Cameron-brooks

Stuck in a rut?  Feel like you are on a professional plateau and not sure where you are going?  Wonder if you are "traveling" on the right personal or professional path?  Do you have clarity on your goals? If you have or are asking yourself these questions, good.  That means you are human and you want grow and develop.  I mean, if you didn't have these questions, you would probably be okay with the rut and plateau. I am an overachieve and never satisfied with the status quo.  There are pros and cons to this mindset, but for now, I will stick to the pros.  I ask myself these questions all the time and I recently found a model to help me answer them.  I wrote about this model during my recent Career Tip "3 Simple Questions to Spur Personal and Professional Growth". Getting clarity on your goals, finding the right path to get there and identifying what must be done to accomplish your goals starts with asking yourself a question, "What does success look like for me?"  This is a general question of course.  Y

So, you're thinking about making a transition. But where do you start? Which strategies should you focus on first? We live in the information age. Every generation after us will have more information and faster access than ever before. Which also means the amount of information out there can be overwhelming. Imagine walking into the Library of Congress. You have over 170 million items to choose   from, if you so please. Now imagine there was no librarian or digital categorization or even a card catalog. You'd have to search 170 million different items to find what you wanted. Yikes. I imagine this is how it feels for military officers who are thinking about making a transition and don't quite know where to start. Often I hear, "researching new industries/career fields/job listings is confusing and, honestly, overwhelming" from officers. We'd suggest embracing these four mindsets to help you get started and, ultimately, succeed in reaching your goals. MINDSET #1: Be curious. Ask questions. If you were lo

So, here we are - July 2021. Is the economy back?  Well, there are probably way too many factors at play to truly allow that to be a binary YES or NO, BUT at the Cameron-Brooks June 2021 Career Conference, the average number of interviews per JMO was 13. You read that right. The average number of interviews that officers had was 13 interviews with industry-leading companies who attended the Conference with actual open positions that they plan to fill with non-traditional leadership talent (aka JMOs). One of the hardest things JMOs have to do once they make a decision to leave active duty military is navigating the treacherous waters of the application and interview process.  In this episode, we hear from 4 Cameron-Brooks alumni who attended that Conference and successfully navigated those waters. The intention of this episode is to give you a "peek behind the curtain" in terms of WHAT they saw, HOW they made decisions, and WHY they chose or did certain things. I guide the conversation and we hit on a few ke

Problem solving and project management are closely related, but they are not exactly the same.  Personally, I differentiate them this way: Problem: I am getting one result when I am expecting or need a different one. Project: I like quality guru, J.M. Juran's, definition “a problem that has been scheduled for a solution.” This podcast is not about how to solve problems or manage projects but rather how to answer questions about them in an interview and how to differentiate.  We would have to write a book if this post or podcast was about the topics themselves and there are plenty of other great books out there on each topic. I often hear from JMOs transitioning asking for help in differentiating questions about the two subjects.  Once you listen to this podcast, you will have clarity on how to answer each question and even be able to modify answers that you have already created to them. I explain why recruiters ask about your ability, experience or methods in solving problems and managing projects.  I a

Welcome back! I am excited to bring you my conversation with Cameron-Brooks alumnus, author, business leader and all-around good guy, CORY BOUCK! Our conversation weaves in and out of how Cory's military experience has impacted his business career, how he's propeled himself into greater levels of success, leadership, and career progression advice/observations (i.e. does your career need to be a ladder?). Cory shares his career journey during the podcast, so we will hit the highlights, here. Cory is the Asia/Pacific Regional Business Director at Johnsonville Sausage, and is the author of The Lens of Leadership: Being the Leader Others Want to Follow. He is maniacally committed to profitable volume growth through a "Serve-Build-Inspire!" leadership philosophy. Cory is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and also served there as a leadership instructor.  Cory graduated in the top one percent of student leadership ranks.  As an instructor, he led a team of civilian PhDs and military instructors in managing the conten

