Kip Turner, 68, joined AT&T shortly after high school and has been with the company throughout his 50-year career.
Courtesy of AT&T
Kip Turner didn’t necessarily plan on working at AT&T for his entire 50-year career when he applied there in 1973 – but that’s exactly what happened, and he learned a lot about technology and career longevity along the way.
Turner, now 68, first joined the company as a station installer at the age of 18, without a college degree and with the idea of returning to college to become a veterinarian.
Instead, he took on about eight different engineering roles over the next five decades and now works as a senior product development engineer near Faulkner County, Arkansas.
He has also taken on many younger mentees along the way and believes that despite today’s job-hopping culture, even today’s young graduates could build their own 50-year careers.
“I think it’s possible,” Turner tells CNBC Make It. “I think it’s realistic — if that’s what you want.”
“Most younger employees I’ve advised don’t have the patience to stay with one company for that long,” he adds.
From his perspective, Turner says, the key to his 50-year career was focusing on becoming an expert in your current role and then learning to be “happy with what you do.”
Turner says he was never “particularly aggressive” when it came to getting promoted.
“I always told my superiors to leave me alone,” he says. “Let me learn the trade. If I want to change, I’ll let you know. It doesn’t matter whether it’s another job, a career change or a promotion.”
Over the years, he learned about new opportunities by asking around among colleagues and even letting his boss know. “I don’t normally think you have to tell your boss that you’re applying for a job, but I always have,” Turner says. “And I would tell them why – not that I’m unhappy, but I’m looking for a better opportunity, a different opportunity or a higher salary.”
Kip Turner was never “aggressive” when it came to promotions. Instead, he focused on doing his job really well and being satisfied, he says.
Courtesy of AT&T
Despite this, Turner applied for numerous promotions and was disappointed not to receive them. “For the most part, I resolve to be happy [current] role,” he says.
Turner says it’s important to realize that you may not get a job or promotion because you’re not ready for it, and if you really want it, you should use your time to learn the skills that will you need to achieve outstanding performance.
He remembers a job he applied for several times and was rejected “because, frankly, there was someone else who was better qualified.” But in one case, the person in the position later left the company, “and I went to his boss and said, ‘I did that and I think I’m suitable for this role.'” Turner applied and secured the job.
According to the Pew Research Center, most people quit because of low pay and limited opportunities for advancement. And many factors have made job hopping more common in recent decades, including slow wage growth, corporate external hiring strategies and the rise of online job search engines.
As for salary, Turner admits: “I haven’t had a salary discussion with anyone in many years. So I don’t know if.” [young people are] are satisfied with their salary. Most of the time, that’s why people move – they want better pay and benefits.” (Turner declined to share his salary with CNBC Make It.)
“With a few exceptions, I was able to get by on the salary that I was paid all these years,” he adds. “There have been a few times where we’ve had $10 left on the Monday after payday, but it hasn’t happened very often.”
Beyond the salary, Turner said he remained committed to his job at AT&T because he was able to complete a lot of on-the-job training and continue to improve throughout his career.
Although Turner never received his college degree again, he was able to complete “approximately 150 different training courses across the country” to learn various technical skills for his job, including skills that allowed him to move on to new tasks.
He strongly encourages young people to “take advantage of all the training and education opportunities” a company offers, “whether it’s internal, whether it’s tuition reimbursement, whether it gives you time to go back to school,” he says Turner. “I wish I had used it all those years ago.”
Ultimately, building a 50-year career comes down to “being comfortable with your role and your organization,” Turner says.
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