Military Skills Build a Foundation for Success

“Leadership, communication, and confidence, really became a growth aspect in my abilities all of which are attributed to my experience in the Marine Corps and helped me prepare for future opportunities.”

Joining the military wasn’t the first career choice for Jose Aguilar. “I remember being approached by a recruiter my senior year in high school. At the time I really wasn’t drawn to it.” Although the importance of hard work and education was instilled in him at an early age, he didn’t exactly have a plan, “I just wanted to find a job and make some money.”

He worked two jobs and was enjoying life but after a couple of years, he quickly learned it wasn’t a long-term strategy. Jose decided to sit down and talk to someone. Coincidentally, he came face-to-face with the same recruiter that approached him his senior year. Jose decided that he was going in as a reservist, he knew he needed to go to college sooner than later. He is glad he did because otherwise, he would not have met his wife. During their sophomore year of college, Jose was deployed to Iraq for a year.

“Plunging yourself into an environment like the military, you learn a lot about yourself, you push yourself. All the training and focus pays off. The challenges, purpose, and brotherhood propelled us for what was to come.”

After deployment, Jose knew if he didn’t have a plan he would get lost. “A lot of veterans come back without a plan, a mission to go on with the next chapter in life.” This was not going to be the case for Jose and his wife. “Coming back kicked our life into high gear.”

After graduating from Boise State, Jose applied for a management position at one of our AT&T retail stores. The iPhone had just come out and a job he held in college within the technology industry and sales made AT&T seem like a good fit. The hiring manager was a Navy veteran and knew right off the bat because of his military background that Jose had the skills she was looking for. She offered him the job that day. This was the beginning of Jose’s long career with AT&T and it all started with the Marines. The skills that he learned and developed in the military became the foundation of his success.

Today, Jose is a leader in his field as one of our Integrated Solution Directors. Three fundamental skills that his team works on every day are communication, sales, and analytics. These are skills that are transferable from any military career.

“If you polish these skills. If you lean into them. You can be successful in any position. Transitioning service members, you already have these skills. You learned to communicate the mission to your crew. You sold your ideas and got buy-in about the mission. You analyzed the situation and made the best decisions. What skills you applied in the military, apply the same way at AT&T.

AT&T is a great place for any veteran. There is an ocean of opportunities, sales, network, professional, business, you name it. There’s a place for you. You just have to go out and get it. Be persistent and driven. What we have from experience with the military is an advantage. It is a great honor to have. Carry it with confidence. Be confident in what you know, what you can bring to the table, and what you’ve accomplished. Use it as an advantage because it is. Having a military background helps you succeed.”