Our Tribute to Veterans and the Launch of our QSalute Employee Group #QualtricsLife

On Friday morning, November 9 our Qualtrics HQ raised a huge American Flag and held a short ceremony to honor our Veterans at Qualtrics and those around the world who have served to defend our freedoms. Thank you for all you have done!

At Qualtrics we acknowledge that our employees are our biggest asset. Our Veterans are an amazing asset to our employee community. We want to be sure to acknowledge them, their service, and the amazing perspectives they bring to our Qualtrics family.

The ceremony included a beautiful morning salute, our National Anthem, a colors presentation from the National Guard from BYU, and tribute speech by our VP of People Ops (and Marine Corps Captain), Russ Laraway. A huge crowd gathered that morning! “I was a little bit emotional to see such overwhelming support from the people at Qualtrics, and then remembered Marines don't get emotional and that I needed to give a speech.”

All employees were also encouraged to take a Q Salute t-shirt specifically made for the occasion of the launch of our Q Group - Q Salute. Q Salute’s mission is to recruit military talent into roles where they can accelerate their careers in tech/industry, retain strong leaders with military backgrounds, and engage members of the internal/external military community.

 We have a number of Veterans that work here at Qualtrics. Joseph Kim, who served as a US Army Combat Medic with Iraqi Freedom and is now an Account Executive here at Qualtrics, feels that the teamwork skills he gained in the military translate directly to the teamwork skills he uses at Qualtrics. He states that, “being an active participant, flexible, and showing commitment” are strong skills he uses every day here at Qualtrics.

Bart Baxter, who served with the Army National Guard and the Army Reserves, loves using the grit and attention to detail that he gained from his time in the service. His favorite part about his role here at Qualtrics is that there is always a new and exciting challenge ahead of him. He even said that, “Sometimes I can’t meet the challenge, and that’s okay, but growth and changing environment in my role keeps it really exciting.”

 Tim Gantz, a USN Submarine Engineering Laboratory Technician and Naval Flight Officer, says that the reason he loves working at Qualtrics is because of his sense of purpose. He is able to develop, mentor, and help other grow. He claims, “when they ‘get it’, that is my reward.” Tim is now a Manager of Global Operations at Qualtrics.

Luke Ferrel, Air Force - 61A - Test and Evaluation. 6 years working with Combat Search and Rescue and Electronic Attack teams (Qualtrics - Manager, Global Operations), loves what he has found working at Qualtrics, “The hardest thing about leaving the military is losing your sense of doing good in the world. I have found my sense of purpose through the opportunity to help develop others and in Qualtrics mission of closing gaps. It’s meaningful to help companies and people align their actions with their intentions.”

 Shawn Killpack, who was a Developmental Engineer who lead the B-2 Stealth Bomber test program and was an Instructor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Air Force Academy put it this way… “Leaving the military, one of the concerns I had was the quality of people I would work with. Qualtrics is a very selective company and I was excited about the idea of getting to continue to work with top quality people. The other thing that I liked when I looked into Qualtrics is that they were a company that does things right. There was no feeling of cutting corners.” He is now a CX Senior Technology Consultant at Qualtrics.

 If you are looking to join be sure to take Tom McBride’s wisdom to heart. Tom served 20 years in the United States Air Force as a Cyber Officer and is now an Enterprise Sales Leader at Qualtrics. Tom has this tip for any Veteran looking to land at Qualtrics: “Talk to other veterans who have been in the private sector for several years to help you "commercialize" your resume and skill set into private sector lingo. If you can go through basic training, special forces, jump out of planes or whatever it is you did in the military you can take that same vigor and leadership acumen and apply it anywhere in the commercial sector.”

Tom also commented that Qualtrics is “a very Veteran friendly community.” Bart added, “There are a lot of folks inside the building at Qualtrics who are ready and willing to support newcomers, military vets or not. It’s a very welcoming, challenging, and open environment where failure is not an option and winning as a team is part of the gig.”

Looking to join our team or see what opportunities might line up to your interests? All possibilities can be found at http://www.qualtrics.com/careers

Check out these other stories of amazing heros that work at Qualtrics:

	Robert Hyatt is a Civil Affairs / Military Intelligence Officer (Qualtrics - Senior Software Engineer) See Robert's Story

	Peter Spoehr is 19A Armor Officer/Scout Platoon Leader in Operation Enduring Freedom - Bronze Star and Combat Action Badge (Qualtrics - Federal Business Development Analyst, Washington DC) See Peter's Story

	Colby May is 21R Logistics Readiness Officer in the Air Force Active Reserves - currently assigned to the 67th Aerial Port Squadron, 419th Fighter Wing at Hill AFB (Qualtrics - Account Executive) See Colby's Story