Cameron-brooks

What is the formula to launching a successful business career? And what does a "successful business career" mean for a military officer who wants to transition? We define this concept more HERE but wanted to share a story of how a Cameron-Brooks alum utilized three strategies to successfully transition with a long-term goal in mind. When we published the Transition Guide "3 Game-Changing Strategies for JMOs Making the Jump to Business", I thought about many of our Alumni who executed these strategies perfectly and are now achieving the personal and professional success they envisioned when leaving the military. They committed to investing in their careers early by getting on board with an industry-leading company that valued their JMO experience and built a track record of success within the first 3 to 5 years.  They made tradeoffs such as time to get their MBA, starting in a good location but not the ideal location and avoiding easy assignment for the tough ones that moved their organization forward.  I s

One of the programs that the Department of Defense (DoD) recently launched is the Skillbridge program. Skillbridge is an opportunity for transitioning service members and their spouses to gain valuable civilian work experience through specific industry training, apprenticeships, and internships. The program assists retiring and transitioning service members by allowing them to participate in industry training programs while transitioning out of their military careers. Cameron-Brooks is an approved DoD Skillbridge provider, and we have had many officers participate in the Skillbrige program as they prepared for a move to Corporate America. When officers participate in Skilbridge with Cameron-Brooks, they are afforded valuable time to prepare for up to 13 or 14 interviews with industry-leading companies where they meet hiring managers and decision-makers. This preparation gives military officers the training and confidence they need to connect their background, demonstrate interest, ask relevant questions and

This month I celebrate my 23rd year at Cameron-Brooks! Wow, time flies! Funny thing is that I still think of myself as a new team member at Cameron-Brooks because I am always learning something new, and each JMO I work with is unique. Even though I look at myself as someone new to the business, I know I am a seasoned veteran with lots of experience and knowledge on how to make the transition from military to business. I've helped thousands of military officers find new careers, and I've spent a lot of time recording feedback from client companies. Hiring managers are often looking for similar key characteristics in the interview. JMOs know this, and most ask me a simple, straightforward, yet important question when they first meet me, "Joel, what are the key characteristics I need to bring out in an interview to be successful?" While I love learning new things, the answer to that really has not changed in my time. They are the same three characteristics Roger Cameron, the founder of the JMO to Business in

Welcome back to the podcast! In a recent episode, Joel, Hope, and I discussed the 3 Game-Changing Strategies that JMOs can employ to maximize their transition. The podcast is based on a recent transition guide with the same title. The first strategy we recommend is to find opportunities where a JMO can build a track record of success, typically within three to five years. In this episode, you will meet Mike Scheer. Mike is a former Army Special Operations officer who transitioned in 2014 after being an ODA Commander. Mike is someone who approached his career search with these strategies. Mike launched his career at BIOTRONIK, a world leader in cardiac rhythm management (CRM) technology. Like most jobs that he went into in the military, Mike was thrown into a technical, challenging, and rewarding role. He was able to use his drive, emotional intelligence, and intellect to make an immediate impact for his customers. He launched his career in an industry-leading company and in a role that allowed him to build

Today on the podcast, we tackle 3 recession myths every JMO should know. As I write this post, I am flying from El Paso to Denver for a week-long trip through the Southwest US to meet with Junior Officers preparing for their transitions.  In my one-on-one meetings, officers are asking more questions about the economy. This makes sense with non-stop news about record inflation, the Fed raising interest rates to combat inflation (which will "cool" the economy), and a wildly fluctuating stock market.  The news pundits and some key business leaders are warning that the risk of a recession in the next 12 to 18 months is increasing. With 23 years of experience with Cameron-Brooks, I have experienced several significant events that sent our economy into a recession. These include the Tech Wreck and subsequent 9-11 attacks, the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009 and the Covid recession of 2020.  There have been some other slowdowns during my time, but those are the big ones.  My colleague and fellow Transition Coa

