68-year-old has spent 50 years at the same company — he shares his one regret
This is a snippet from the weekly CNBC Make It Work newsletter, written by Ashton Jackson.?
When Kip Turner applied to work at AT&T in 1973, he didn’t expect to spend his whole career there.
He was 18 years old and had just dropped out of Arkansas State University. His lumber truck driver gig wasn’t cutting it, so he drove to Little Rock, Arkansas, for an interview and joined AT&T as a station installer.
Turner, now 68, has spent the last 50 years with the company, holding “right around eight” different roles, and will likely retire in the next few years, he tells CNBC Make It.
His one regret: Not using his employer’s education benefits to go back to college. “I would have loved to have completed an engineering degree,” he says.
Currently, AT&T offers eligible employees up to $30,000 in tuition reimbursement, and partners with schools like Notre Dame and North Carolina A&T to help employees complete degrees at $30,000 or less. Courses are 100% online, the company says.
Turner advises younger professionals to “take advantage of all of the training and education opportunities” a company offers, “whether it’s internal, whether it’s a tuition reimbursement, whether it’s allowing you time to go back to school.”?
“It makes me wish that I had availed myself of all those [benefits] years ago,” he says.
For details on why a company's education benefits could be the key to career longevity, check out the full story.
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I have been at The Allied Group now boi-touch for 51 years my only job .
PVV Engineer at North Oil Company Qatar
1 年Kip Turner ought put his regrets aside and simply get going on obtaining that degree. It's the passion for the particular education that gets you through and it sounds like 50 years in the making. When you close your eyes for the last time, that's when it's too late!
Retired military, law enforcement and intel community
1 年So, live the dream and use those bennies. Who says a 68 year old can’t get there?
Cornerstone Building Brands
1 年…there are much better options out there…
This story is obviously one from a loyal employee. Hidden even from himself there were more talents he could maximize. He is a good person.