Shelly's acceptance into Solution Engineering Peer Program

When we first moved to Georgia, after we got married I recall Doug telling me "You may not want to drive too much around here...you might get lost. The roads are crazy." It was the first time I had officially lived away from my family (extended and immediate), other than a year away at Harding. New husband, new city, new apartment, no friends, no job = wow. It was quite an adjustment.

To figure out where I wanted to work, and familiarize myself with the city, I started doing temp work for Kelly Services. A few places offered to hire me. I worked two different temp jobs at Sprint. The #2 temp job was a "temporary to permanent" position, wherein I would work for Kelly Services at Sprint for 90 days, after which Sprint had the option of hiring me, if they chose to do so. They did.


I started out working for Sprint in their Business Customer Service department, handling billing issues and simple maintenance requests for large, corporate customers. While working in this department, I also worked with other account team members; salespeople, Technical Account Consultants, Engineers. It was at that point I decided the TAC job was an admirable job, well-paying, and something I wanted to aspire to do long-term.


After working in Customer Care for over a year, the manager created a new position for me, in hopes of retaining tenure within the department and creating a resource for other Customer Care employees. One year later, I interviewed for a TAC position in Atlanta and got the job.


The TAC job wasn't easy at first, as I hit the ground running while training simultaneously. Dealing with customer wireline networks, the pager going off in the middle of the night wasn't fun at first, but I learned so much. Eight years later, I am still in the TAC position (now called Implementation Project Managers). The more I learn about telecom, the more I want to learn. Things change so fast!


I received my Project Management (PMP) credential in 2004, after graduating with my Bachelor's degree in Business Management in 2003 (thanks to Sprint's tuition reimbursement program). At the end of 2004, Doug and I went to Europe. Ava was born in March 2006. Liam was born in July 2008. I have had opportunities and other job offers in the meantime, but never took them; I felt like my current job offered me the flexibility needed to balance Mommyhood and a career.

I've learned a few things about myself during my "career", regardless of employer. I've learned that I am an information-gatherer and an information-sharer. I appreciate pooling / documenting resources so everyone can be more effective in their tasks. I am very detail oriented and am never satisfied with the status-quo. I appreciate a challenge. The Sprint Solutions Engineering role is a great fit for this description.

In 2009, managers within the Solutions Engineering department started a program in which seasoned Sprint employees could be trained in the engineering role and in more telecom specifics. I jumped at the chance. Free training? I'm there. I jumped in head-first. The program is termed the Solution Engineering Peer Program (aka SEPP). Numerous people interviewed, 9 people selected. Thankfully I was one of them. In the program, participants are assigned mentors (another well-seasoned Solutions Engineer), complete 8+ hours of training per month and attend monthly "chalk talks", during which we discuss our training and learnings. I've always admired engineers due to their robust knowledge of networks and how they pair that knowledge with a customer's needs.


Because my job has been more "wireline-centric" in the past, I am attempting to learn as much as I can about the current wireless devices, features, networks as possible. I've always been interested in electronics and seem to be able to fix some things easily (for a girl, I guess :-). If you know me, you know I'm VERY detail-oriented, so I think this will be a great fit. And I love finding just the right solution for a customer, so I think it's a perfect direction to take. This opportunity came at a time during Doug's lay-off, so I felt like it was a way to make my job as secure as possible.


I'm not sure where my involvement in this program will lead me, but I am excited and embracing this new adventure!


Peace, love and a LAN/WAN fan,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam