CAREERS
Hiring Our Heroes: Erich Braasch
Cox Communications is pleased to partner with Hiring our Heroes to provide help and support to veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses as they find meaningful employment opportunities outside of their military careers. Through the Corporate Fellowship Program, Cox is providing on–the–job training and helping our service members bridge the gap between their military service and civilian careers. Here, we’re learning about January 2021 fellow Erich Braasch.
Erich Braasch’s military service began 20 years ago, when he became an F-16 fighter aircraft mechanic.
The first half of his military career was largely technical, as he learned about the F-16 aircraft and how to maintain it.
“As I began to go up in rank, I was put in more managerial type roles, supervising lower ranking team members,” Erich said.
This unity of technical and managerial expertise makes Erich a great fit for Cox’s Hiring Our Heroes program. As one of the January 2021 fellows, Erich is a Service Assurance Technician and works remotely from Charleston, SC.
“I really enjoy meeting all the new people in the company and learning from them,” he said. “They genuinely want to help you and for you to be successful at what you do. If someone can’t help you, they will make sure to find someone that can help. Also, just learning about the Cox family and all the opportunities they have to offer has been interesting to me. I’m really excited to learn that Cox has been named a Top Workplace for 2021!”
Erich said that one of his challenges in shifting to a civilian job has been learning a whole new set of skills.
“I’m making a big decision to shift gears and do something totally different from what I’ve been doing in the military for the past 20 years, as an aircraft mechanic, and stepping into a communications/IT field. I’ve realized that I’m becoming more and more interested in the IT realm as technology is advancing at such a rapid pace now. Cox has taken the time and given me the opportunity to learn something totally new with quality training, which is building my confidence with this new experience.”
Erich has two pieces of advice for transitioning veterans.
“My advice would be to be open to new ways of thinking outside of a military setting,” he said. “You won’t be in the military anymore after you finish your service, but don’t forget all the lessons and soft skills learned throughout your military career as those will help you be successful. Also, to network, network, network. Networking is vital when trying to navigate civilian jobs, in my opinion.”
Click here to learn more about Cox’s support of the military community.