From banking success, to a new future in tech: Bradley’s Red Hat journey so far

Not every journey into technology is linear. Just ask Bradley, a non-traditional student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a business analyst intern on the IT Operations Analytics team. Bradley started his career at Red Hat during the summer of 2024, but getting here has been an adventure in itself. We sat down with him to talk about unique career paths, transferable skills, and his experience with Red Hat’s emerging talent program.

After graduating high school, Bradley pursued a career in banking instead of following the traditional college route. Over the next 5 years, he worked his way up from a banking associate to a senior role. Bradley was progressing well in his career, but felt like something was missing. “Everything was going pretty well for me,” says Bradley, “to the point that I had the freedom to make a different decision in life, to go do what I always wanted to do. And that was to work in technology in some way or another.”

Bradley began this transition by attending community college at night. “Weirdly enough, the astronomy course I took in community college was the reason I wanted to pursue a higher-level education at UNC,” he reflects. His astronomy professor was passionate about the subject and connected it to students’ daily lives. This inspired a shift in Bradley’s mindset—helping him visualize how technical subjects had real-life applications. “For the first time, I saw how the work I could do in technology might translate into the real world. The codependent nature of human-computer interaction is why I decided to pursue information science. It's a discipline that is far more human-oriented than computer science.”

He was accepted into the Bachelor of Science in Information Science program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This is where Bradley’s understanding of technology broadened significantly. His technical and information literacy grew, and with it, his ability to see how technical knowledge could be applied to everyday situations. “Information thinking is often about asking, ‘How do I get this technical thing to work with human beings?,” he explains.

The next step was breaking into the technology industry. Bradley first learned about Red Hat a few years before, while training for his banking role in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. He saw Red Hat employees outside the building and noticed that they all looked like they were having a good time. The next time he crossed paths with Red Hatters wasn’t until a few years later, when he attended a networking event in 2023. 

The networking event validated his initial impression of Red Hat, especially when he met Chief People Officer, Jennifer Dudeck. Bradley was struck by her approachability, noting that she had her dog in tow and only mentioned her title halfway through her talk. For him, the encounter reflected the openness of Red Hat’s culture, helped him learn more about internship opportunities, and left him encouraged to apply. 

Now, as a business analyst intern, Bradley describes his role as “the intermediary between business stakeholders and data scientists.” He credits the combination of his studies in information science, and his people-focused experience in banking, for helping him succeed in the role. The result was a “super productive internship” that was extended into 2025.

During his time at Red Hat, Bradley has gained a greater understanding of how a large enterprise operates and how an individual contributor's work connects to larger initiatives. He notes that the pace of innovation at Red Hat has been a welcome shift from the more traditional rhythms of the banking industry he previously experienced. 

One of his internship highlights includes aiding a project that helped save a team $600,000 and 12,000 hours a year via a tool he created with his team. It was his first time turning a vague idea into something concrete that people can use. Another highlight is the network he's built at Red Hat; many of his closest friends are people he’s met through the company. Bradley also found the mentoring program to be helpful. Bradley credits his mentor, a senior director in IT, for “taking time and interest” in him and offering helpful career advice.

However, Bradley says the key benefit of Red Hat’s internship programs is the opportunity to interact with many different areas of the business that expose you to a wide variety of projects. His team, in particular, “touches everything in the IT organization.”" Instead of maintaining the status quo, Bradley says his team “creates solutions people don’t even know they need yet.” More recently, they have been using internal AI tools to innovate much faster.

Overall, the journey has validated the hard work, late nights, and twists and turns that often come with a career pivot. Information science has lent itself well to systems analysis. Indeed, Bradley enjoys  turning ideas into tangible roadmaps and actionable plans. “I like to look at a process and figure it out from the basic level—what are we trying to accomplish? Who is this going to be for? Who needs to work on this?”

For Bradley, Red Hat is a supportive, creative, and forward-thinking community that allows him to grow and do work that matters, all while having a good time with the people around him. For others considering a career pivot,  Bradley is proof that if you’re someone who has a passion for technology, there are pathways to your destination even if you’re starting new in the field.

Inspired by Bradley’s story? Opportunities are open. Check out Red Hat's internship opportunities and apply today.