Cameron-brooks

The key to career progression is initiative! In this episode, I am glad to introduce Chris Benson. Chris is a former USMC Field Artillery officer who attended the January 2014 Career Conference. After the follow-up interview process concluded, he received multiple offers for employment and ultimately chose to work for INVISTA. INVISTA, a company within Koch Industries,  is one of the world’s largest integrated producers of polymers, chemicals, and fibers. Why INVISTA? Chris earned many offers through his process but said one of the main reasons he chose INVISTA was because of their guiding principles. Koch Industries operates using Principle Based Management and fosters a culture of empowering employees to build the organization and serve their customers. Even within INVISTA, Chris was given multiple job offers and chose the role to start as a Shift Supervisor because the work closely related to what he did in the USMC. The interesting thing about it is that he decided to work for INVISTA after he met them, n

Welcome back to another episode of the PCS to Corporate America Podcast, where we answer the burning question..."How will the 2023 economy affect JMO career options?" This episode is the second half of an interview I did with Cameron-Brooks CEO Chuck Alvarez.  Chuck and I reviewed JMO to business career transition best practices and the outlook for 2023.  I recorded the full interview on December 15, 2022, in a webcast format that you can watch here.  You can also listen to the first of the interview in Episode 164. What We Covered in Episode 164 (Part 1) - Trends for 2022 Why Cameron-Brooks client companies continue to have high demand for Junior Officer leaders. Why Cameron-Brooks client companies hiring demand remained robust, and why we had many more open positions than candidates. Transition lessons we learned in 2022 that every JMO should know in preparing to make a pivot to a business leadership career. What We Cover in Episode 165 (Part 2) - Outlook and Best Practices for 2023  A recession

Happy New Year!  All of us at Cameron-Brooks hope you had a wonderful Holiday Season and feel refreshed to reach your goals in 2023. At the end of every year, I interview Cameron-Brooks CEO, Chuck Alvarez, to review JMO to business career transition best practices and get his outlook for the following year.  We record this in a Webcast video format that you can watch here.  If you prefer to listen to it, follow the links in this post.  We started this at the end of 2020 to educate officers on the unique JMO transition lessons learned during the pandemic.  We received so much positive feedback; we made this an annual event. While it seems the virus is now just a part of our lives and a new way of living, it is still making an impact on the economy.  We are experiencing inflation, the federal reserve raising interest rates, and some lingering supply chain issues.  The combination of these issues raised the dreaded “R” word – recession to hit the news. This caused many JMOs to ask questions about what we expe

If you were ever wondering about military-to-corporate history or the history of Cameron-Brooks, this is the episode for you. On this show, we welcome Mary Lou White to the program. Mary Lou is one of the founding members of Cameron-Brooks and has been helping Junior Military Officers move from the military to Corporate America for over 45 years! As you can imagine, she has seen a lot in that time. In this episode, we take it all the way to the beginning. As a native of California, she met Roger Cameron and Rene Brooks. Roger and Rene were both working for a company names Career Seminars at that time. The company worked with JMOs but also did other types of recruiting. After Career Seminars underwent a restructuring, Roger and Rene decided to build their own company focused on helping military officers transition to the business world. The rest, as they say, is military-to-corporate history. Mary Lou takes us on a journey from the early days of Cameron-Brooks, her favorite candidate (spoiler alert: she ma

Learning how to use your technical aptitude to propel your career is our focus for this Episode. We welcome back Chazz Hoskins. Chazz was featured on Episode 82 of the Cameron-Brooks podcast. This podcast is a career check-in, but as a reminder, Chazz is a former Air Force Development Engineer who transitioned to Lam Research. Chazz's last job in the Air Force was as a data analyst working on missile telemetry within a fighter squadron. Lam is foundational to the semiconductor industry, and they make the machines that make some of the most sophisticated semiconductors in the world. From the Career Conference, Chazz was able to evaluate multiple employment offers, so we spent a couple of minutes exploring why he chose to launch his business career at Lam. He started at Lam as a Pilot Manufacturing Engineer. His job was to manage the component supply chain, quality surveillance, contingencies for faulty components, safety and cost implications, and create documentation for manufacturing procedures. Being a Pi

