From 5G To Family First: How T-Mobile Is Innovating With More Than Just Technology

You’ve probably known T-Mobile for as long as you can remember. You know they’re a wireless company that works differently. You know they’re one of the biggest networks in the nation. And, of course, you’d recognize their signature magenta color anywhere. But that’s just the tip of the proverbial cell tower at T-Mobile.

Something you might not know is that working at T-Mobile can accelerate your career by steeping you in a culture of innovation, diversity, and learning. They’ve got one of the hottest tech internships in the US and their employees work on high-impact work from day one.

To get an idea of how T-Mobile’s #BeMagenta culture can kickstart your career— we spoke to Becky, a Program Manager who works on career growth projects. Here’s what we learned.

Don’t Just Be Magenta, Stay Magenta

If you were to pick one word to describe T-Mobile people, you’d probably go with “enthusiastic.” (If you were an English major, you might pick “zealous.”) The whole company is filled with people who aren’t just excited about their work—which ranges from building a world-class 5G network to creating innovative wireless plans that genuinely benefit consumers—but excited about the place where they’re doing it.

This enthusiasm is valuable, and recognizing that value is what fuels the culture of career development at the company, Becky tells us.

“It’s not about keeping people engaged, it’s about keeping engaged people,” Becky explains. “At T-Mobile, we’re focused on finding ways to continue to grow our employees careers within the company.”

Given T-Mobile’s unusually enthusiastic (and talented) team, it’s no surprise that there is a big demand for career growth opportunities within the company. If you love where you work and the work you do, the only question is: What’s next?

Thanks to people like Becky, T-Mobile always has an answer for that question.

From Your First Day, T-Mobile Helps You Figure Out Your Next Step

Besides a culture that encourages mentorship and gives its full-throated support to inclusive, cross-functional events, T-Mobile takes a lot of concrete steps to help advance their employees’ careers. One such example is Careerfest, which isn’t actually one career fair–style event like you’d find on a college campus, but a series of networking events and learning opportunities specifically built for people looking to move into a particular business area.

“Careerfest is an event platform that all of our internal employees have access to,” Becky says. “The events are geared toward raising awareness for our employees about what other opportunities there are within T-Mobile around the company.”

But it’s not all learning. T-Mobile also gives their employees the chance to try out new skills through their internal internship program.

“Our employees looked at our internship program and loved what we were doing for these students’ careers,” Becky tells us. “So, we created an opportunity for them to do the same.”

So, whether you’re a mobile expert working in a T-Mobile store or a programmer working in their technology division, you can apply to complete a 12-week internship program on an entirely different team. This is an opportunity to get real experience in a different field and boost your resume, without necessarily having to leave the building.

This isn’t just valuable for the employee either. T-Mobile benefits from the fresh perspective, too. For example, there have been internal interns who work in the T-Mobile stores that bring a direct customer experience to a corporate role.

“We love to leverage people who work so closely with our customers. That’s how we know what works,” Becky says.

Build The Future, Build Your Future

No matter what your work is—from finance to marketing to technology—you’ll be building the future when you work at T-Mobile. And that’s because 5G is going to rapidly change the way we’re able to interact with technology. That’s an exciting prospect for T-Mobile employees, Becky included.

“We are living in a world unknown, in a lot of ways,” she says. “It’s so refreshing to work for a company that is forward-thinking, values their employees, values their customers, and continues to find ways to raise the bar and challenge their competitors.”

This combination of “family-first” values and 5G tech possibilities creates a perfect storm of opportunity to work AND opportunity to learn.

Want to start your own #BeMagenta journey? Check out open opportunities at T-Mobile on WayUp!