I’m honestly curious to see what recommendations you guys have for us younger crowd (those who have been with AT&T less than 5 years). Any advice would be great! As well any recommendations to get out of the company too..
36 replies (most recent on top)
- “Yes, young ones. Best advice is to wear tight clothing and fill it out really well. You'll go far in either Dallas or Atlanta. You'll likely even work with some top execs, who will personally mentor your brains out, daily.”
Rofl.
Stankey earning that $20M mentoring strong independent women, huh?
I think most large companies are the same hack. Look for a smaller one where you could make a difference.
Run.
Find a job literally anywhere else with similar pay.
Keep you resume UTD, earn a transferable skill or 2 on ATT's dime, network, spiff up your linked in profile. This company has a way of bullying you. Don't let them. Always have one foot out the door.
Don't wear a Man Bun, you look ridiculous.
Gftf
They will contract out much as possible and bust the union. Eventually they won't be able to service the debt and dividend and when that happens your stock drops lower than Kamala in election year. I would change career fields and find something better to do with my life. Get out of fiber altogether.
Take advantage of the company paid tuition program and go back to school on AT&T's dime. they will pay $25,000 for a BA/BS and another $25,000 for a master's.
Like everyone else has said, this is a dead horse. I've been here 27 years and I'm hoping the company will still be around for me to hit 30!
To the OP, there are some very helpful and thoughtful comments here. Ignore the snarky ones, and really look at the ones where someone actually took the time to be helpful. Good luck to you, whatever you decide.
"For folks who have been here forever, 23 PTO days and 6% 401k match are actually very solid benefits. Never had either even at Fortune 500 companies with really good reputations."
No, not at all. Remember when we were coming up we used to have 28 PTO days, 100% match on 6% and it was cash, not the cr-p T stock for 401k, and great medical benefits in real AT&T (not this psuedo SBC-driven version of AT&T), and medical supplement in retirement (to 65). All that, plus more have been taken away. I came in in the 1990s and the older employees were grousing because free legal services, much better pension, generous relocation benefits were all being stripped away.
My point: whatever benefits left will be gone by the time you want them. DO NOT STAY WITH THIS COMPANY. All the comments above are true and accurate: it's a stagnant, toxic company driven by increasingly toxic C-suite that live in their own little bubble. You will not succeed on your talent or merit but by networking and brown-nosing. Learn what you can, do not stay more than 3-5 years. I wish I had not been mollified into staying all these years, I would have done much better leaving at 10 years max.
Get a life
Find a way to get a chief of staff job - rarely will anyone try to stop that even if it’s a lateral. It’s an automatic move to the next level regardless of your experience. Or be so bad at your job your boss makes you releasable but is too afraid to tell anyone and negotiate an increase with each hop.
Look around you. Are you able to identify more than 5 coworkers around for more than 15 years who resemble the type of employee you want to become in terms of technical expertise and leadership? A lot of younger employees have a hard time identifying mentor candidates at T. If unable to count more than 5 senior employees you would want to emulate, you get out.
Look for another job as soon as possible because this company has gone downhill ever since SBC took over at the helm! This is not the AT&T I started at many years ago. It's just another woke American corporation only concerned with its political image with the extreme leftists! Run, don't walk, run as fast and as far away from this company as possible!
Network! Merit promotions are rare. Easier to hop to a new position to get that promotion and pay raise.
Marry an exec’s son or daughter, best job advancement possible.
Don’t be afraid to mess up. Some of the best lessons I learned were because I sc--wed up. If you try and mess up, one of us will come help you fix the mistake. If you cull the job and us old guys figure out you did, and believe me we will know, you will be forever labeled. You can’t mess it up so bad that someone else here can’t help you figure out how to get it back up.
Network with contractors, suppliers, and customers. Ask those contacts for openings and referrals. Leave before you are jaded or labeled. Keep doing this and trade up jobs every 5 years.