Successfully transitioning from military officer to business leader is a strategic multistep process.  In my 23 plus years as a military to business headhunter and recruiter, I have coached 5,000+ junior officers through the 8 stages of a military to business transition. In this 30-minute podcast, I explain the 8 Stages of the Transition to give you a roadmap to help you reach your goals.  Like any roadmap, I help you identify your destination, the different routes to get there and where you can take disastrous wrong turns and how to avoid them. Before I jump into the 8 Stages of the Transition, I devote time to defining the successful transition.  It's critical you understand the difference between just finding a job with good pay and location and truly establishing yourself in a new industry, company and career field.  The latter is the successful transition and requires the 8 Stages.  The former is landing a new job and only requires about 3 or 4 of the Stages.  The 8 Stages will seem like overkill if yo

Welcome back to another episode of the Cameron-Brooks Podcast. In Episode 157, I talked about the similarities of financial investing and managing your career for future opportunities— which ties right into why finding the right opportunity fit is more important than location. After I recorded that podcast, I wanted to find an alum who modeled this.  Coincidently, I spoke with C-B Alumnus Chris Parks that day.  Chris called asking me for advice.  He just had an incredible offer to leave his current company and be a Director of Sales at another company.  Chris had only been out of the military for 5 years, so this was very fast to be considered for a Director level position. During my conversation with Chris, I asked him how he earned such an opportunity so quickly.  He credited it to two decisions he made in the transition.  I asked if he would share those decisions on our podcast. Decision 1 Chris agrees: The right opportunity is more important than location, so he prioritized opportunity.  Chris accepted a

Let's dive into an economic discussion for transitioning JMOs. As military officers consider moving from the military to corporate America, we often receive questions about the state of the economy. These questions typically come in a few different forms, but the question behind the question is this: will the economy support my transition from the military, and will I find employment that is meaningful and commensurate with my level of leadership and experience? The question is extremely logical. Many officers consider leaving the military for a myriad of reasons, but regardless of the reason, the military is perceived as a safe option, and so they want to ensure their transition to Corporate America will be successful. This episode has two parts. The first part is a discussion that Joel Junker and Pete Van Epps had recently about the state of the economy. They basically have an economy discussion for transitioning JMOs where they talk about employment situations, both past, and present, as well looked into

Welcome back to another episode of the Cameron-Brooks Podcast. Do you want to make a successful transition from military to business? Do you want to be in a top leadership role of a leading company?  If you do, you don't need to reinvent the wheel to help you get there.  You can follow former military officers who have become key business leaders' steps for career success. One such former military officer I recommend following is Ben Berkowick. I first met Ben in Pensacola, FL in December of 2008.  At that time, Ben was a Navy Naval Flight Officer preparing to make the transition to business the following year.  Do you recall the Great Recession of 2009?  Ben made the transition during one of the weakest job markets in the last 60 years.  Not only did he successfully land a position in sales with Biosense Webster, a division of Johnson & Johnson, but he also went on to several promotions and is now an Area Vice President of Sales with Biosense Webster. In this podcast, Ben and I cover: Ben's 5 Steps for Suc

I like to use the lessons of investing to help Junior Military Officers (JMOs) understand the tradeoffs and choices they will make during their career search process.  In this podcast, I walk through the value of investing early in your life.  I share the financial benefits of sacrificing today for reaching financial and career goals in the future.  Chiefly, I explain how that same investing discipline applies to making sacrifices and tradeoffs early in your career, leading to reaching your career goals. The Value of Investing Early You can search online about the benefits of investing early and the almost impossible nature of trying to reach financial goals by starting later.  When you do, you will find tables and charts like the one I found from USAA. The article states the amount you will have at age 65 if you start saving $250 a month starting at different ages (it assumes an eight percent average annual investment return). If you start at age: 25: You’ll accumulate $878,570 by age 65 35: You’ll accumu

