In November of 2012, BJU alumnus William Parker began working as a parts advisor at Century BMW in Greenville. Parker had always had an interest in cars, and he was drawn to the variety of work opportunities available in the automotive industry.
Parker graduated from BJU in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in health fitness and recreation and in 2010 with a master in business administration.
Following his time as a parts advisor, he worked as a BMW Product Genius. In 2014 he left the retail side of the automotive industry and began his career with BMW of North America, LLC. Since then, he’s held roles as an accessories sales manager, an aftersales area manager, and a senior accessories specialist. In 2018 he relocated from Atlanta to BMW’s headquarters in New Jersey. He now serves as the service retention program manager for North America.
In his current capacity, Parker works to ensure that BMW owners, outside of their warranties, desire to service their driving machines at authorized BMW dealerships.
Parker thinks his time at the University prepared him for his current job mainly through the relationship-building tools that he was encouraged to develop while earning his degrees. Additionally, Parker believes that the University prepared him greatly for his personal life. “While I was at Bob Jones University, I found a consistent focus on God and the Gospel,” he said. “If I had gone to another university, I might not have some of the same values I have now.”
Specifically, he considers the work ethic instilled in him by his parents and fostered by BJU to be a major aspect of his character today.
Parker thinks that the biggest obstacle he faces as a Christian in the secular workplace is the fight for focus. “You are constantly presented the opportunity to choose the creation over the creator,” he said. “It’s easy to start to want the things over the provider of those things.”
He explains that while it would sometimes seem that the main point of being in business is making money, it is important to remember how God talks about money in the Bible. “You’ve got to understand the purpose of money and how that can conflict with what the world tells us.”
Parker said he wishes he had more patience coming out of college when it came to job opportunities. “I wish I’d known that I needed to be patient with opportunities,” he said. “The workplace is a marathon, not a sprint.”
Parker feels that the most important thing to remember when thinking of God’s will for our lives is that His timing is better than ours. His advice for current college students is similar. “The grass is not always greener, so become so good at the task you have in front of you that the next task presents itself.”
Though Parker works in New Jersey, he lives in Manhattan and is always in the mood for a quick walk to his favorite pizza place. Parker attends Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhatten.
