Jimi Gbadamosi, an Assistant Vice President–Project Manager at Bank of America, is a 2016 graduate of Rutgers with a B.A. in Information Technology and Informatics (ITI) and a minor in Human Resource Management. Gbadamosi has an M.S. in Technology Project Management with a concentration in Advanced Project Management from the University of Houston and is currently pursuing an M.S. in Management & Leadership at the University of Houston Bauer College of Business. He is a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®) and Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (CLSSGB).

While at Rutgers, Gbadamosi belonged to TWESE, the Organization for African Students and Friends of Africa at Rutgers, the ITI Council, and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). Through his coursework at SC&I, he discovered that the ITI field enabled him to combine his love of technology with his people skills. Here he shares some of the wisdom he has learned along the way.

SC&I: Tell us about your current work and how the ITI program helped prepare you.

JG: I would have to say a combination of the ITI program and my previous IT experiences has brought me to this point in my career. The ITI program provided me with the foundation that I needed to understand IT overall.

SC&I: What ITI classes and instructors had the most impact on you as a person and on your career?

JG: I’ve been captivated by technology from a very young age, and that sparked my interest in the Information Technology and Informatics (ITI) major. I can pinpoint two introductory courses as having the most impact on me. I took “Introduction to Information Technology” with Assistant Dean for Instructional Support and Assessment Sharon Stoerger*. Professor Stoerger was approachable and offered me and other students guidance on the different pathways within Information Technology. I built a relationship with Professor Stoerger during the introduction course, which lasted throughout my undergraduate career and down the line in my graduate career. In my last undergraduate semester, I took an introductory project management course with instructor William Page. This well-taught class made me even more interested in project management and introduced me to someone who helped guide me into my graduate career.

*SC&I Note: Before becoming an Assistant Dean, Sharon Stoerger directed the Information Technology and Informatics (ITI) program, was an assistant teaching professor, and co-founded Women in Information Technology and Informatics at Rutgers.

SC&I: What’s your favorite piece of career advice? 

JG: The best piece of career advice I’ve ever received is that I determine the direction of my career—I’m the captain of my ship, and no one else can do that but me. This career advice has remained with me.

SC&I: How would you advise students trying to figure out what aspects of the IT & Informatics profession to pursue? 

JG: Do your research on the different roles that are available within the IT career field. Also, be very particular with your ITI undergraduate degree plan regarding what elective courses you take. Internships are also a great way to discover what type of IT work interests you. The fact that I’m a people person really helps me when it comes to Project Management. Many people have a misconception that Project Management is just the management of a project, but it also involves managing people and resources.

Photo: Courtesy of Jimi Gbadamosi ’16