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For a JMO making a military transition, we can present a variety of careers in Corporate America.

Curious about the value of your Top Secret or Secret Clearance status? You’ll want to read the section about Top Secret and Secret Clearance Requirements.

You will find Cameron-Brooks offers many of the career fields that are available in Corporate America. To be as successful as you can in your transition, it’s recommended that you review and learn as much as you can about all of the career fields listed below.

Since a lot of career fields are interrelated, the more you learn, the better you will perform in your new career. This will also give you a good idea of where you might best fit in the business world.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:

Definition: The development, implementation and maintenance of information technology systems to increase innovation, information flow and the value of goods and services provided to customers.

General: In today's global business environment, sharing knowledge and information is a powerful advantage. E-Commerce is one of the fastest growing business trends in business history. All companies are investing in IT infrastructure to get closer to customers, customize products and services, leverage the Internet, improve decision making, improve innovation, increase time to market, and improve productivity on a global scale. The faster a company can speed information across an organization, the faster it can make decisions and meet customer needs. Information technology continues to be the enabler of a fundamental shift in how companies look at their businesses, markets, customers and organizational capabilities. Companies are looking for technology savvy leaders who can help the organization develop and deploy IT infrastructure that impacts on business capability and results.

Key Connecting Points:
Information technology (IT) skills: All IT positions require some degree of computer skills—PCs, networks, programming languages, client-server, relational databases, software development, etc. Whether you have user-level skills or advanced IT experience, you must show an interest and aptitude for developing your skills and for having your career in an IT environment.

Problem solving skills: All IT positions require you to apply technology to solve business problems. Technology by itself is useless unless it improves the way a company does business. Look at your military jobs for projects where you applied information technology to improve the quality of work you were doing. This could be from something as simple as developing an Excel spreadsheet to designing and implementing a LAN or computer application.

Leadership skills: You will work cross-functionally where you will be required to motivate and influence people over whom you have no direct authority (but you have total responsibility for results). You must be able to persuade them with your indirect leadership and interpersonal skills. You will interact with your internal customers to understand their work environment, define business problems, and communicate your ideas regarding opportunities for improvement. Highlight examples from the military where you influenced and motivated people where you could not use your rank to dictate their actions.

Project management skills: You must be able to drive complex projects from start to finish. You will work with internal customers to define project scope, develop specifications, analyze resource requirements, establish timelines, manage budgets, resolve conflict, work with external vendors and manage the project to conclusion. Use difficult projects from your military experience as proof of your project management skills.

Broad scope: IT crosses functional lines in a company. You will work on IT projects in many areas of the company such as distribution, sales, marketing, production, operations, and finance.

Possible Job Titles:
System Analyst
Operations Analyst
Business Analyst

Sample Job Description - IT Please keep in mind the following job descriptions are just two of many possible IT job descriptions.

As a Systems Analyst, you will provide IT project management and analysis to support the business groups in your company (sales, marketing, manufacturing, finance, etc.) You will work closely with your internal customers to understand business needs and develop IT solutions that add value to business results. Due to the rapidly changing business climate, you will play a large role in proactively finding ways to use IT to improve company capabilities. You will perform IT program management and analysis, helping your internal customer use IT to become more successful. You will work closely with your internal customer to gather and document their requirements, provide proactive, closure-oriented project management support, coordinate and execute system or application testing, perform risk analysis, and prepare and deliver presentations. You will get involved in the management of large scale projects that cross multiple systems and platforms. Any experience with PC, client server, Internet, or mainframe platforms is relevant. PC proficiency, including MS Office Suite, strong organizational and interpersonal skills, and an aptitude for integrating IT into business processes are essential.

As a Project Manager, you will analyze project proposals and scope documents recommending the most appropriate planning and scheduling formats. You will implement and maintain schedule reporting systems ensuring status visibility and project control. You will assist the program and functional managers in analyzing schedule problems and in developing contingency plans to ensure timely project delivery. You will compile baseline/actual statistics to improve planning process accuracy and effectiveness. This position requires a good understanding of project management disciplines, budgeting constraint analysis, and scheduling, as well as strong communication, presentation, and negotiating skills. You must have a strong desire to work in a dynamic IT environment. A strong aptitude for project management software is a plus.