From Temporary Employee to Sr. Vice President
In 1999, Benjamin Goforth, a recent high school graduate, found himself seeking employment. Although lacking professional experience, he was eager to enter the workforce. Benjamin sought out Burnett’s Staffing to help him in his search for professional employment. Upon completing the agency’s computer skills testing, he was coached to sharpen his resume and soft skills. With the assistance of Burnett’s Staffing, Benjamin landed a temporary job as a Data Entry Clerk at The Associates in Irving, Texas.
In the fall of 2000, Citigroup Inc. purchased The Associates. At the ripe age of 19 years old, Benjamin sought after an opening as a Junior Underwriter in the Transportation department within the company. He recalled, “I applied for the job, but I was not qualified at all… I didn’t have credentials to stand on, but what I did have were these awards that I had received in the past 6-12 months from the data entry [job], and so I took all my awards to the interview and interviewed with the hiring manager and their boss. I said, ‘give me a shot.’”
And Benjamin’s prowess paid off. He landed the job and learned the trade of underwriting. Benjamin continued to work for Citi as a Collections Representative while working his way up the corporate ladder. Shortly after, Benjamin was promoted to Collections Manager of Commercial/Business Banking in North America. There he managed a team of 40 employees and was responsible for a whopping $5 Billion portfolio. Benjamin also found himself managing a Data Entry Team, similar to the one of which when he was first a temp with Burnett’s Staffing.
After years of dedicated hard work, Benjamin began to notice it was very difficult for managers to compute the exact number of credit applications and how long each one took to process. Realizing that these essential analytics could be the key to exponential growth, Benjamin connected with a few guys in the technical department. With access to data files, Benjamin taught himself to program.
In 2007, Benjamin built and created a Data Mark and Access system that computerized their ability to count the incoming credit applications, how fast they came in, how many were approved or denied, what region they were from, all the way down to the individual level.
“What I found out is that information drives business, and analytics are the backbone of any institution.”
Benjamin Goforth continued to work for Citi as their Vice President – Business Analyst III, Business Lending North America, Citibank’s Vice President – U.S. Account Management Manager, Citi’s Vice President- Portfolio Strategy and Analytics, Citibank’s Commercial Senior Vice President – Portfolio Strategies and Analytics Manager.
Today, Benjamin still works for Citigroup Inc. He is now happily married with two children. Benjamin decided to advance his education and received his Associates degree from Tarrant County College in 2007. He went on to obtain his Bachelor’s degree from DeVry University this past February.
“I earned my start from a placement agency. So you always want to remember where you came from.”
View the original publication on burnetts.com here.