Cameron-brooks

Welcome back! On this episode, I interview Trey McAfee. Trey is a former Army Chemical Corps officer who transitioned from the Army in early 2015 and is currently a Plant Manager at Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope. Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope is a company that primarily makes commercial glass for some very interesting and beautiful buildings across America. Trey was recently promoted and moved cross-country from Arizona to New Jersey. He attended our January 2015 conference, before starting his career at Oldcastle. I really enjoyed the conversation with Trey because we ended up talking about a broad range of topics, but tended to center most around making a difference every day. Trey has a really interesting background. We discussed: His partnership with Cameron-Brooks and why he choose to transition from the military. What 21st Century manufacturing is really like. His first year at Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope. The difference between production ("back end") and customer-facing ("front end") operations.

Considering a transition from the military?  Do you feel a little anxious about your decision?  This anxiety is natural.  In this podcast, I interview Cameron-Brooks Recruiter and Principal, Rob Davis, about his decision to make the transition 19 years ago.  What makes Rob's decision unique? His dad and father-in-law both retired from the military.  Rob attended West Point with the goal to follow in their footsteps.  He stayed in the Army beyond his original commitment to command a Tank Company on his way to making the Army his career.  Yet, he decided to transition and did so successfully to Cisco Systems. Rob explains how he made his decision and offers advice to others considering their future as well.  He recommends:  Map out your next 5 years in the military.  Does it excite you? What is going to be important to you in 5 years?  Does the military help you align with those priorities? Research business by reading business books like PCS to Corporate America, 4th Ed. and business periodicals like F

Cameron-Brooks' mission is to help JMOs reach their potential and dreams.  The path to get there starts with understanding goals, values, and strengths.  The Personal Marketability Assessment with Cameron-Brooks (PMA) is a proven resource to help JMOs identify these career drivers.  During this session, an experienced Cameron-Brooks Recruiter asks JMOs specific questions to help them reflect on, evaluate, and verbalize their thoughts on these areas.  It is a powerful exercise to help JMOs make the best decision about their future whether that is continuing with a military career, transitioning to business, or pursuing some other endeavor.  The Personal Marketability Assessment also lays the foundation for how JMOs should prepare and what to focus on, if they do decide to pursue business. In this podcast, Cameron-Brooks alumnus Bob Schultz describes how his Personal Marketability Assessment with Cameron-Brooks Partner Joel Junker helped him clarify his goals and set him on a path for a successful career with

Is Sales for Development Candidates? In our latest episode, I interview Cory Nordstrom to find out. Cory is a former Air Force officer who transitioned to Corporate America in 2014. He started his career at Medtronic selling spinal implants in the hospital operating room to orthopedic and neurological surgeons. For this podcast, I asked Cory to describe his experience leaving the Air Force and going directly into a medical device sales role. In doing so, he essentially describes a-day-in-the-life, which I found helpful in fully understanding what sales looks like in that environment. We also get into the topic of career progression and some possible areas that he can move to after this role. He shares some memorable advice that he is considering as he evaluates his future options. What he shares is not only relevant to sales, but really every career field in business. I hope you enjoy the conversation with Cory. To learn more about Cameron-Brooks, visit our website and check out PCS to Corporate America. Yo

With so many veteran recruiting initiatives, social media sites like LinkedIn, and an unemployment rate of 3.9%, it has become a lot easier for transitioning JMOs to land a job.  While seemingly positive, this can be a problem. Why? Most JMOs do not want a job, they want a career.  The definition of a job is, "work that one routinely does in return for pay," whereas a career is defined as, "the natural progression of one's professional life". Let's look at why a career search is better than a job search. How do JMOs end up in a job when they want a career?  They do not conduct a career search.  A career search includes interviewing with multiple companies over a short period of time to evaluate them and find the right fit.  This allows the JMO to compare their options with factors such as industry, promotional opportunities, career field, culture, location and money.  Careers have a mix of these and short- and long-term trade-offs in each of these areas.  No one opportunity will be perfect.  The career searc

