Harry Truman, the 33rd President of the United States, said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” Therefore, JMOs should read. Leaders read because they continuously pursue learning and development. They know they never “arrive” and know everything. Additionally, whether they are politicians, business people, military leaders…

Welcome back! Today you’re going to get three tips to manage your career after you transition to business. I am glad to introduce you to Kingsley Spiller. He’s a former Army Infantry officer who moved to corporate America in 2016. He spent his time in the Army as a Platoon Leader, Executive Officer, and Battalion Logistics officer and finished up h…

Welcome back! We recently wrapped up our January 2024 Career Conference. The primary takeaway from the Conference is that companies remain motivated to pursue JMOs for their important leadership openings, and the prepared candidate will succeed at the Career Conference. Diving deeper, the key takeaways were: The Economy The economy tends to be a qu…

Welcome back! In this episode, we’re going to talk about why it’s important to get your foot in the door—THEN navigate your career. You’ll meet three Cameron-Brooks alumni who have successfully made the transition to the business world, all have been promoted and navigated their careers wisely. Two of them happen to be married! We were fortunate en…

When I meet with junior military officers JMOs to discuss their career goals, I ask them, “What will make a happy, successful career for you?” I deliberately ask them an open ended question to leave a lot of space on where they can take their answer. I might hear things like, “Using my technical skills,” “Solving problems and making an impact,” or,…

The DoD launched a pilot program in 2011 called SkillBridge. The intention of the program is to provide service members and spouses with an in-depth and real-world training opportunity as they prepare to move from active duty to post-military employment. Today, the program has grown to almost 3,000 different SkillBridge opportunities. Cameron-Brook…

Welcome back! If you’re questioning whether or not you need help with your military transition, this podcast is for you. In this episode, you will meet Colin Floyd. Colin is a former USMC Air Defense officer who attended the August 2023 Cameron-Brooks Career Conference. When I first met Colin, he was attempting to find a job on his own in a medium-…

My experience has taught me that if I want to achieve excellence in something, I should study and learn from the people who have achieved success in that area already. Why should I reinvent the wheel? So, when Cameron-Brooks Alumnus Liam Burns messaged me on LinkedIn that he wanted to be a guest on the podcast and share how he managed his 30+ year …

If you are (or have ever) considered a move from the military to the business world, you have probably wondered if the current economy will support your transition. And the question is not just, “Will I get a job when I get out of the military?” The answer to that question is invariably YES! Finding a job, any job, is not the issue. The real questi…

Today we interview three former officers and give you three keys to success! I often get positive feedback on the Post Career Conference reviews webcasts that we do after every Conference. People tell me that it is so helpful to hear the stories of recent Cameron-Brooks alumni as they navigated the Career Conference and Follow-Up Interview Process …

Welcome back. In this “3 reasons for gratitude” episode, Brock and I sat down with some coffee to discuss the benefits of being thankful and having a strong sense of gratitude. As we approach Thanksgiving, we thought it’d be a great idea to share the things that we are most thankful for in our lives that may resonate with you all. We briefly touche…

Are you waiting to prepare for your military transition? Junior military officers have a distinct advantage over those who graduate college and straight into the workforce. Simply put – they have leadership experience and leadership potential. There is just no denying that JMOs are given the opportunity to lead as soon as they hit the force. They g…

For three decades, I have led teams, coached leaders, helped thousands of Junior Military Officers (JMOs) transition to business, and worked with hiring managers to hire and develop leadership talent. One common theme is that people want meaning and purpose in their work. They want to create something or serve someone beyond themselves. They want t…

Welcome back! On this episode, we bring you a Career Conference BTS (Behind the Scenes) as we wrap up our August 2023 Career Conference. We enjoy doing these episodes because it’s a bit of a “peek over the fence” as some of our most recent alumni share their experiences through their process and journey. In this episode, we feature: Brad Franke, a …

We are in mid-September and kicking off the football season. With Cameron-Brooks Team Members who attended Texas A&M, Baylor, Notre Dame, West Point, and the Naval Academy, we are huge college football fans. Football is a holiday season here in Texas, you know. So, to celebrate, I hosted a podcast with my good friend, Troy Prehar, who played footba…

Choosing to make a move from the military is an important decision and one that most military officers do not make lightly. We understand. At Cameron-Brooks, we have over a half-century of experience helping military officers navigate that decision. Our company is led by our CEO, Chuck Alvarez, who transitioned from the Army in 1993, and our Senior…

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 bette…

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 Ass…

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 u…

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…

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 eno…

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 episo…

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 fi…

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 …

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 particula…

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 Ba…

If you are a JMO, do you have what it takes to be a Development Candidate? I interview thousands of JMOs a year who tell me they want to leave the military and continue their leadership career in business. They express the desire for increased responsibility and the opportunity to grow and develop to reach their full potential. They want to become …

Many blogs, books, and LinkedIn posts advocate negotiating the initial employment offer. Their advice sounds well-intentioned and thoughtful on the surface. They assume the company needs to provide a better offer, is holding back, and wants the candidate to negotiate. These resources provide the questions and statements to ask that will help the ca…

Welcome back for a special episode where we will give you keys to interview success! Pete Van Epps interviewed 3 of our most recent alumni from the January 2023 Career Conference for our post-January 2023 Conference review webcast. At the time of the interview, all three alumni had already accepted an offer of employment. We really enjoy doing this…

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 wi…

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 20…

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 t…

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! A…

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 t…

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…

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…

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 …

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’ st…

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. C…

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 ste…

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 publish…

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 servic…

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…

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 wit…

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 …

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. Ni…

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 t…

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 cre…

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…

Transitioning from military officer to business leader is a big change. Military and business careers present different professional and personal cultures. For example, they compensate and promote differently, and although the skills and experiences relate across the domains, functional experience rarely does. It is a big change to leave the milita…