What are the most common resume writing mistakes and how can you avoid them? Cameron-Brooks is a professional services firm and resume writing and consultancy falls under the term “services”. It’s actually one of the key steps before attending a Conference. We review hundreds of resumes, helping each of our candidates craft the perfect document. On this episode of the Cameron-Brooks podcast, we sit down with our Head Resume Consultant, Danielle Granville. Danielle works closely with our candidates before each conference from sending out resume guidelines, setting up one-on-one consultative phone calls and assisting throughout the process from resume inception to final state. We review the Cameron-Brooks resume writing process, how it's unique and tackle the top five resume mistakes we see most often and share tips on how to avoid them. The top 5 resume mistakes we see include ... Wrong format / length Misunderstanding your target audience Not adding results to your accomplishment bullets Lack of

Are you still in the military and either anticipating attending a Cameron-Brooks Career Conference or considering if a partnership with Cameron-Brooks is worth your while? If so, you've landed on the right podcast! In this episode, Joel interviews 4 recent alumni who attended the April 2021 Career Conference. Here is their background: Jeanece Kelly: CAPT, Air Force Force Support David Addams: MAJ, Army Aviation/Acquisitions Dorothy Krebill: CPT, Army Signal Jason McCarty: CPT, Army Infantry/Cyber The group covers a wide array of topics and answers many questions like: What does a Cameron-Brooks partnership look like? What if you are a more senior JMO or beyond? How can Cameron-Brooks help me translate my military background? What does a "typical" interview schedule look like at a Career Conference? What type of companies attended the April 2021 Career Conference? How can I get an edge at the Conference? What can I expect from the Follow up Interview Process? Navigating the move from

Welcome back to PART 2 of our Frequently Asked Questions conversation! We covered the first set of FAQs on podcast episode 121.  Our goal for these episodes is to help officers who are considering a transition (or who are curious) learn more about Cameron-Brooks as a transition resource. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) we cover: Timing - when should you start? What's normal? As we discussed in Episodes 114 and 116, our purpose is to help officers "transition" and in doing so, avoid the early career do-overs. In order to do that effectively, two things must exist. We must know you professionally and have a relationship. Who you are. What you are good at. What you like and are interested in. How you see yourself. You must be prepared to interview with Corporate America. There must be a level of interview prep that occurs in orders to maximize the outcome of 10-12 interviews. Next, officers ask about our Mutually Accountability Partnership (most call it an "Exclusivity Clause" initially. Although w

Welcome back to another addition of the podcast! Many of the people who have chosen to partner with Cameron-Brooks already know much about our model - who we are, what we do, how we do it and our relationship with the companies who come to us seeking to hire Junior Military Officers. That said, even people who know a lot about who we are had to start somewhere. That start is usually defined by doing research and that research often includes an informational phone call with a team member at Cameron-Brooks. Hope happens to be one of the team members at Cameron-Brooks who spends a lot of time with officers looking for more information. Though we publish a list of FAQs HERE and HERE , Hope thought it would be a good idea to cover some of the most frequently asked questions on the podcast. I couldn't agree more! So, Hope, Joel and I hit the record button and Hope led us through a series of questions she receives most often. We only covered 7 questions but the session took about an hour and twenty minutes, so we

Welcome back! On this episode of the Cameron-Brooks podcast, we continue our series of interview tips to help elevate your interview game. Of course the ultimate goal in moving from the military to Corporate America is to chose the best opportunity amongst many and avoid any early career "do-overs." More on that HERE and HERE and HERE! For now, here are the three most common reasons that we see as to why people get ruled out of interviews. Rapport! All too often I see an officer so focused on delivering the perfect answer that they lose sight of the conversational nature of the interview. This means having a good back-and-forth dialogue in order for the hiring manager to further explain the company and/or opportunity and for you to explain your interest and fit. Unfortunately, sometimes an inexperienced interviewer will see the interview more like a military board than a conversation. Connect! Often in workshops and mock interviews I will ask a military officer if the position we are practicing with is a