Welcome back to the Cameron-Brooks podcast.  2017 Cameron-Brooks Alumnus Nick Henderson and I talk about the recently published Cameron-Brooks Transition Guide, "3 Game-Changing Strategies for JMOs Making the Jump to Business".  Nick is a Consultant with Russell Reynolds Associates (RRA), a leading executive search and leadership advisory company.  Nick is a great example of making the successful transition from the military to business.  In five years, Nick has created a track record of success with an industry-leading company that values military officers.  He has been one of the top-performing Consultants among his peers.  Not only did Nick take time to do this episode with me, but he has also been a great advisor to other military officers considering and making a transition.  He is always volunteering his time to help others succeed.  Additionally, he is involved with onboarding and developing new JMOs at RRA. While Nick and I address how he used the three strategies of making a transition, the major

What is a transition strategy? Do you need one? We tackle this topic on our most recent Cameron-Brooks podcast episode. Today, we're hosting another round-table discussion with Joel Junker and Pete Van Epps to share with you our THREE game-changing strategies for junior military officers looking to make the jump to business and WHY it's important to have transition strategies put in place. Deciding to step out of a career in government and into a career in the private sector is a BIG step. Our team works hard to provide different career planning strategies to the officers in our program ... and today, we wanted to SHARE some of these strategies with YOU. Everyone knows the old adage, "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail." One of the biggest missteps we see officers make when approaching a transition is assuming your military experience is sufficient preparation to successfully move to Corporate America AND/OR not starting transition research far enough in advance. Having a strategy is KEY to putting th

Welcome back to the Cameron-Brooks podcast. Today we're publishing one of our MOST DOWNLOADED episodes, "From USMA to Infantry Officer to Iraq to Senior VP of Supply Chain in Switzerland," with Steve Joachim. From the original podcast blog text, Joel wrote: Steve Joachim, USMA ’97, Iraq War Veteran and Cameron-Brooks Alumnus, talks about how he created a patent with other engineers on a surgical device that cuts through bone and helped turn around a declining medical device company. Steve rose to the Senior Vice President of Supply Chain for an $800+ million medical device company and shares how his career journey led him to live in Switzerland. This episode was originally published in 2016 - Steve has since moved companies and is now the Vice President of Operations at Oryx Additive. After re-listening to this episode, I can see why it's one of our most downloaded. Joel leads Steve through an ADVENTURE of a career journey. And I use the word "JOURNEY" with intention. Steve's career has taken him all ov

Welcome back! I am glad to introduce you to Lauren Kordzik. Lauren is an Associate Principal at Cameron-Brooks. Her role in the company is to work directly with companies who want to hire Junior Military Officers (JMOs). During our conversation, she shares more about why companies hire from Cameron-Brooks. Lauren has an interesting background - she came to Cameron-Brooks after successfully starting her career in the FBI. The bulk of our conversation centered around her role at Cameron-Brooks and her interaction with companies.  Her insight is valuable because most officers never really see the "client-side" of Cameron-Brooks until they attend a Career Conference. Lauren provides excellent perspective on how she helps companies better understand a JMO's background, why companies want to attend a Conference and how Cameron-Brooks vets companies who attend the Conference. She also explains the advantage of being a Cameron-Brooks candidate and shares the top Development Candidate competency that companies expec

Transitioning from military officer to business leader is a big change.  Military and business careers present different professional and personal cultures.  For example, they compensate and promote differently, and although the skills and experiences relate across the domains, functional experience rarely does.  It is a big change to leave the military and enter civilian life and a business career.  Change equals uncertainty, and often uncertainty creates caution, doubt, lack of confidence and sometimes these mindsets lead to fear.  This fear can then inhibit us from pursuing our authentic goals and, in this case, keep a junior military officer from taking the jump from military to business. To address this challenge, I spoke with Dr. Amber Selking, author of Winning the Mental Game, The Playbook for Building Championship Mindsets which goes on sale TODAY!  Amber holds a PhD in Applied Sport and Human Performance Psychology, where she did her dissertation on NFL players transitioning from their NFL playing

