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BY Joel Junker

What a Military Internship and a Recruiting Firm Have in Common

Making a decision to transition from the military is a life changing one.  To make things more complicated to an already often stressful situation, the process of transitioning requires JMOs to submit a resignation from the military often months before they have a job lined up “on the outside.”

Traditionally, there were just a couple of avenues in which an officer could initiate and facilitate their transitions (like personal networking, recruiting firms, transition assistance classes, etc.). Now we’ve started to see and hear more about different military internship programs.  The DoD has started a program called Skillbridge that seeks to help facilitate the transition and subsequent employment of military members as they leave the service.

Many officers we speak with have questions about how an internship might compare to working with a recruiting firm.

While not all inclusive by any means, below is a comparison chart comparing military internships with a Cameron-Brooks Career Search that we offer to the JMOs with whom we partner:

As you can see from the chart above, an internship of some kind may be the best option for those who know confidently, or better yet, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what industry and type of work they want to do and/or there is a compelling need/reason to be in a specific city or location.   If you are looking to pivot your career into a very specialized function or location, there may be no better way to do this than an internship.  But for those JMOs who are not sure exactly where they fit into Corporate America, want to fully explore their options, and lead with their leadership experience, utilizing a transition firm like Cameron-Brooks may be the very best way to ensure you make the successful transition beyond simply finding employment.

If you are interested in learning even more about the pros and cons of a military internship and how they compare to transition firms, I encourage you to listen to our podcasts on the subject divided into two parts with part 1 found here and part two found here.  You can also check out our white paper regarding the 3 misconceptions you should know about internships found here.

If you are working your way through some of these thoughts, let’s chat! Fill out a Contact Us Form on our website, and one of our team members will be in touch. Or feel free to dial us directly at 210-874-1500. You can also stay connected by following us on LinkedIn.

 

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