I am frequently asked, “How do I answer the interview question, ‘What are your short- and long-term goals?’ when I'm not sure what I want to do for a career in business right now?” Over the past few years, we've written a couple of blog posts on this topic.  One of the comprehensive posts was "Tips on Answering 'What Are Your Short and Long Term Goals?'" in May of 2015.  I encourage you to read this particular post and listen to the podcast where I expound on why recruiters ask this questions and how to approach the answer to make an impact. In the podcast, I demystify this question and cover: The recruiter's real question or question behind the question is, “What are your short- and long-term goals because I want to know what you want to do. And, I want to know if you can achieve those goals in my organization and be happy.  Are we the right match for one another?”  Tips on how to balance being specific with your goals but not so specific that you rule yourself out because a particular goal is not a

Welcome back! This is the continuation of our conversation with Cameron-Brooks President and CEO, Chuck Alvarez all stemming from Episode 114. In that podcast, Chuck took a look back at 2020 and a look forward to 2021. From that conversation, he further defined the JMO "transition" in Episode 116 and is back to talk more about comparing options in the process. Chuck has personally helped over 5,300 officers move from the military to Corporate America. On this episode, he sheds light on the benefits of comparing career options and how it can be one of the most reliable and effect ways to launch a career in a new industry. What is the means by which a person could be able to place value on a choice? How do officers assign value amongst many choices?  We explore the fact that we all make decisions in either isolation or in relation to other choices and how relativity can be a very powerful tool. In the military, we've been trained to compare at least three courses of action relative to each other. Circumventing

On the forefront of every job seeker's mind? How to interview during a global pandemic. Let's introduce you to Madeline Calves. She is a former USMC Communications officer who attended our very first virtual Career Conference in April 2020. Madeline launched her career with Abiomed, a leading medical device company that makes products to help revitalize patients in preparation for important surgical procedures. When we spoke last month, Madeline was completing an intricate training program in preparation for her role as a medical device sales representative. Madeline is excited because she knows that the products she will represent literally change people's lives. Although Madeline has been with Abiomed for less than a year, we wanted to share her thoughts and experiences around virtual interviewing. Her candidate class was the first group of candidates to interview during the pandemic. We thought the topic was still incredibly relevant. Let's flash back to April 2020. Although Madeline had been in the Cam

Welcome back! In this episode we are continuing the conversation with Cameron-Brooks President and CEO, Chuck Alvarez. In Episode 114, Joel Junker interviewed Chuck as they explored how Cameron-Brooks helped Junior Military Officers (JMOs) move from the military to Corporate American in 2020 (during a global pandemic.) Chuck also looked forward to 2021 and shared his predictions on how things would shape up. In that episode, Chuck defined the word "transition", or at least how we define that word. In the process, he provided some much needed clarity and tangibility to the idea of a JMO transition. In this episode, I asked to Chuck to go deeper on the topic. In doing so, he makes some points in the conversation that I think will really help JMOs in their decision making process regarding a "transition." A major concern that executives in Corporate America consistently face is ensuring that their leadership bench at the Director and Vice President level is full of talent. Like the military, companies must be d

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Cameron-Brooks Podcast.  I caught up with Cameron-Brooks Alumnus, Dave Hanson, who transitioned from the Army to Love's Travel Stops in 2015.  As one of the first Cameron-Brooks Alumni to transition to Love's, Dave knows a lot about career management to include self-development, being a giver and the value of the part-time MBA. As we got into the dialogue, I initially thought this episode would be about being patient, being a giver and then you will have opportunities to advance and increase responsibility.  However, Dave and I started talking about his MBA.  While working at Love's, Dave started and completed his MBA at University of Massachusetts Amherst.  We talked about the pro's and con's of the part-time MBA while working versus transitioning out of the military and to an MBA program.  Dave talks about his ability to apply what he was learning while working as well as the opportunity to bring real world work problems to the classroom.  Additionally, since

