Alexis Rivera-Gonzalez

Alexis Rivera-Gonzalez, right, with a member of the team he leads at Bell Atlantic.

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Alexis Rivera-Gonzalez :in training at Bell AtlanticBell Atlantic (New York, NY) provides local phone service to thirteen states and the District of Columbia.

Alexis Rivera-Gonzalez, one year out of college, is working as a specialist team leader at Bell Atlantic.I can not believe they pay me to do this, he says with a smile.After two months here, I was working on a $ 50 million account.They trusted me, I had a lot of support and it worked out well..

Rivera-Gonzalez is currently enrolled in a Bell Atlantic training program.He spends one week in training and the next week on the job, working closely with a mentor who is also training him.This year's courses are primarily management-related, but next year he will be taking more technical courses.All this is in addition to the BSEE he received from the University of Puerto Rico (Mayaguez, PR) in 1999.

In high school Rivera-Gonzalez worked at the local TV repair shop, developing a permanent interest in electrical engineering.He found his present situation at a SHPE conference in Washington, DC.

An early internship had convinced him he did not want to program for eight hours a day, so the opportunities offered by Bell Atlantic were just what he was looking for.You get to travel and take classes.The company even helped me find an apartment, and then backed me up because I do not have established credit..

In his short stint with Bell Atlantic, Rivera-Gonzalez has already been sent back to Puerto Rico to recruit for the company.And he be learned a lot about getting ahead in the workplace.do not ask one person all the questions, and do not expect everyone to know everything. he says.