Our Blog

BY Joel Junker

Attitude, Aptitude & The April 2018 Career Conference

Tomorrow and Friday, the Cameron-Brooks team and April Candidates will travel to Chicago, IL to begin our Second Career Conference of 2018!  We are continuing to see strong demand from our client companies looking for standout, well-prepared JMOs.  We are excited to have a great group of companies, represented by hiring managers, ready to fill open positions with their companies! We also have an outstanding group of JMO candidates attending this Conference, and as we put the finishing touches on our candidate’s interview schedules, we anticipate the average number of interviews to be ~12 per candidate.  The average months the April Candidates have been in the Cameron-Brooks program has been 10+ months and nearly 25% of the April Candidates have been in the program for at least 15 months.

Military officers began as an atypical recruiting source for Corporate America nearly fifty years ago when Roger Cameron and Rene Brooks started the JMO recruiting industry.  Although it has become much more mainstream over the past several decades, it still remains an atypical source of leadership talent for commercial business.    When a company attends one of our Career Conferences, they realize they are getting both a high performing JMO with a high potential to be a future leader in business, but they are also getting an individual that, in most cases, has no prior business experience.  The company will have to spend time, money, resources, etc to train them on the business, company, position, etc. They do it because they know they are getting the high performance and potential but it’s not without some risk on their part.   It is important to bear this in mind when you are interviewing with a company and to approach your interviews accordingly.

As officers serving in the military, you have been successful because you have taken a selfless service approach to your unit, soldiers, chain of command, etc.  You have put them above your own needs and as a result, you have earned their respect, trust, and loyalty.   As you transition to the business world, it’s critical you don’t stray from what made you so successful in the military.  Imagine if you were a hiring manager for a leading commercial company looking to hire a JMO and that JMO walks into the interview with a very “me-centric” attitude.  Ask yourself….how likely would you be to pursue that candidate even if they have all the skills and aptitude required to do the job?  There is absolutely a time and place to put yourself first, but you have to choose the appropriate time and that should be when you have offers in hand and you can then weigh the options and choose the best one for you and your family.   The good news is that in a meritocracy like Corporate America, that selfless service tends to be paid back much more quickly than in the military.  Companies recognize, value, and reward those that approach their work with the right attitude.

So my advice to all of the April 2018 Candidates and any JMO preparing to transition to Corporate America is to approach your interviews in the same manner that got you to this point in your military careers; demonstrate a good attitude and show the value and skills you can bring to a company and/or organization.  The rest will take care of itself.

We have a great line up of opportunities for our April Candidates!

Sample industries include:  Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, Energy Sector, Professional Services, Building Materials, Transportation, High Technology, Consumer Package Goods, Automotive, and more.

Sample companies include:  Lam Research Corporation, Boston Scientific, Michelin North America, ExxonMobil, Johnson & Johnson, Asurion, Russell Reynolds Associates, Schneider National, DaVita Healthcare, Altec Industries, Medtronic, Enerflex Energy Systems, and many more.

Sample positions include: Manager, Analytics, Process Engineer, Production Shift Manager, Field Clinical Representative, General Manager, Shipping & Logistics Manager, Research & Engineering IT, Senior Audit Analyst, Senior Associate, Distribution Site Manager, Territory Manager, Pilot Manufacturing/Test Engineer, Operations Manager, Industrial Progress Engineer, Business Unit Leader, District Manager, Area Field Marketing Manager, and many more.

Sample locations include:  Los Angeles, CA; Minneapolis, MN; Nashville, TN; Philadelphia, PA; Las Vegas, NV; St Louis, MO; Brooklyn, NY; San Francisco, CA; Indianapolis, IN; Grand Rapids, MI; Houston, TX; Boston, MA; Raleigh, NC; Seattle, WA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Louisville, KY; San Antonio, TX; Atlanta, GA; Cleveland, OH; Denver, CO; and many more.

Lastly, if you haven’t already, check out our iTunes podcast either on your podcast app or here. On the podcast, we interview Cameron-Brooks alumni who are making an impact in the business world. The podcast features alumni from different military backgrounds who went into a variety of roles across companies and industries.

Stay tuned to next week when I’ll be back to post the results of the April 2018 Career Conference!

Rob Davis