Today on the podcast, we're featuring a special discussion revolving around one of the most frequently asked questions that we are asked by Junior Military Officers: How much money can I make? A concern we often hear from military officers who are considering a transition is salary. Transition Coach, Rob Davis, covers the topic of compensation and salary in Corporate America. This topic often plays a significant role in the transition process for officers in our program, from just starting to consider options outside of the military to interviewing & deciding where to start the next chapter of your career. During our conversation, we discuss what kind of factors play into salary, the varieties and types of compensation, and other variables that can play into compensation when making a transition to Corporate America. After today’s discussion, we hope you’ll walk away with… - A better understanding of how compensation is structured in Corporate America. - What variables you could expect to factor into sala

Welcome back! I am glad to introduce you to Steven Sandoval. Steven is a former USMC Aircraft Maintenance Officer (F-18 Hornet) who launched his business career in 2018 as a Manager of Customer Service and Support at Textron Systems, a division of Textron. An interesting aspect of this episode is we recorded it just after he received and promotion to a Director-level position and was back at the Career Conference interviewing JMOs to backfill his position! Steven makes some great points about his decision-making process early in his business career that you can use and look forward to in your own journey.  Here are three key takeaways: Location Preference: Steven was just promoted to a Director position and he is relocating his family from Virginia to Boston. He admitted that he never would have even considered a position in Boston at his Career Conference in 2018. Why the change? His response was profound. He said, "Your perception changes so much when you are in control over it (location.) It is so differ

What are some of the biggest interviewing mistakes JMOs should avoid when transitioning to business? What are some tips for avoiding a verbal professional faux pas? We can help. After 50+ years of coordinating interviews with officers in our program and our client companies, we've learned a thing or two! Our team puts together five conferences per year, each averaging 500+ interviews over the span of two days. The success rate of our officers? For the past year, we've been sitting at 100%. Every officer in our program receives a personalized transition preparation experience, ranging from individual career coaching phone calls to mock interview preparation. However, we do know that interviewing comes with its challenges. We work hard to ensure officers in our program avoid some of the more common interviewing mistakes we've seen over the years. These are some of the most common interviewing mistakes we see JMOs make along with tips on how to avoid them. Self-Deprecation. Be sure to avoid any phrases

Internships vs. Recruiting Firms. What’s Right for You? (Part 2) We recently hosted a roundtable discussion, covering the topics of choosing to engage in an internship vs. utilizing a recruiting firm on the podcast. Joel and Pete listed the pros and cons of each, as well as detailed what options might be right for you. We'd recommend listening to that episode before tuning into "part 2"! During this mini-episode, we cover how an internship can align with the Cameron-Brooks program and what a day-to-day could look like. The topics include: The true purpose of the Skillbridge internship How Cameron-Brooks qualifies as a Skillbridge program The Developmental and Preparation Program (DPP) and how it forms and contributes to transition/interviewing curriculum What the day-to-day of an internship could look like for you How to inquire about getting the ball rolling with Cameron-Brooks We've had a number of officers complete their Skillbridge program through Cameron-Brooks! And - all of them have a

Recruiting Firms vs. Internships. What's Right for You? Today we wanted to discuss a hot topic as of late: internships. Traditionally, there were just a couple of avenues in which an officer could initiate and facilitate their transitions (like personal networking, recruiting firms, transition assistance classes, etc.). Now we've started to see and hear more about different military internship programs. The Dod has started a program called Skillbridge that seeks to help facilitate the transition and subsequent employment of military members as they leave the service. Many officers we speak with have questions about how an internship could potentially work in tandem with a recruiting firm. So how does an internship work vs. a recruiting firm? And what are the pros and cons of both options? During our rountable discussion, we talk about some pros of completing an internship with a company: - Perceived certainty - Immediate control over location - And more... As well as some cons. And some of the pro

Welcome back to Part 2 of the conversation that Cameron-Brooks Senior Vice President, Joel Junker had with alumni Melodie Nye, Carl Case and Mike DeBock. In this episode, we hear more from our alumni around the area of work/life balance. Joel specifically leads the discussion around: What are your personal hacks/habits for self-development?  We go through valleys or slumps where we are at risk of making a poor career decision. How do you overcome that and use that for career progression? What does work/life balance look like in your world?  Words of wisdom/parting advice.  There were also several authors, books on podcasts mentioned through the conversation including: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch Start with Why by Simon Sinek Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh The Dip by Seth Godin Atomic Habits by James Clear Podcast: How I Built This with Guy Raz Podcast: Exponential Wisdom by Peter Diamandis and Dan Sullivan Author: John Maxwell If you are interested in exploring your option

Welcome back! We recently surveyed our alumni, asking about topics for our annual virtual leadership panel. We cover a variety of leadership topics during these panels, but the two most popular topics centered around career management and work/life balance.  We have a special 2-episode podcast series featuring three great alumni stretching back all the way back to 2004.  Melodie Nye is a former Air Force Intelligence Officer who transitioned in 2010 and launched her career at Kraft Foods as an Associate Product Director. She is currently a Senior Marketing Director at Mars Petcare.  Carl Case is a former Navy Surface Warfare Officer (Nuclear) who transitioned in 2010 and launched his career at Ernst and Young (EY) as a Senior Consultant. He is currently a Partner at EY and leads the Financial Crimes Compliance Technology Practice.  Mike DeBock is a former Army Aviation Officer who transitioned in 2004 and launched his career at NextEra Energy as a Procurement/Commodity Leader and is now the Executive Pres

Welcome back to a special episode of the Cameron-Brooks podcast! During this discussion, our CEO, Chuck Alvarez, and Senior Vice President, Joel Junker, sit down to review the year that was 2021 and forecast trends for 2022. Reflecting on the last 12 months, we've all continued to navigate a virtual world and live with continual ambiguity. However, one thing is for certain: this past year kept surprising us. Chuck and Joel will review 2021 as a whole and look forward to trends for 2022. The topics will include ... Why 2021 was so unique from a job-market standpoint (perhaps the most unique in our company's history) What traits our client companies look for in Junior Officers when hiring for their next generation of talent The theme of hiring leadership talent Tips on how to mentally prepare for a transition Defining the military to business transition (and why it's SO important to define this early in the process) How defining your "why" can impact your military transition and career traject

Welcome back to another installment of our Conference Alumni Series. On this episode we hear from 4 recent Cameron-Brooks alumni who attended the November 2021 Career Conference share their conference experience. We really like bringing these conversations to you. It is one of our attempts to try and remove uncertainty from the transition process and ultimately give you confidence through this process. And what was really remarkable about the November 2021 Career Conference was that 77.8% of all interviews at the Conference resulted in the pursuit. That means that after the interview, the company expressed interest in having another interview. That is the highest pursuit rate in the 50+ year history of Cameron-Brooks! There are multiple factors that contribute to such an impressive conference result, but one of the key reasons is that the officers who attended the Career Conference were prepared to meet hiring managers in Corporate America.  On this episode, you will meet:  Natalie Snyder, a former Army E

Today on the Cameron-Brooks podcast, we're tackling a NEW topic that can be half of the equation when officers consider making a transition. SIGNIFICANT OTHERS. We're always believed that significant others make a SIGNIFICANT difference in the transition decision and process. And, at Cameron-Brooks, we like to ENCOURAGE involvement from significant others from the very beginning. It's a large life decision and requires a lot of thought, reflection and research. As we discuss the role of spouses and significant others in the transition decision, we thought "what better way to share tips and tricks than by hearing from the spouses of our own alumni?!" So I want to introduce you to my colleagues and new Cameron-Brooks teammates: Julie and Val! Julie and Val both had their spouses come through the Cameron-Brooks program, so they have first-hand experience in the transition experience as a spouse. We wanted this particular episode to cover the idea of, "... my significant other is thinking about making a tr