When you hear the phrase “Corporate America,” what imagery immediately comes to mind? Personally, my brain first goes to a fictional photo of Wall Street – probably something snapped in the mid-1990s that would be found in a dusty textbook. My mind forms lots of gray buildings and gray suits. However, I think this idea of Corporate America is a stereotype where a lot of misconceptions about business are founded. I’ve had multiple conversations with military officers who have told me something along the lines of, “I don’t want business, I want project management.” I think the knee-jerk reaction to this statement stems from our stereotypes (e.g., the Corporate America imagery exercise above). Because of these conversations, Pete and I decided to tackle the five most common misconceptions about business we hear when speaking with junior military officers on the podcast. 5 Common Misconceptions About Business Corporate America = Wall Street Is Wall Street part of Corporate America? Absolutely! However,

What is the formula to launching a successful business career? And what does a "successful business career" mean for a military officer who wants to transition? We define this concept more HERE but wanted to share a story of how a Cameron-Brooks alum utilized three strategies to successfully transition with a long-term goal in mind. When we published the Transition Guide "3 Game-Changing Strategies for JMOs Making the Jump to Business", I thought about many of our Alumni who executed these strategies perfectly and are now achieving the personal and professional success they envisioned when leaving the military. They committed to investing in their careers early by getting on board with an industry-leading company that valued their JMO experience and built a track record of success within the first 3 to 5 years.  They made tradeoffs such as time to get their MBA, starting in a good location but not the ideal location and avoiding easy assignment for the tough ones that moved their organization forward.  I s

One of the programs that the Department of Defense (DoD) recently launched is the Skillbridge program. Skillbridge is an opportunity for transitioning service members and their spouses to gain valuable civilian work experience through specific industry training, apprenticeships, and internships. The program assists retiring and transitioning service members by allowing them to participate in industry training programs while transitioning out of their military careers. Cameron-Brooks is an approved DoD Skillbridge provider, and we have had many officers participate in the Skillbrige program as they prepared for a move to Corporate America. When officers participate in Skilbridge with Cameron-Brooks, they are afforded valuable time to prepare for up to 13 or 14 interviews with industry-leading companies where they meet hiring managers and decision-makers. This preparation gives military officers the training and confidence they need to connect their background, demonstrate interest, ask relevant questions and

This month I celebrate my 23rd year at Cameron-Brooks! Wow, time flies! Funny thing is that I still think of myself as a new team member at Cameron-Brooks because I am always learning something new, and each JMO I work with is unique. Even though I look at myself as someone new to the business, I know I am a seasoned veteran with lots of experience and knowledge on how to make the transition from military to business. I've helped thousands of military officers find new careers, and I've spent a lot of time recording feedback from client companies. Hiring managers are often looking for similar key characteristics in the interview. JMOs know this, and most ask me a simple, straightforward, yet important question when they first meet me, "Joel, what are the key characteristics I need to bring out in an interview to be successful?" While I love learning new things, the answer to that really has not changed in my time. They are the same three characteristics Roger Cameron, the founder of the JMO to Business in

Welcome back to the podcast! In a recent episode, Joel, Hope, and I discussed the 3 Game-Changing Strategies that JMOs can employ to maximize their transition. The podcast is based on a recent transition guide with the same title. The first strategy we recommend is to find opportunities where a JMO can build a track record of success, typically within three to five years. In this episode, you will meet Mike Scheer. Mike is a former Army Special Operations officer who transitioned in 2014 after being an ODA Commander. Mike is someone who approached his career search with these strategies. Mike launched his career at BIOTRONIK, a world leader in cardiac rhythm management (CRM) technology. Like most jobs that he went into in the military, Mike was thrown into a technical, challenging, and rewarding role. He was able to use his drive, emotional intelligence, and intellect to make an immediate impact for his customers. He launched his career in an industry-leading company and in a role that allowed him to build

