PCS to Corporate America

Ted Lindell is a former Marine Corps F18 Officer who transitioned to a business career with Conagra Brands in 2017. His transition journey started in 2015 when Ted and his wife, Carrie, reflected on what they wanted for their family. They decided they no longer wanted the long deployments and the risk of Ted’s flight operations. They wanted a better quality of life. While they knew they were going to leave the Marine Corps, beyond that, they had two main options on what to do next.

One option, they could exit the military and focus on just the quality of life by conducting a job search focused on the northeast region of the US near family. This would meet the need to be home more frequently, spend time with each other and their children, and be close to siblings and parents. This would have narrowed their search and opportunities to a smaller geographic area. Fewer options meant an increased risk of starting in a “good enough” role but not the right fit. As a Marine Corps F18 pilot, settling was not in Ted’s DNA. He knew that would quickly lead to looking for another position within one or two years post-transition.

As Ted was finishing up his master’s degree, he knew he wanted career growth and development and quality of life. He did not define the quality of life by geography but rather by the fit with a community, schools, and activities for his children. He also knew that if he had a fulfilling career, he would stay with a company instead of pivoting and uprooting his career and family. Ted chose to balance his career ambitions and quality of life goals by doing a broad career search.

Ted’s choice led him to partner with Cameron-Brooks, where he attended a Career Conference interviewing with a broad range of companies and career paths. an Internal Audit position with Conagra in 2017. This position provided him with broad exposure to the almost $12B company and allowed him to build a network within the company. Within two years, he was promoted to a new role and earned four promotions in six years.

Interestingly, he accepted a position in Omaha, NE which he would never have considered without conducting a broader search. However, after visiting the city, though some distance from his preferred geographic location, he found the mid-sized Midwest city an excellent fit for his family. After evaluating all of the factors, including quality of life, company fit, career path, and the nature of the work, he made the decision to launch his career with Conagra Brands.

Ted and Claire’s reason for leaving the military is a common one. While they wanted a better quality of life, they also considered Ted’s professional goals. This led him to explore various options, finding the right fit at Conagra Brands and successfully transitioning with four promotions in his first six years in business.

I encourage you to listen to the full podcast because Ted’s choice is one that most JMOs have to make before their transition, yet they do not always know the likely outcomes of each option.

To stay connected, we encourage you to check out our website and YouTube Channel and follow us on LinkedIn.

If you want to learn more about your transition options, please get in touch with us.

You can also check out our Transition Guide on “3 Game-Changing Strategies for JMOs Making the Jump to Business” for additional transition tips.

You’ve already met Quinton Cookis. We actually featured him a year ago on Episode 154 of the podcast. Now he’s experienced one year in Corporate America. Quinton is a former USMC Logistics officer who attended the June 2022 Carrer Conference. He interviewed with 14 different hiring groups and launched his career with Campbell Soup Company as an Associate Brand Manager. When we recorded Episode 154, Quinton was preparing for his transition and participating in the DoD Skillbridge program through Cameron-Brooks. That episode focused on how he was using the Skillbridge program in order to maximize his success at the Career Conference (which is what he did.)

It’s been one year in Corporate America, so now is a great time to check in with Quinton. In this episode, we hear about what he’s been up to since starting work in Corporate America. I think you’ll really enjoy this episode because Quinton does an excellent job describing what he does as a Senior Associate Brand Manager, how his military background directly relates to much of the work he does, and how he has been able to take advantage of different circumstances that have allowed him to essentially pour jet fuel on his career.

We spent time specifically digging into why he chose Campbell, what a typical day in his life looks like, the most pleasant surprise he’s experienced in his one year in Corporate America, and his overall quality of life. We also discussed a disruptive event that occurred during the first three months on the job, what he did about it, and how it ultimately propelled his career.

To stay connected, we encourage you to check out our website and YouTube Channel and follow us on LinkedIn.

If you want to learn more about your transition options, please get in touch with us.

You can also check out our Transition Guide on “3 Game-Changing Strategies for JMOs Making the Jump to Business” for additional transition tips.

