Lessons Learned for Vets

Send us Fan Mail

Retiring Army officer Darwin Maull gets the chance to ask Lori some of his important questions about the military transition. This episode touches on topics such as the most common pitfalls of the transition process, when and how to use a "master" resume, how to learn to translate military terminology and "speak civilian," as well as tips for international job hunting and video interviews. 

Send us Fan Mail

Matt Scherer retired from the Air Force after a career in public affairs. After completing his degree, he had a successful public relations career in the private sector. Today, Matt focuses his efforts on teaching LinkedIn profile creation and how to leverage your profile once it is created. He is the author of several books, including LinkedIn for Military: Your Interactive Transition Networking Guide. In this episode, Matt and I walk you through creating your LinkedIn profile from top to bottom and then discuss how to effectively use this valuable job search tool.

Send us Fan Mail

Quincy Harper landed and quit 4 jobs before he found the right position after he retired from the United States Air Force. Now, as a Military Recruiting Talent Lead with Accenture Federal Services, he shares some job seeker best practices and advice. We talk about how it felt, as a veteran who is naturally loyal, to quit those jobs and whether or not he regrets the path his transition took. For those of you who feel nervous about networking, be sure to tune in to hear Quincy's take on how he handles networking and seeking out mentors, even as an introvert.

Send us Fan Mail

Dr. Vincent Soto retired from the US Navy as a hospital corpsman. He knew his passion was teaching and training, but he took the safe path and took a well-paying job in the healthcare industry. Though he stuck it out for 7 months, he knew from his first day that this was not the right path for him. Vince talks about how he used networking to land a role as a traveling Transition Assistance Program Facilitator and the importance of following your passion - even if it means going down a new path. Vince recently co-founded a non-profit, Navigating Solutions, dedicated to supporting transitioning service members, veterans and military spouses with non-cookie cutter solutions.

Send us Fan Mail

Retired US Marine Corps officer Beau Higgins is a senior manager on Amazon’s Military Affairs team. He oversees a team of recruiters dedicated to educating, recruiting, hiring and retaining veteran talent and currently manages 30K job openings. After retiring in 2014, Beau attributes landing both of his post-military jobs to networking and making connections. As someone who has hired thousands of veterans, Beau brings a ton of value to this episode in speaking about job search strategies related to resumes, job interviews, networking and finding the right culture fit. 

Send us Fan Mail

With the events that have been unfolding this week in Afghanistan, I made the decision to hit the pause button on new episodes regarding transition. I want you to take this as your opportunity to remember that it is okay to take a break and hit pause on your transition efforts to take care of yourself and your family. Please take a minute to hear my message of gratitude and encouragement for all who have served - whether you directly deployed to Afghanistan or not. We will be back next week with our regular episodes!

Send us Fan Mail

After a USAF career that started in IT and telecommunications, Ryan Thuyns retired as a Command Chief. Ryan leaned into mentorship and accepted Lori's challenge to grow his LinkedIn network from <100 to 500+ in 6 weeks. In the episode, he not only shares his strategies for doing this, he also talks about how he landed a leadership role at Amazon, which they are holding for him for 7 months. Stick around for the good stuff at the end when Ryan talks about the surprise culture shocks he has faced and wants other transitioning service members to be prepared for.

Send us Fan Mail

After serving 4 years in the US Army and being recognized as the 2020 NCO of the Year, Peter Cline made the decision to separate from the military and pursue his education. Along the way, he co-founded Boots to Books, a non-profit that is making a huge impact to service members in all facets of their transition - including college admission, certifications and trainings, grants and employment. Peter gives advice on starting a non-profit as well as tips on how to avoid undervaluing yourself and keeping your mind open to new career options along the way. 

Send us Fan Mail

Lisa Ceron asks some great questions as she prepares for her retirement from the US Navy. Listen in as we discuss the mental health stigma that veterans may face, whether or not you should reveal your true personality in the job search process and some of the "common denominators" that I have seen in the lessons other guests have shared with me about the  military transition process. Lisa turns the tables on me and asks me about why I started this podcast, so it's only fair that I ask her some questions about the lessons that she has learned about the transition process. Along the way, I share some coaching and insight about interview preparation, moving from "we" to "I" when discussing your accomplishments and much more. This is a longer episode, but it's PACKED with value.

Send us Fan Mail

You may remember USAF veteran Chris Dreisbach from Episode 25, who left his first post-military role within just 3 months. Chris is back to give us an update on what he did in the 4 months since he left that job and how he approached the next job search in a much more methodical way in order to ensure he was in control the second time around. He changed his approach to interviewing and to researching his potential employer which he shares with you in this episode.