OPPORTUNITY
Matched with effort
World-class IT
When Allante Jowers answers the phone at the AskIT help desk, he’s never sure who will be on the other end — or what their issue will be.
But Jowers never loses sight that solving customer problems affects the larger UAB community. “If a doctor calls in because he can’t log in to his computer, my helping him helps him get back to helping patients,” Jowers said.
Understanding how everyone at UAB is connected — and bringing empathy to his role — are among the qualities that keep Jowers one of the most productive employees on the help desk. And that’s opened up more opportunities for him to connect with IT customers.
Opportunity isn’t something Jowers felt he had much of just two years ago, when he was working a dead-end job and trying to get back into school at UAB. A longtime resident of the Mobile area, Jowers moved to Birmingham to study physical therapy at UAB when financial issues halted his educational journey.
“I was working 40 hours a week and still didn’t have enough money,” Jowers said. “You start to feel like, maybe this is where I belong. It does something to you mentally.”
But a friend who knew Jowers wasn’t living up to his potential sent him something that changed his life — an ad for the new Innovate Birmingham program, a three-month course of study that could result in his earning a technology certificate and a chance at a new career. So Jowers entered the free program — and three months later found himself back at UAB, this time earning a living as a computer technician on the AskIT help desk.
The opportunity was important, but as Jowers said, “Opportunity has to be matched with effort.”
Jowers enjoys troubleshooting issues for callers to AskIT, but he also wants to expand his skills. So when he heard about new projects in UAB IT that needed help, he jumped at the opportunity.
“I don’t want to stop at troubleshooting,” he said. “I want to be a problem solver.”
Taking his customer service and technology skills to a new level, Jowers joined the UABFile migration project, working to set up meetings with customers so that UAB IT could understand their needs during the large undertaking.
“I like being able to step out from behind the desk and see how customers do their work,” he said.
He’s also partnered with the IT Governance team, talking to customers and vendors about new technology solutions that IT customers hope to introduce to campus. Being a part of a culture where there are new opportunities — and people willing to help — is a new experience for Jowers, he said.
“IT Governance is new; it’s just rolling off the ground,” Jowers said. “My input is asked.
“A big reason for my success is the people around me. Everyone has been open. That’s something you don’t always see. For me, it was a new opportunity. In other jobs, you might not necessarily have that — they don’t promote growth.”
The support gives Jowers the confidence to see new paths for himself — and new paths for customers as well. Jowers is taking classes at Collat School of Business and expects to finish his bachelor’s degree in information systems in fall 2020. He’s also joined the UAB Staff Council as an alternate representative for UAB IT. Both of those experiences give him new insight into how UAB works and what UAB IT’s customers need.
“I love working with customers,” he said, “and being in a position where they trust me to be able to help them.”
And helping innovate solutions is one of the next steps Jowers wants to take. Once he is finished with his bachelor’s degree, he wants to look into data science.
“Looking at raw data, you can see the big picture and you see solutions,” he said.
For Jowers, connecting with customers at UAB and helping solve their problems with innovative solutions has helped them — and him.
“Innovation is not necessarily reinventing the wheel but finding a better way to turn it,” he said. “With Innovate Birmingham, I went through my own innovation. It allowed me to shift my focus and understand my worth.”