Bust your a-s to get to the middle of your pay band, raises will dry up, then apply for jobs elsewhere.
Find a company not in so much debt and without a union dragging it down.
Find another job for another company lol.
I’m in the same boat as OP. Would like to leave and have been looking but it is difficult to find positions that have similar pay and similar benefits. Not to mention that just getting into the interview process is no picnic compared to prior periods when I have been looking.
For folks who have been here forever, 23 PTO days and 6% 401k match are actually very solid benefits. Never had either even at Fortune 500 companies with really good reputations.
Really like my manager but the gaslighting and BS especially with RTO has just been over the top.
And I agree it is better to stay for a few years and move no matter where you are. Things like preferred software and processes change a lot and if you stay in one place too long you end up falling behind. Also there is no real reward for loyalty anyway at this point.
Take what can and leave the rest!
Look around you at T employees who have been here for more than 15 years. Is this the type of employee you want to become? If there aren’t at least enough mentors or role models to count on one hand (there almost never are), get out as soon as you can. T is toxic!
I’ll give you the same advice I give anyone, spend no more than 3-5 years at any company. Only exception would be if you have a pension (which none of us that came after 2013 do) or if you a getting promotions (not the hopium ones they offer here) and extra bonuses (which I doubt). Get some experience on the resume and go to the next big thing making more money. Diversify your resume and you’ll do well.
I've been here over two decades. Every 6 months for all of it I was afraid of losing my job. It is a really abusive situation honestly. Depending on your field, the general way to get raises in America now is to job hop, so my suggestion is to do that. Leave AT&T, get used to switching jobs. This will both probably make you more money and allow you to not be afraid of the layoff threat every 6 months either because you will find a company that values longevity or because you will be skilled at finding a new job.
Run Forrest RUN!!!!!!!
AT&T was is a dying business that bought into dying businesses for growth. They are id--ts. They should have used their cash flows to invest in Apples, Googles, Facebooks, Microsofts etc...Heck they sold off their Cell Phone Tower Portfolios and those companies are now gems. Arrogance, Hubris, SBC, Stankey.
You not going to learn any new skills at T or new technology. You became stagnant after few years and it will be harder to leave. You will be threaten by layoffs and forces to go to office. Your benefits will be taken away.
If you have any talent (and other options) its in your best interest to leave. The bottom line is AT&T (and telco as a whole) is dead, your working at a modern day Blockbuster, Blackberry or Borders. The LEADERS who are here telling you what a great company it is and how these goals and metrics are achievable are the same people who worked their way up the ranks when telco was relevant. When Long Distance was a thing and customer were getting sc--wed for $1+ a minute, when DSL came out and Dial Up CD's were no longer needed. I'm sure if you talked to leaders at Blackberry when the ship was sinking they would tell you how great things are (living in past before iPhone).... The leaders at AT&T and the technology are living in the past and unable or unwilling to accept that the world has changed. Layer on top the decades of terrible investments, strategies, pi-s poor execution and rampant fraud and your now left with the mess that is AT&T. Do yourself a favor and move on. For many its not that easy.
Join a union.
Seek employment elsewhere.
Use the tuition benefit.
Use the current job opportunity to make contacts and connections both within and outside the company.
If you plan to stay for any length of time, know that you will constantly be looking over your shoulder to see if you are next on the surplus list unless you leave first.
Management asking you to do things that dont seem logical with no real explanation usually a sign of some major changes in the works.
Last minute mandatory team / whole division meetings are usually bad news
There are some good managers, but there are also some really bad ones who wont have your back.
Try to move to another position every 2-3 years regardless of your comfort level with your current manager.
There is always someone on the bottom of the list that could be layed off. Try not to be that bottom person.
Don't think companies are for employees. The bottom line comes first always.
You can strategically learn and network through ERG groups. Use that to your advantage.
Take your say your prayers, take your vitamins and get 8 hours of sleep. The rest is all gravy.