Preparing Veterans for
the Civilian Workforce
Veteran’s Perspective 40 www.latinastyle.com Vol. 24, No. 6, 2018
Igrew up in a household with parents
that emigrated from Mexico in search
of a better life. I saw how hard my
parents worked to give me what they
didn’t have growing up, so I was always
dedicated to working hard myself, starting at 16
years old.
I was told many times I couldn’t do
something or that it was too hard for me. But that
never stopped me. When you have a plan of
action to help you realize your goals, I believe you
can do anything you set your mind to.
While in the Coast Guard, I developed skills
such as clear communication, problem solving,
time management, and most importantly, being
able to work on a team to achieve a common goal.
The experience and skills I attained in the military
have helped me adapt to a constantly changing
corporate environment.While working at AT&T, I’ve
seen how they are preparing the workforce of the
future and I’ve been able to contribute to that
vision by applying the skills I learned in the
military to lead a team and reach our departments
goals.
From my experience, here are some tips that
may help others transition from the military to the
civilian world.
1. Plan and set goals: Planning is key, and it
is something I learned directly from the Coast Guard.
If there was a search and rescue mission, our
proactive planning prepared us to know exactly what
to do without hesitation to ensure a successful
mission. I took a similar approach outside of the
military by writing down the goals I wanted to achieve
in the next five years and made a list of action items
I would need to complete in order to meet those goals.
When transitioning from the military, list key
circumstances that might impact you from reaching
those goals. This could include your housing
situation, finances, career prospects, school, etc.
Share your goals with your support system of family,
friends and mentors so they can hold you accountable
and help you get back on track if you lose sight of
your goals.
2. Resume: It might take some time, but start
writing down your accomplishments now. Put on
paper the projects you’ve worked on, times you’ve
increased productivity, how you changed a process
to make it more efficient – anything that made a
positive impact. Trust me, it will help when it comes
time to write your resume. Seek out feedback from
peers you trust – in the military or outside the military
– on how to best highlight your skills.
3. Build and maintain your network: It’s
important to always make time to build relationships
and meet new people who can help you reach your
goals. It’s even more important to maintain those
relationships. Reach out to people on LinkedIn for
informational interviews, attend a conference, or
join a professional organization like Prospanica or the
Veteran Mentor Network on LinkedIn.
Building a network will offer you opportunities to
ask questions and connect with people from all over
who are willing to help.
4. Continuous learning and pay it forward:
I always strive to learn new things and step out of my
comfort zone. Challenge yourself to do these things
and you will see growth in your personal and
professional development. Don’t forget there are
people following a similar path and if you can help
them reach their goal, we can all move forward.
Want to comment or have any questions on
this article? Email us at info@latinastyle.com
By Luis Murillo
AT&T’s Leadership Development Program Manager,
Remit Operations & Systems Management
Global Customer Payments
Luis Murillo is a veteran who
served in the United States Coast
Guard. He accepted a full-time
position in AT&T’s Leadership
Development Program (LDP) – a
26-month-long program that
nurtures participants’ leadership
skills. He works as a manager,
overseeing a team of eight who
handle hundreds of customer
cases daily.
LS
Petty Officer Luis Murillo was selected to participate in unfolding the U.S. Flag during
the National Anthem on November 18, 2012 at the Browns vs. Cowboys game.
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