Carmen’s internal mobility journey at Palo Alto Networks

When Carmen Villalobos thinks about her experience with internal mobility at Palo Alto Networks, one of the first words that come to her mind is “smooth.”

For Carmen, the innovative program that encourages current employees to transition into open roles within the company and provides a direct line to hiring managers is just one more indication that she is “in the right place at the right time.”

Carmen joined Palo Alto Networks in June 2021 as a Prisma Access Customer Success Manager. It didn’t take long for her supervisor, Dennis Wang, to recognize the strength of her experience in previous roles as an Escalations Engineer and Security Advisor/Customer Success Manager.

“Dennis was good at talking about the future, talking about promotions or the career path,” Carmen said. “He said that I had this experience in working escalations with internal teams and being able to focus on complex situations. And he mentioned that I should chat with the manager for Focus Services.”

Carmen wasn’t looking for a new role but she couldn’t pass up the potential chance to grow her career at Palo Alto Networks. So she reached out to Focus Services Support Account Manager Samuel Dadey.

“I became very excited for the opportunity, and I actually applied for the role,” Carmen said.

After that, Carmen connected with Senior Recruiter Angela Gorospe.

“She was a great source of information, I went to her for everything and she was the one that got the ball rolling,” Carmen said. “She began work on the interview process and even though I had so many questions, Angela was always available.”

Carmen ultimately got the role with Focus Services – and a promotion she wasn’t expecting along with it.

“I applied for a Support Account Manager position, and I was brought in as a Senior Support Account Manager, she said. “I am crossing over into a promotion. I just wanted to serve my customers better, and this was a very, very nice surprise. I felt very valued by Palo Alto Networks.”

The way Carmen sees it, the internal mobility program has made a great career move even better.

“I am enjoying my new role because my manager, Samuel, is so hands on,” Carmen said. “He has been part of all my training, which adds a personal touch for new hires. He is so ready to make time to empower us.”

Carmen gets the same great vibes from her new teammates as well.

“I love the fact that the team is a living organism,” she said.  “They all help each other. There is a wealth of knowledge and nobody feels intimidated to ask anything. They just jump into help immediately. And that is a rare breed.”

Today, Carmen says she feels “privileged” to serve customers in Latin America in their native language as well as North America and is counting on a long and rewarding career at Palo Alto Networks.

“There's a lot of diversity here, and I work with caring people. They're real,” she said. “There is female representation, strong leadership and strong technical background, and it's very encouraging, being a Latina.”

She’s also a fan of internal mobility and highly recommends it to anyone looking to expand their horizons at Palo Alto Networks.

“Take an opportunity to check every organization that we have here,” she said. “There is no need to leave Palo Alto Networks to continue your career path.”

Check out more of our internal mobility stories on our blog here and find out more about #LifeAtPaloAltoNetworks on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!