Juniel Spruiel
Marketing Coordinator at Skanska
Former United States Navy First Class Cryptologic Technician
- 5 years developing award-winning proposals at Skanska
- 8 years performing intelligence in the United States Navy
How did your career in the Navy prepare you for your job at Skanska?
I was in the Navy for eight years, and I was in intelligence, specifically cryptology. We did codebreaking, which is insightful and arduous. Afterward, I really wanted to do something creative, so I studied advertising and marketing in school while also teaching myself Adobe Photoshop, Design, and Illustrator. I also began writing for my college newspaper and became a copy editor to expand my skill set.
How did the military prepare you for success?
There were a lot of trial and tribulations that I had to go through in the military. I had a team of more than 60 people that I was in charge of every day. In my current role, I have to facilitate a process that involves different people and different stakeholders to create something that’s cohesive.
What is similar between the military and Skanska?
The biggest similarity is the sense of immediacy; important things must be done in an efficient and correct way.
I worked with a diverse team in the Navy that I relied on for support, and now I receive the same type of support at Skanska. And bringing diverse perspectives into any workplace allows for innovation and new ideas.
Working in the Navy also taught me how to effectively work under pressure by teaching me tools to manage stress and turn it into something productive. This has been invaluable in my current position because I deal with critical deadlines.