In this episode,  JMO Brock Dudley explains: “Why I trust Cameron-Brooks with my transition to business.”

As a transitioning Junior Military Officer (JMO), you have several options for making the transition. You can do it on your own, attend full-time grad school, attend a job fair, or partner with one of the several recruiting firms. To help JMOs understand the options and what Cameron-Brooks offers, we have had numerous Cameron-Brooks Alumni as guests to talk about their experiences.

We have a unique episode on the same topic where I interviewed Brock Dudley, who is preparing to attend our upcoming August 18-22 Career Conference. Brock and I cover many topics in our 30 minutes together. They include:

We explore this last point more in-depth. Brock is going through what all of our Alumni went through; he feels a little nervous as he waits for the Conference. He trusts Cameron-Brooks to deliver on our promises, yet, there are uncertainties. He does not yet know with whom he will interview, the locations, salaries, or types of jobs. Brock explains how he feels and why he is committed to the process. In other words, “Why I trust Cameron-Brooks.”

Brock’s experience and insight from this webcast differ greatly from the Alumni guests. He does not have the perspective of the Conference, the follow-up process, or a year or more in his new career. He is in the middle of the process. This is a great podcast to listen to if you want to know what it is like leading up to the Cameron-Brooks Conference, how you will feel, and what you will be doing to prepare.

To stay connected, we encourage you to check out our website and YouTube Channel and follow us on LinkedIn.

If you want to learn more about your transition options, please get in touch with us.

You can also check out our Transition Guide on “3 Game-Changing Strategies for JMOs Making the Jump to Business” for additional transition tips.

Welcome back. As many of you know, we like to record an episode after each Career Conference capturing some of the Conference’s best practices from a few of our most recent alumni. We have found that these podcast episodes help soon-to-be transitioning military officers get a good handle on what to expect and how to be as prepared as possible. This episode features three of our most recent alumni – each attending the June 2023 Career Conference.

Each officer brought their own unique perspective to the conversation and was able to shed much light on their experience through the entire process, from the beginning of the Career Conference all the way through accepting an offer for employment.

I am convinced that their insight will shape expectations and further develop the preparation plans for the officers in the Development and Preparation Program (DPP) who plan to attend a future Cameron-Brooks Career Conference.

We covered a lot of ground through the conversation, essentially highlighting best practices and lessons learned from their experiences. We were able to cover some key questions, such as:

Toward the end of the podcast, I opened it up for those who attended the meeting live to ask any question of the panelist.

My hope is that this podcast is helpful to you in your decision-making process and preparation for your future endeavors.

To stay connected, we encourage you to check out our website and YouTube Channel and follow us on LinkedIn.

If you want to learn more about your transition options, please get in touch with us.

You can also check out our Transition Guide on “3 Game-Changing Strategies for JMOs Making the Jump to Business” for additional transition tips.

To stay connected, we’d recommend subscribing to our YouTube Channel and following us on LinkedIn.

Welcome back to the podcast! One of the questions that I get on a fairly regular basis is, “What’s going on with the economy?” I totally get it! So let’s have a 2023 mid-year economy check. From the Spring 2020 to now, we’ve seen the economy move in a few different directions. I remember being in the Army and wondering if the economy was strong enough to support me, an Army Field Artillery officer with no business experience but with a lot of desire to contribute, grow, and succeed.

One of the most enlightening things that occurred in 2020 is what didn’t happen. Even during May, June, and July, during what some would argue was the height of economic uncertainty, Cameron-Brooks did not cancel a Career Conference. We entered the year planning to conduct 5 Career Conferences, and at the end of the year, that is exactly what happened. Because of that, I am convinced that companies will never stop hiring leaders. It’s no different than the military in that aspect. The military never stops commissioning officers. In wartime or not, each branch of the military brings new leaders on board every year.

