“Something that was surprising [about the transition to civilian life] is that not everything is really laid out for you. In the military a lot of things are laid out for you; you go through specific trainings and checklists, you have a criteria on how you’re going to grow your career and take the test to advance and everything is defined by points and very structured in the military. When you get out, it’s nothing like that. You’re as successful on the outside as you want to be. you have to be hungry for those opportunities and seek them, because nothing is really laid out for you."
 – Tony Zamora

Tony Zamora is the Director of Human Resources at Ipsos, a company with over 17,000 worldwide employees. Tony started out as an Electronics Tech in the US Navy, and also served as an Electronics Repair Technician in the Coast Guard. He has worked in Human Resources roles at the Sierra Nevada Corporation and The San Jose Group.

In this conversation, we cover a lot of topics, including:

• An overview of Human Resources and why you might find it appealing
• What it’s like to be a Director of Human Resources, and what day-to-day life looks like
• Common mistakes that veterans make in their transition and job search
• How to improve your resume
• What someone on active duty can do right now to start preparing for their transition to a civilian career
• And much, much more…

• Listen to it on iTunes.
• Stream by clicking here.
• Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How can I make these episodes more valuable to active duty military personnel considering transitioning to the civilian world? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Show Notes

• 1:20 - Tony’s background
• 2:25 - Tony’s decision to leave the military and how he approached it
• 3:31 - How Tony researched what he wanted to do outside of the military
• 5:41 - An overview of Human Resources and what appealed to Tony about this career
• 7:01 - What it’s like to be a Director of Human Resources, and what day-to-day life looks like
• 11:10 - In what ways Tony felt ahead of his peers in Human Resources, and where he had to catch up based on his military service
• 13:07 - What was most surprising to Tony about his transition to civilian life
• 14:40 - Advice to veterans based on Tony’s experience in Human Resources (HR)
• 16:35 - The best advice Tony received about how to transition to a civilian career
• 17:40 - Advice on how to network
• 21:45 - Common mistakes that veterans make in their transition and job search
• 22:16 - How to improve your resume
• 23:50 - What someone on active duty can do right now to start preparing for their transition to a civilian career
• 27:35 - Final words of advice to veterans