Well, here we are!  The beginning of 2021.  What were you thinking about one year ago?  I'll share what I was thinking about:  I had big goals for growing our reach with JMO candidates.  Our client companies had predicted a lot of openings throughout 2020 and, together with our recruiting team, we needed to find the most talented JMOs who were making a transition and wanted to become the next generation of business leaders.  All of this looked on track by the end of February after a great January 2020 Conference.  Then, within weeks, my thoughts went from record setting to reorganizing expectations. We changed our conferences from an in-person format to a virtual experience, organizing our office to support social distancing, conducting Zoom trainings, and more. The changes brought about by the announcement of a global pandemic impacted every facet of the economy.  In fact, unemployment rose to a record 14.7% within a month and GDP dropped in the second quarter to the worst since the Great Depression on an

One of the most common idioms in the English language is, "Don't put all of your eggs in one basket." When discussing our partnership agreement with military officers, this phrase comes up quite often. We tackled the topic of our partnership during a recent in-depth podcast episode. However, we thought it would be helpful to address this specific phrase as it relates to crafting a successful transition strategy. So what do officers mean when they say, "I'm not sure about putting my eggs in one basket?" Typically, the idiom encourages eliminating risk when possible (i.e. investing in a diverse financial portfolio or diversifying your skillset). Officers want to eliminate risk in their transition. How do you eliminate risk? As a military recruiting firm that's been in business for over 50 years, we have a few ideas. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Seek out expert advice. Diversify your strategies (i.e. career fields, industries, locations, etc.). During this podcast, we touch on this idiom and how it rela

Several years ago I received feedback from a leadership assessment that in an attempt to help my team members solve problems, I was actually making them feel "less than" and defeated.  Team members would bring me problems or challenges, and loaded with so much experience, I thought it best to give them advice on how to solve it.  Instead of listening and asking questions, I'd send them on their way better off with my wisdom! As I listened to this feedback, I was dumbfounded on one hand and felt kind of dumb on the other hand.  Of course quickly solving issues and offering advice would have the opposite of the intended effect.  This is actually how I feel when I just want to share with someone else what is on my mind and want help processing it. I actually don't want the person to solve it for me, I just want support.  Support means, listening, asking questions and understanding.  Help me think this through. About the time I got this feedback, I listened to Michael Bungay-Stanier talk about his new book, The

Did you know that less than 8% of the people who make New Year's Resolutions keep them to the end of the year? Today on the podcast, we encourage you to be the 8% with the will-power supercharger emotion: gratitude. On the Cameron-Brooks podcast, many of our discussions and topics revolve around career success and the journey on how to get there. A large number of our candidates have been successful in the military and, subsequently, our alumni have been successful in the business world because of their grit, determination and perseverance. And these qualities are important to have and important to practice. But how do we sustain them? I’m sure a large portion of our alumni can remember struggling to work their way through our reading list and DPP. It’s a self-paced program! We even sometimes call it a “Mini MBA”. And like any type of academic work, it takes willpower to work your way through the curriculum. However, willpower can be fleeting. In our research for this mini-sode, we stumbled across a Hap

One of the most frequently asked questions we receive as a military recruiting firm? Do you have a partnership agreement? We encourage military officers to ask this question (check out our full list of recommendations, here) as they begin their initial transition research. Each military recruiting firm has a different flavor. Some require a signed agreement, some have partnerships, and others don't require anything at all. Asking these questions during your initial conversations with a recruiting firm will help you determine your best fit. Through our experience, we have found the dynamic of a partnership agreement to mirror that of a friendship. When building a new friendship, you both mutually agree to invest in the relationship by getting to know each other, prioritizing your time together and being present when it really counts. If there is no agreement to invest in each other, there is no friendship. You can't count on the other person because the depth of the relationship doesn't exist. On this epis