What is the point? Well, in 2020, there was a slowdown. In most of 2021 and all of 2022, there was a ramp-up and acceleration. Through the first three Career Conferences of 2023, we’ve seen a leveling off. And that is exactly how it works. The economy, and really the business world, is a cycle. Sometimes it’s up, sometimes it’s down – but it never stops. So, will the economy support your transition? Absolutely. Of course! With the right strategy, you can launch your business career and accelerate your career. What is the right strategy? There are a few different factors, but two of the most important are your attitude and your ability to communicate. JMOs who come to corporate America with a desire to solve problems and make an impact are always in need. Couple that with preparation and an ability to communicate your background effectively, and companies will be willing and excited to make an offer to you.

I hope you enjoy and gain value from my conversation with Joel. In this episode, Joel also referenced a few additional resources to help you learn more – our recent blog about interviewing with the economy in mind and our 2022 year-end podcast – Episode 165.

Want to learn more about how to make a successful transition? Contact Cameron-Brooks, and we can walk you through a 50+ year proven preparation program to ensure you succeed in the interview and your career.

To stay connected, we encourage you to check out our website and YouTube Channel and follow us on LinkedIn.

If you want to learn more about your transition options, please get in touch with us.

You can also check out our Transition Guide on “3 Game-Changing Strategies for JMOs Making the Jump to Business” for additional transition tips.

To stay connected, we’d recommend subscribing to our YouTube Channel and following us on LinkedIn.

Almost 80% of the junior military officers (JMOs) we help transition from the military to a business leadership career are either married or have significant others involved. This creates complexity in developing a transition strategy that makes it possible for the JMO and civilian spouse/significant other to reach their career goals. In this episode, you will learn transition strategies for JMOs with a professional spouse. You will want to listen to this podcast to hear how one couple pivoted their strategy after speaking with Cameron-Brooks and propelled their careers forward.

In this podcast, I interviewed Mark and Jade Rupinski. Mark, a former Army Logistics Officer, accepted a Senior Project Manager position with NextEra Energy Resources. Jade manages a legal office and will now open a new office for her firm in south Florida, near NextEra’s headquarters.

When I first met Mark in January this year, he had been applying for positions in Tampa, FL, because it would have been a good location for Jade’s career, and he thought it would have plenty of opportunities for him. After applying for many opportunities and even having some interviews, he realized that the positions and career paths did not allow him to step out and up from the military to business. He felt like most were a step down from what he had been doing. This is a typical experience when conducting a location-specific search.

Mark then brought Jade into our conversations, where we talked about how by allowing Mark to conduct a broader search than just Tampa, FL, he would more likely find the opportunities that would meet potential. The key would be how flexible Jade’s career could be on location. She went back to her firm, and they gave her eight cities where she could quickly move to. This allowed Mark to have nine interviews and multiple options for follow-up interviews and offers.

This is one of the most critical transition strategies for JMOs with a professional spouse. By having these conversations before they started their career search, Mark and Jade developed a strategy that allowed them to both reach their goals. To be sure, there is much complexity in managing two careers leaving the military. By gathering a lot of information well before their transition, clarifying their goals with each other, and Jade exploring options with her company, they set their goals and developed and plan. That is a recipe for success.

The mistake some couples make is that they do not gather all the information beforehand to understand their strategy’s tradeoffs. They ended up waiting until they had offers from companies and then deciding. It is much better to have these difficult conversations and have an agreed-upon plan BEFORE getting too far along in the career search. Waiting can lead to making impulsive decisions or deciding under pressure.

My goal for this podcast is to show you another way to approach the transition. Have a dialogue with your spouse and create a strategy before you start the transition. I encourage you to ask questions of a professional like Cameron-Brooks to understand the tradeoffs of different strategies. You will then more likely reach your goals.

Want to learn more about how to make a successful transition? Contact Cameron-Brooks, and we can walk you through a 50+ year proven preparation program to ensure you succeed in the interview and your career.

To stay connected, we encourage you to check out our website and YouTube Channel and follow us on LinkedIn.

If you want to learn more about your transition options, please get in touch with us.

You can also check out our Transition Guide on “3 Game-Changing Strategies for JMOs Making the Jump to Business” for additional transition tips.

To stay connected, we’d recommend subscribing to our YouTube Channel and following us on LinkedIn.

Many Junior Military Officers (JMOs) transitioning to business are curious about what to expect in an interview and what hiring managers want to see or hear. From a high level, they wonder how they should communicate their experiences to business leaders. Then they even worry about the more minor details. Do they call the hiring manager by their first name or more formally? Do you have the same questions?

You can listen to this podcast and hear directly from Erik Fihlman, who has hired JMOs for his global company for over ten years. Erik is also a former Navy officer, so he has been on both sides of the interview.

You will be surprised to learn that the most essential characteristic Erik looks for is someone who can carry on a conversation. This will blow the paradigm that an interview is a recruiter or hiring manager working down a list of questions; all the candidate does is provide answers. Instead, Erik explains he wants to speak to candidates who can share ideas back and forth, is naturally curious, and quickly builds rapport. He does not want a one-sided conversation.

Many JMOs think that knowing how to do the job is most important. Erik says that is not the case. He explains that he wants a winning attitude more than anything else. Someone optimistic who can succeed in adverse circumstances. He said he wants someone to collaborate with people within and outside the company. Erik, like many hiring managers who recruit from Cameron-Brooks, says he and other leaders in the company will teach the JMO how to do the job well.

Want to learn more about how to succeed in the interview? Contact Cameron-Brooks, and we can walk you through a 50+ year proven preparation program that will ensure you succeed in the interview and in your career.

To stay connected, we encourage you to check out our website and YouTube Channel and follow us on LinkedIn.

If you’re interested in learning more about your transition options, please feel free to contact us.

You can also check out our Transition Guide on “3 Game-Changing Strategies for JMOs Making the Jump to Business” for additional transition tips.

To stay connected, we’d recommend subscribing to our YouTube Channel and following us on LinkedIn.

We are honored to bring this episode to you. You might say it’s a story of “hoops to heroes”. Last year, Melissa Miles, Cameron-Brooks alumnus from 1994, approached Cameron-Brooks and shared with us a project that she and West Point teammates Melody Lutz and Dena Caradimitropoulo were working on. Melissa (Miss) and Dena were USMA class of ’81, and Melody was USMA class of ’84. Miss, Melody and Dena were among the first graduating classes with women at West Point (the first class with graduating women cadets was the class of 1980.). Basketball was the first varsity athletics team that women formed at West Point. Those three, along with many others, were pioneers as some of the original members of the Army Women’s Basketball team.

A few years ago, Miss and Dena formed a nonprofit organization with the purpose of commissioning a professional writer to tell this special story, as seen through the eyes of West Point leaders, team supporters, coaches, and Army women’s basketball players. It covers from the start of the program in 1976 to the present day. It also covers players’ military and professional careers and contributions. Among the book’s themes are leadership, service to country, resilience through adversity, athletic accomplishment, diversity, inclusion and more.

The story of women at West Point has been told from several angles but never from the viewpoint of the Army women’s basketball team. It tells the story of how the team helped acclimate women to the academy, gain their acceptance and further the institution’s athletic and academy ideals — literally going from hoops to heroes.

In addition to Miss and Melody, Royd Lutz, USMA ’84, also joined the conversation. He and Melody were classmates and have been married for nearly 40 years. He, too, is a Cameron-Brooks alumnus (1989) and brings an excellent perspective to the conversation as someone who had a front-row seat as women started attending West Point and the Army Women’s Basketball team was formed. Fun fact: Royd and Melody’s son, Cliff, is also a Cameron-Brooks alumnus (2017).

I hope you enjoy listening to the history of Army Women’s Basketball. You can grab a copy of the book, as well as learn more at www.hoopsandheroesbook.org. We plan to record additional episodes in the future highlighting more stories and experiences from the book. For now, enjoy!

If you’re interested in learning more about your transition options, contact us.

You can also check out our Transition Guide on “5 Common Mistakes Junior Military Officers (JMOs) Make Transitioning and How to Avoid Them” for additional transition tips.

To stay connected, we’d recommend subscribing to our YouTube Channel and following us on LinkedIn.

