Episodes

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,

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 episode features three of our most recent alumni – each attending the June 2023 Career Conference. Ben Carey is a 7-year Space Force Captain who is ...

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,

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 episode, you will learn transition strategies for JMOs with a professional spouse. You will want to listen to this podcast to hear how one couple pivoted t...

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 first name or more formally? Do you have the same questions? Hear Directly from a Hiring Manager You can listen to this podcast and hear directly from...

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 Lu...

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 particularly valuable as it allows those who are planning to attend an upcoming or future Career Conference a glimpse behind the curtain to how everything tran...

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 Battalion Maintenance Management Officer, Platoon Commander, Battalion Motor Transport Officer, and Joint Logistics Directorate Officer. Connor has a de...

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.

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 candidate earn more base salary, signing bonus, and potentially more vacation. Unfortunately, these well-intentioned advisors do not explain the risks o...

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 type of episode because it gives those who are planning to attend a future Career Conference (or those who are curious about the details of the confe...

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 within Koch Industries, is one of the world’s largest integrated producers of polymers, chemicals, and fibers. Why INVISTA? Chris earned many offers t...

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 2023. I recorded the full interview on December 15, 2022, in a webcast format that you can watch here. You can also listen to the first of the intervie...

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 that you can watch here. If you prefer to listen to it, follow the links in this post. We started this at the end of 2020 to educate officers on the u...

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! As you can imagine, she has seen a lot in that time. In this episode, we take it all the way to the beginning. As a native of California, she met Roge...

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 the Air Force was as a data analyst working on missile telemetry within a fighter squadron. Lam is foundational to the semiconductor industry, and the...

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 a roadmap to help you reach your goals. Like any roadmap, I help you identify your destination, the different routes to get there and where you can ...

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. Coincidently, I spoke with C-B Alumnus Chris Parks that day. Chris called asking me for advice. He just had an incredible offer to leave his current...

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 for...

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’ steps for career success. One such former military officer I recommend following is Ben Berkowick. I first met Ben in Pensacola, FL in December of 2008....

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. Chiefly, I explain how that same investing discipline applies to making sacrifices and tradeoffs early in your career, leading to reaching your career ...

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 stereotype where a lot of misconceptions about business are founded. I’ve had multiple conversations with military officers who have told me something ...

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 u...

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 service members by allowing them to participate in industry training programs while transitioning out of their military careers. Cameron-Brooks is an appro...