A sales grad had 4 job offers — find out how this Afghani | MilitaryTimes

Back in the early days of the recession, simultaneously landing jobs waiting tables at Applebee’s and Joe’s Crab Shack — even for an experienced cryptologic technician with two enlistments — was lucky.

While bouncing between restaurants, not long after leaving the active-duty Navy in 2007, John Johnston went active with the Navy Reserve.

He volunteered for an Afghanistan deployment in 2011 that set him up financially to focus on college, and in the years since, his sole focus — aside from duty as a drilling reservist — has been excelling in school.

He relied on the Post-9/11 GI Bill to make ends meet along with a little help from friends and a one-time grant from a local veterans program.

It all let him stay focused on college, resulting in his pick of job offers at graduation.
“I knew Afghanistan would be a stepping stone — not only continuing to serve, but a good financial base to move forward,” Johnston said.

He took advantage of his university’s networking events and was chosen for an internship with Kellogg’s that took him to the company’s Battle Creek, Mich., headquarters for training — and then back there to report on his field project that had executives pinging him for months.

Many more companies were on hand to recruit top students at two collegiate sales competitions he attended, once to compete in sales role playing and later as a coach.

Sales positions with household names in telecommunications, technology and the environment were on the table this spring, but Johnston chose a Denver-area position working for Kellogg’s, representing the company’s morning food brands to retailers.

He paid forward some of that assistance he got along the way, lobbying his university on policies that help GI Bill users bridge the tough gaps.

Johnston earns a bachelor’s in marketing with a sales certificate this month and was named the 2015-16 College of Business Outstanding Student in the Department of Marketing. He’ll join fellow Metropolitan State University of Denver veteran graduates for a special luncheon Friday.

We pinged Johnston for some of his thoughts on his chosen profession and strategies for school:

Q. How is sales like fighting a war?

A. Just like on the battlefield, marketing/sales is a game of strategic moves. As in chess, moves and counter moves. Trying to get the enemy/client to make the moves that you want them to make. If you are prepared and have made the right moves, then you will get the outcome you desire — victory.

Q. What’s your advice to reluctant participants in a role-playing exercise?

A. Either talking to a three-star admiral or a potential new customer, there is only one way to get the jitters out, and that is to practice and be prepared. If you walk into a meeting confident in being able to fulfill a need and you know your product well, this confidence will shine through to the customer.

Q. What strategy most contributed to having your pick of job offers?

A. Understand that the sales cycle for securing a career position is a long one, and while it’s easy to get impatient, if you play your cards right you can create opportunities for yourself today as well as in the future. Although thinking of others is important, you are building the foundation for the rest of your life, so don’t feel guilty about being selfish and doing what is best for you. Starting a new career is one of the times when things matter the most.

Q. You went all in on campus involvement. What are you getting out of that?

A. The satisfaction of giving back to my community. Experience. Contacts. Reputation. Opportunities. And most of all, I got to build the “John Johnston” brand, and that is what we are all doing every day of our lives, whether we know it or not.