Welcome back for another special episode where we will give you keys to interview success! Rob Davis interviewed 3 of our most recent alumni from the April 2023 Career Conference for our post-April 2023 Conference review webcast.  At the time of the interview, all three alumni had already accepted an offer of employment.  These episodes are particularly valuable as it allows those who are planning to attend an upcoming or future Career Conference a glimpse behind the curtain to how everything transpired.  It is also helpful for those just curious about how a Cameron-Brooks Conference runs.

Our featured alumni included:

Taylor Compton:  Navy Submariner, USNA ’15 Applied Mathematics

Javy Rodriguez:  Army Infantry, USMA ‘ 16 Economics

Zach Thompson:  Army Armor, USMA ’15 Military History

In this episode, Rob spends the initial part of the webcast covering some of the details, statistics, etc. about the April 2023 Career Conference and sharing some of the companies that attended the Conference, types of roles represented, and even locations of the roles.  He also shares a sample interview schedule of a candidate from the April 2023 Career Conference.  It is valuable and interesting to hear about the variety of companies and positions that an officer could interview with. The fact that no two officers had an identical schedule demonstrates the Career Conference is personally tailored to each officer’s qualifications and preferences.  This ain’t no job fair!

Some of the specific topics that were covered in this April Career Conference Recap included:

The panel fielded questions from the live audience along the way, which really brought a ton of perspective to the conversation.

If you want to learn more about how Cameron-Brooks can help you in your transition process or more keys to interview success, please contact us.

To stay connected, we encourage you to check out our website and YouTube Channel and follow us on LinkedIn.

You can also check out our Transition Guide on “3 Game-Changing Strategies for JMOs Making the Jump to Business” for additional transition tips.

Welcome back! We are pleased to welcome Connor Pratt to the podcast. Connor is a former USMC Logistics officer who attended the Cameron-Brooks Career Conference in January 2018— and the perfect example of how a prepared officer has options when making the transition to business. He spent eight years in the USMC and held many positions, including Battalion Maintenance Management Officer, Platoon Commander, Battalion Motor Transport Officer, and Joint Logistics Directorate Officer. Connor has a degree in Marine Transportation from the US Merchant Marine Academy. When he attended the Career Conference, he interviewed for roles in Team Leadership and General Management, Business Analysis, and Business-to-Business Sales.

At the Career Conference, Connor interviewed with 15 different industry-leading companies, including Boston Scientific, Corning, Kaeser, and Altec. He intimately chose to work for Globus Medical, a world-leading spinal and trauma medical device company. He started his career in a business-to-business sales role, and we spent the first part of the conversation diving into his day-to-day work life. Because many Junior Military Officers have a skewed view of what life is like starting in a sales role, it is always good to hear from someone who has been at it for many years now and understand their perspective on the nature of the work.

Connor spent 13 months in the Cameron-Brooks Development and Preparation Program© (DPP) before attending the January 2018 Career Conference. During that time, Connor participated in a robust professional reading program, learned about the different career field options available to him, created a relevant and specific professional resume, and prepared to interview with multiple hiring managers. Through that in-depth preparation process, Connor attended the Career Conference and got every company he interviewed to pursue him. In this episode, he explains how he thoroughly engaged in the DPP to get those kinds of results.

Connor’s friend, Chris Wilkeson, attended the November 2015 Career Conference. The two pieces of advice that Connor gives that helped him to be more successful through the process are: 1) keep in contact with those who went before you and 2.) have fun. The first seems logical; the second seems counter-intuitive. That said, the officers that are more successful at the Career Conference are those who are prepared and, thus, have the mentality to have fun. At the Conference, you will meet a wide variety of interesting and experienced business professionals. Those officers who see that as an opportunity tend to have more success through the process; that is just more fun!

To stay connected, we encourage you to check out our website and YouTube Channel and follow us on LinkedIn.

If you’re interested in learning more about your transition options, please feel free to contact us.

You can also check out our Transition Guide on “3 Game-Changing Strategies for JMOs Making the Jump to Business” for additional transition tips.

To stay connected, we’d recommend subscribing to our YouTube Channel and following us on LinkedIn.