Our Blog

BY Joel Junker

JMO-to-Business: June 2023 Career Conference Results

We have now concluded our third JMO-to-Business Career Conference of 2023, and we are in the beginning stages of coordinating follow-up interviews to continue the process of launching post-military careers.  The follow-up process consists of a mix of virtual and in-person interviews with companies where there was mutual interest in moving forward in the interview process.  Because the majority of the interviews at the Career Conference are conducted by the hiring managers, the follow-up interview process moves very quickly and will conclude within 18 working days after the Conference.  There are already second interviews being scheduled as early as next Monday!

So, for the next two to three weeks, the candidates will be involved in the follow-up interview process, earning offers and then launching their new careers.  All of us at Cameron-Brooks want to give a very sincere and heartfelt thank you to all of the candidates and client companies who decided to partner with us.

So what were the statistics?

We had 42 candidates, 30 distinct companies, and nearly 40 different hiring groups attend the conference.  Additionally, 16 Cameron-Brooks alumni returned to recruit and find top JMO talent for their organizations.

The JMO-to-business candidates conducted nearly 450 interviews, with an average of 10.6 interviews per candidate!  The pursuit rate for this Career Conference was 66.9%.  The “pursuit rate” is defined as the number of interviews in which the candidates achieved success divided by the total number of their interviews.  “Achieving success” in an interview at the Career Conference simply means the candidates got over the “bar” set by our client companies, and the companies expressed interest in moving forward with the candidate.

As I stated in the pre-June Career Conference blog post, the candidates are playing a different “sport” thus far in 2023 when it comes to interviews and their career search.  This is not 2021 or 2022, where we saw many remote positions and companies were willing to bend a bit more on specific locations, etc. to make accommodations for the candidate because the need to hire was so great from coming out of the pandemic.  This is an economy where it is more about quality than quantity.  In other words, it’s important to focus on the quality of the company and having a quality interview to get pursued rather than a certain number of interviews.

The good news is there are plenty of opportunities out there for JMOs wanting to transition to the business world, and each of the hiring groups at this Career Conference attended with open positions they are looking to fill with top JMO talent!  And 100% of the June candidates have companies expressing interest in moving forward in the interview process!

Interested in exploring your options with Cameron-Brooks?  Curious about how to make a successful JMO-to-business transition?  Check out our website,  YouTube Channel, and follow us on LinkedIn.  Additionally, our latest podcast (Episode 174) discusses how to make the successful transition when you have a working professional spouse.  You can listen to that podcast here.

Stay tuned!!  On July 6th, my colleague Pete Van Epps will conduct a post-Career Conference webcast that will include several Conference candidates who will have just finished their career search.  Our alumni will share their experiences, recommendations, and answers to your questions.  For information on how to attend this webinar, please reach out to our team at candidates@cameron-brooks.com.

If you are a JMO considering a transition to business and would like to be part of a future Cameron-Brooks Career Conference, reach out to us for a personal consultation with one of our Transition Coaches.

Rob Davis