When it comes to your career, can your attitude really determine your altitude? We talked to Abby Horvath, a Cameron-Brooks alumna and manufacturing manager at Ethicon, one of the largest operating companies within Johnson & Johnson. A former Army MEDEVAC pilot who transitioned into a team leadership role as a manufacturing supervisor, Abby has occupied many different roles across her organization in just five short years. In this podcast episode, she explains how she did it. In some ways, Abby found working for Johnson & Johnson to be lot like working in the Army. But one of the biggest differences she noticed is her ability now to have control over her career. Abby impressed me when she explained the steps she took in her career progression. Her approach should be natural to JMOs starting a new career in a new industry. But, unfortunately, the humble attitude she took when starting out is not always the attitude JMOs start with. One thing she said that particularly stuck out to me is, "You don't get succe

Two weeks before former JMO Jenna Sanders attended her Career Conference, she wasn't considering sales as a possible career opportunity.  Based on the companies attending her Conference, I called and asked if she would consider a few sales interviews.  A few specific sales positions really fit her personality and interests; most importantly, because she was conducting a joint search with her spouse, Bryan, it would provide them with more overlapping locations. Jenna listened to me with an open mind, although she still had some reservations.  In addition to her other interviews in Team Leadership and Business Analysis, Jenna interviewed for a few sales positions and received several offers.  She chose a sales position with Textron Aviation.  She has since moved on from Textron and is now the VP of Sales at VistaJet. In this podcast you will hear about how she applies her experience as an Army JMO to succeed in her career.  You will also hear my envy when discussing her client engagements.  She has been to th

In this episode, I interview Cameron-Brooks alumnus John Edwards on the keys to building your professional network. John is a former USMC Logistics officer who transitioned to Corporate America in early 2014. He started his career working for an integrated solutions company focused on supply chain and packaging in the wine industry.  In his four years post-military, he has been very successful and has been promoted multiplies times. In this conversation, we walk through his career path and some of the projects and teams he's led. He also shares his thoughts on specific actions he's taken to be successful and gives some great advice which will be beneficial to both those already working in business, as well as JMOs considering making the transition. He also recommends multiple books: Getting Things Done by David Allen, Grit by Angela Duckwork and Mindset by Carol Dweck. He said all three of those books have been instrumental in helping him in his career. I enjoyed talking to John and think you'll benefit from

On this episode, I interview Dustin Mackie with Avalution Consulting to learn his 3 Keys to Success as a Managing Consultant. Dustin is a former Army infantry officer who transitioned to Avalution in 2013. He shares what it's like to work at a consulting firm focused on business continuity and mitigating IT disruptions within an organization. He then shares some ideas about what has made him successful thus far in his career and mentions some courses through Coursera (and another) and EdX that he has taken to help him be a better leader. He's also taking a course through Syracuse's Onward 2 Opportunity program. I had a great conversation with Dustin and we discussed a lot of helpful insight regarding his transition and career. If you are interested in learning more about a transition from the military to Corporate America, pick up a copy of PCS to Corporate America from Amazon. If you want to know more about Cameron-Brooks, visit our website here. Enjoy, Pete Van Epps

Time flies. Most are familiar with the saying. I have worked for Cameron-Brooks for 18 years now and, as far as I know, there isn't another professional out there meeting with JMOs considering a career transition with more time in the industry than me.  Yet, I still think I just started in this industry and have so much to learn. But even with that in mind, over the years, I have developed a few key JMO transition and career tips to help you on your path. In this podcast episode, Pete Van Epps interviews me about my background, Cameron-Brooks' experience and advice on making the transition, and succeeding in a business career.  While the interview lasts more than 30 minutes, my advice to transitioning officers or former military officers now working in business is pretty simple: Humility.  If you are not humble, life will humble you anyway.  Take time to learn from others and find mentors.  Realize you ALWAYS have a lot to learn. Go hard.  If you have humility, drive, work ethic, and energy to reach e