A New Mission: How the V.E.T.S.™ Program Launched One Navy Veteran into a Tech Career
Miguel Diaz was 19 years old when he enlisted in the United States Navy in 1998. Over the next four years, he traveled to 13 countries, lived in three different states, and immersed himself in cultures he’d never imagined encountering from his hometown on the East Coast. “It was an amazing experience,” he says. “I got to meet different people of different cultures. The world got a lot bigger.”
When his service ended in 2002, Miguel landed a Navy contractor position in California. But the pull of home proved stronger than the opportunity, and he eventually made his way back east, pivoting into mechanical work — a career path he followed for the better part of a decade. By 2012, he had added a bachelor’s degree to his résumé. What he didn’t yet have was a clear direction for what came next.
An Unlikely Candidate — or So He Thought
While working a retail job to make ends meet, Miguel got a call from Sharp Decisions about their V.E.T.S.™ Program. The opportunity was intriguing, but his initial reaction was honest skepticism. Office work? Computers? Programming?
“I don’t see myself in an office,” he thought at the time. “I don’t see myself working with computers, because programming seems like it’s way out there. Another planet, another language.”
He took the leap anyway. And what he discovered on the other side surprised him.
Training Built for Veterans
The V.E.T.S.™ Program immersed Miguel and his fellow veteran classmates in quality assurance, risk management, analysis, and the software platforms used across enterprise testing environments. The training was structured, focused, and — critically — built around the way veterans already learn: in teams, with clear objectives and mutual accountability.
Their first contract placed the group with a financial company in the Midwest, where Miguel worked remotely testing Graphic User Interface (GUI) systems. His bilingual fluency opened an additional door — GUI translation work that the client needed and Miguel was uniquely positioned to provide.
From there, the path kept moving forward. The team transitioned to a health insurance agency, then to an investment banking firm, where Miguel took on a resource manager role — coordinating employees and contractors operating across the globe and supporting the quality assurance manager with day-to-day operations. Between contracts, he contributed to internal projects at Sharp Decisions, deepening his skills and widening his footprint in the industry.
In 2017, Miguel landed at a major financial institution, where he continues to work today as a lead test engineer.
The Value of Having Someone’s Back
When Miguel reflects on what made the V.E.T.S.™ Program work, he comes back to something less tangible than any job title or technical certification: camaraderie. Moving from military service into the corporate world can feel isolating — a shift not just in environment, but in culture, structure, and identity. What eased that transition, Miguel says, was knowing the people beside him.
“These were veterans who would have had my back in the military,” he explains. “Knowing that, I felt comfortable knowing they’d have my back in a corporate environment too.”
That sense of trust — forged in shared service and carried into a new arena — proved to be as valuable as any skill learned in training.
“It’s a very good opportunity that Sharp Decisions gave to all of us,” Miguel says. “I’ve been able to succeed not just financially, but also educate myself a lot more because of the exposure from the V.E.T.S. Program.”
From a retail job and an uncertain résumé to lead test engineer at a global financial institution — Miguel Diaz’s second mission turned out to be every bit as defining as his first.