Today on the podcast, we tackle 3 recession myths every JMO should know. As I write this post, I am flying from El Paso to Denver for a week-long trip through the Southwest US to meet with Junior Officers preparing for their transitions.  In my one-on-one meetings, officers are asking more questions about the economy. This makes sense with non-stop news about record inflation, the Fed raising interest rates to combat inflation (which will "cool" the economy), and a wildly fluctuating stock market.  The news pundits and some key business leaders are warning that the risk of a recession in the next 12 to 18 months is increasing. With 23 years of experience with Cameron-Brooks, I have experienced several significant events that sent our economy into a recession. These include the Tech Wreck and subsequent 9-11 attacks, the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009 and the Covid recession of 2020.  There have been some other slowdowns during my time, but those are the big ones.  My colleague and fellow Transition Coa

Welcome back to the Cameron-Brooks podcast.  2017 Cameron-Brooks Alumnus Nick Henderson and I talk about the recently published Cameron-Brooks Transition Guide, "3 Game-Changing Strategies for JMOs Making the Jump to Business".  Nick is a Consultant with Russell Reynolds Associates (RRA), a leading executive search and leadership advisory company.  Nick is a great example of making the successful transition from the military to business.  In five years, Nick has created a track record of success with an industry-leading company that values military officers.  He has been one of the top-performing Consultants among his peers.  Not only did Nick take time to do this episode with me, but he has also been a great advisor to other military officers considering and making a transition.  He is always volunteering his time to help others succeed.  Additionally, he is involved with onboarding and developing new JMOs at RRA. While Nick and I address how he used the three strategies of making a transition, the major

What is a transition strategy? Do you need one? We tackle this topic on our most recent Cameron-Brooks podcast episode. Today, we're hosting another round-table discussion with Joel Junker and Pete Van Epps to share with you our THREE game-changing strategies for junior military officers looking to make the jump to business and WHY it's important to have transition strategies put in place. Deciding to step out of a career in government and into a career in the private sector is a BIG step. Our team works hard to provide different career planning strategies to the officers in our program ... and today, we wanted to SHARE some of these strategies with YOU. Everyone knows the old adage, "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail." One of the biggest missteps we see officers make when approaching a transition is assuming your military experience is sufficient preparation to successfully move to Corporate America AND/OR not starting transition research far enough in advance. Having a strategy is KEY to putting th

Welcome back to the Cameron-Brooks podcast. Today we're publishing one of our MOST DOWNLOADED episodes, "From USMA to Infantry Officer to Iraq to Senior VP of Supply Chain in Switzerland," with Steve Joachim. From the original podcast blog text, Joel wrote: Steve Joachim, USMA ’97, Iraq War Veteran and Cameron-Brooks Alumnus, talks about how he created a patent with other engineers on a surgical device that cuts through bone and helped turn around a declining medical device company. Steve rose to the Senior Vice President of Supply Chain for an $800+ million medical device company and shares how his career journey led him to live in Switzerland. This episode was originally published in 2016 - Steve has since moved companies and is now the Vice President of Operations at Oryx Additive. After re-listening to this episode, I can see why it's one of our most downloaded. Joel leads Steve through an ADVENTURE of a career journey. And I use the word "JOURNEY" with intention. Steve's career has taken him all ov

Welcome back! I am glad to introduce you to Lauren Kordzik. Lauren is an Associate Principal at Cameron-Brooks. Her role in the company is to work directly with companies who want to hire Junior Military Officers (JMOs). During our conversation, she shares more about why companies hire from Cameron-Brooks. Lauren has an interesting background - she came to Cameron-Brooks after successfully starting her career in the FBI. The bulk of our conversation centered around her role at Cameron-Brooks and her interaction with companies.  Her insight is valuable because most officers never really see the "client-side" of Cameron-Brooks until they attend a Career Conference. Lauren provides excellent perspective on how she helps companies better understand a JMO's background, why companies want to attend a Conference and how Cameron-Brooks vets companies who attend the Conference. She also explains the advantage of being a Cameron-Brooks candidate and shares the top Development Candidate competency that companies expec