Our Podcast

BY Joel Junker

Episode 97 – How Cameron-Brooks Helps Dual Military Couples Transition to Business

Junior Military Officers (JMOs) face numerous obstacles in making a successful transition to business.  They are switching industries (defense to business), companies (Navy, Army, Air Force, etc., to a new company), career fields (unless they are going to a defense contractor or government agency) and locations.  They have to identify companies and positions that value their background, ensure they have openings that sync up with their timelines, line up interviews and hopefully get offers they can evaluate simultaneously.

Now, imagine two people doing this simultaneously with the goal of landing a leadership development position with a leading company (in the same city)! This is exactly what dual career military couples making the transition to business have to do.  It is not just twice as complex as a JMO, it is 10 times more complex! It is so complex, in fact, most dual military couples use one of the following two strategies to decrease complexity; however, this can inevitably degrade the quality of their search and number of career choices.

Option 1: One of the officers transitions out and finds a position while the other sequences timing to be a bit later and then conducts a job search.  The downside? Usually they are geographically separated for a period of time and the trailing spouse has to do a location specific search which can significantly limit career options.   The trailing spouse does not get to fully explore their business career marketability.

Option 2: The couple searches at the same time but without a career search partner that helps them align their options and strategies.  The likelihood of both officers getting offers at the same time and in the same location is very low.  Most likely, one partner will receive an offer while the other is still searching. Or, they run into having to consider offers in different locations.  This causes one or both partners to turn down offers and limit their search to a specific location.  Also, sometimes because they cannot get all of their options lined up at the same time, one or both make significant compromises that degrades the quality of the search.

Yet, there is an Options 3: Partner with Cameron-Brooks.  When we partner with dual military couples, we get to know them individually to help their transition to business.  We then match them individually to our client companies based on their unique background and interests.  However, unlike Option 2, we match them with their spouse’s/significant other’s matches in mind.  We look to create location and company overlaps in their initial interview options.  During the follow-up interview process, we work closely with the couple and their companies. We help them develop strategies to get offers on the table simultaneously so they can make decisions together. Honestly, I have never heard of another resource able to create a successful military couple transition to business strategy other than Cameron-Brooks.

It is important to point out that for Option 3 to work, both candidates have to have strong marketability for business and great attitudes about interviewing broadly geographically and career field wise. This creates as many options as possible.  With that, I want to introduce my recent podcast guests, Marquette and Luke Leveque.  They are USNA 2010 graduates and former Navy Submarine Officers.  In fact, Marquette was one of the first female Navy Submarine Officers.  They made the transition from the Navy to Engineering Management positions with Boston Scientific in April 2018.  In fact, they are at the same facility and their children attend daycare there as well!

In this podcast, Marquette and Luke share how as a couple they partnered with Cameron-Brooks to land great careers with Boston Scientific in Minnesota.

We also had an impressive couple at our April 2020 Conference, Madeline and David Calves who accepted positions with Abiomed and Johnson & Johnson respectively in the Boston area.  They are an example of a couple accepting careers with different companies but same location. A successful dual couple transition to business!  You can watch their testimonial here.

To learn more about turning your JMO leadership skills into a successful transition and business success with Cameron-Brooks, visit our website and check out PCS to Corporate America. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Joel Junker

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS