“As long as you don’t quit yourself, you’ll never quit anything in life. Once you start Job Corps, see it to the end. My only regret was not expanding my education even more at Job Corps to get the most out of my experience and jumpstart my career.”
Michael Davis always knew he wanted to work with electronics. He wrote his first interactive electronics program in his eighth-grade history class and is now a leader at one of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world.
Due to difficult life circumstances, Michael dropped out of high school. He worked low-paying jobs unrelated to his passions or interests. Michael’s mom couldn’t stand to see him fail and insisted they go to an employment office for counsel. While waiting at the office, they noticed an advertisement for Job Corps and realized this could be Michael’s shot at a promising career.
Michael enrolled at Little Rock Job Corps and graduated with a high school diploma and credentials in information technology in a little over a year. While at Job Corps, Michael had the opportunity to participate in work-based learning experiences with visiting electronics and technology companies and learned how to build relationships and work alongside many different types of people.
“Learning and training at Job Corps was much more tangible to me. It finally clicked,” Michael said.
After Job Corps, he joined the U.S. Navy as an aviation electronics technician. Following his military service, Michael worked as an electronics technician for Innerquest International. His supervisors quickly recognized Michael’s problem-solving and organizational skills and promoted him to quality manager.
“Job Corps was the foundation for my entire career. I’m not sure if this could have ever been possible if I hadn’t started there and my mom hadn’t kept pushing me.”
“In electronics, it’s all about problem-solving, organization and placement. If these are your strengths, I highly recommend finding a job in electronics or technology,” Michael said.
With the foundation Job Corps and his military service provided him, Michael continued to thrive in his career. Since 1990, Michael has worked as a telecommunications technician at the Arkansas Department of Health; PC specialist and telecommunications technician at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; project manager, enterprise project management expert and datacenter open systems manager for Acxiom; project manager and project management tools expert for Southwest Power Pool; and business unit IT manager and regional solutions delivery manager for CLEAResult Family of Companies.
Today, he serves as senior project manager and project management supervisor for Molex, one of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world. He also earned his bachelor’s degree in information technology project management from Capella University with a 4.0 GPA.
“Job Corps was the foundation for my entire career. I’m not sure if this could have ever been possible if I hadn’t started there and my mom hadn’t kept pushing me.”
His advice for students?
“As long as you don’t quit yourself, you’ll never quit anything in life. Once you start Job Corps, see it to the end. My only regret was not expanding my education even more at Job Corps to get the most out of my experience and jumpstart my career.”