’re hiring! Check out theATS career pageto see if you might be the next team memberwe feature.
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