PROFESSIONAL TENTMAKER: BRENT

Brent was a fresh grad and the youngest in a team of seven that we placed in China for an IT outsourcing company based in California. Before his departure, we met with his parents to hear their concerns, and appreciated how they did not want to stand in the way of their son’s calling.

A few months later, when we visited Brent to find out how he was doing, he assured us that he was happy with what he was learning on the job. About a year later, he shared that compared to his classmates from Davis working in the Silicon Valley, he was way ahead of them in terms of the responsibilities that he was given as a software engineer in China. He also discovered his talent with language as he became quite fluent in Mandarin serving in small groups with local young professionals.

After two years, he came home to a job that his parents were quite happy about. Today, he continues to grow in his IT career and is preparing for God’s next assignment.

Tom was in his late twenties when he went out on the same team with Brent. He also came back to California after two years, and quickly got hired by another IT outsourcing company that worked with India! It did not take him long to discover how his overseas experience enabled him to understand the business better than his peers who had never worked on the other side of the fence. During his two years in China, he gained cross-cultural competence that has advanced his career.