SuccessVets: Advice For Veterans On Life After The Military

How does this veteran work on a startup from Afghanistan?

Matt Helbig is a graduate of The American University in Washington DC and a former Army Infantry Officer. He’s currently working on Valid8: A Social Network for Startups. Prior to Valid8, Matt worked in sales, marketing and business development for both Startups and at least one Fortune 500 Company. He has also been a fundraising campaign manager at Project Welcome Home Troops; a non-profit dedicated to preventing veteran suicide.

http://www.successvets.com/2014/08/18/matt-helbig-army-infantry-pharma-sales-defense-contracting-and-entrepreneurship/

What was the path from corporate to startup for this veteran?

John Davison is a former Navy Officer who has traveled to over 65 countries, learned 3 foreign languages, and raced on an Italian triathlon team. After the military he eventually fell in love with making web software. Today, he is the co-founder of CodeUnion.io where he teaches beginners to become professional software engineers.

What was the path from corporate to startup for this veteran?

John Davison is a former Navy Officer who has traveled to over 65 countries, learned 3 foreign languages, and raced on an Italian triathlon team. After the military he eventually fell in love with making web software. Today, he is the co-founder of CodeUnion.io where he teaches beginners to become professional software engineers.

How is life after the military? My thoughts after one year...

I transitioned out of the Marine Corps 1 year ago. The time has flown by. In this podcast, I reflect on that time and pass along some of the things I've learned. Maybe it'll help you as you transition. Or maybe it will help you decide to stay in. Check out the 9 things that I found out from my experiences in the civilian world.

Checkout SuccessVets for more episodes and advice.

How are veterans helping other veterans?

Mike Ott is a former Navy Nuclear Power officer. After leaving the military in 2011, he transitioned into a career in consulting and is now a Strategy and Operations Consultant at Deloitte. He is also the founder of the Washington DC chapter of VetsInTech. VetsInTech is a non profit organization that supports our current and returning veterans with re-integration services, and by connecting them to the national technology ecosystem. VetsInTech is committed to bringing together a tech-specific network, resources, and programs for our veterans interested in Education, Entrepreneurship, and Employment.

What are veterans doing on the cutting edge of technology and entrepreneurship?

Brian Jaffe graduated from Princeton University in 2006, majoring in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. In the fall of that year, he commissioned as a Surface Warfare Officer in the United States Navy and over the next five years, he served on the USS Fitzgerald, completed Naval Nuclear Power training, and operated nuclear power plants onboard the USS Dwight D Eisenhower. Brian left the Navy in 2011, taking some time off to travel and shifting his focus to entrepreneurship. In 2012 he began an MBA program at the MIT Sloan School of Management but decided to leave after completing one year to work full time at his startup. Today, Brian is the co-founder and CEO of Mission St. Manufacturing, a 3D printing startup located in Santa Barbara, CA. The company is launching it's newest product, called Printeer in mid-2014, which will be a low-cost, easy to use 3D printer for kids, families, and K-12 education.

What does it take to make a successful career? Find out from fellow veterans who have made the leap themselves and are doing great things after the military.

Dan Greene is currently a Director of U.S. sales and operations at Twitter. He and his teams are responsible for helping Twitter grow its emerging advertising business as the company continues to expand in all major markets across the globe.

Prior to joining Twitter, Dan spent 6 years at Google leading a variety of teams in Google’s established and emerging advertising businesses. Before joining Google, Dan was the VP of Business Operations for an aviation startup company, and before that the Director of Deal Development and Special Programs for Rubloff Development Group. Dan spent the first 11 years of his career in the U.S. Navy, serving as a team lead, operations manager, and carrier-based F/A-18 fighter pilot for several different Navy units.

Dan is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and has an MBA from the University of California Los Angeles.

Dr. Kent Bradley is a graduate of West Point and served in the Army for over 20 years as a medical officer which included a tour in Iraq as Deputy Commander of the 30th Medical Brigade and a tour as Executive Director and Chief Medical Officer of TriCare Europe. Following his military career, Kent went on to earn his MBA and was a Senior Partner at Martin-Blanck and Associates, a healthcare consulting firm. Today, he is the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Safeway and the President of Safeway Health. In these roles, he works extensively across Safeway's health initiatives directed at both employees and consumers. In this interview, he talks about his transition and what he was looking for after the military. Safeway ended up being a great fit! Kent talks about how he found a company that matches his values and priorities. He also explains the benefit of leadership development programs and other tools to help make you successful, not just in your transition, but in your career.

Jim Lose is an Executive Senior Partner in Lucas Group's Military Transition division. As a veteran officer recruiter with over a decade in the industry, he has placed over 1,500 officers into Fortune 1000 companies across the country. In this interview, we talk about the current hiring market for veterans, interviewing tips, transitioning strategies, and much much more.

Need to work on interviewing for careers after the military? Check out this recording session with a good buddy of mine who was getting ready for an actual hiring conference. I give him feedback as we work through several questions and you can learn how we refine each answer for different situations. This will help you better understand what you can do to work on refining your own interview answers and how to practice to make the most of it. This is the first segment in the series and it is a fantastic one! We work through one of the most common interview questions -- "Can you walk me through your resume?"