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BY Joel Junker

June 13, 2023 | Career Management | Podcasts

Transition Strategies for JMOs With A Professional Spouse (Ep. 174)

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 their strategy after speaking with Cameron-Brooks and propelled their careers forward.

In this podcast, I interviewed Mark and Jade Rupinski. Mark, a former Army Logistics Officer, accepted a Senior Project Manager position with NextEra Energy Resources. Jade manages a legal office and will now open a new office for her firm in south Florida, near NextEra’s headquarters.

The Challenge of Narrowing to One Location

When I first met Mark in January this year, he had been applying for positions in Tampa, FL, because it would have been a good location for Jade’s career, and he thought it would have plenty of opportunities for him. After applying for many opportunities and even having some interviews, he realized that the positions and career paths did not allow him to step out and up from the military to business. He felt like most were a step down from what he had been doing. This is a typical experience when conducting a location-specific search.

Involve Your Spouse or Significant Other Early

Mark then brought Jade into our conversations, where we talked about how by allowing Mark to conduct a broader search than just Tampa, FL, he would more likely find the opportunities that would meet potential. The key would be how flexible Jade’s career could be on location. She went back to her firm, and they gave her eight cities where she could quickly move to. This allowed Mark to have nine interviews and multiple options for follow-up interviews and offers.

Agree on a Strategy Before You Start the Career Search

This is one of the most critical transition strategies for JMOs with a professional spouse. By having these conversations before they started their career search, Mark and Jade developed a strategy that allowed them to both reach their goals. To be sure, there is much complexity in managing two careers leaving the military. By gathering a lot of information well before their transition, clarifying their goals with each other, and Jade exploring options with her company, they set their goals and developed and plan. That is a recipe for success.

The mistake some couples make is that they do not gather all the information beforehand to understand their strategy’s tradeoffs. They ended up waiting until they had offers from companies and then deciding. It is much better to have these difficult conversations and have an agreed-upon plan BEFORE getting too far along in the career search. Waiting can lead to making impulsive decisions or deciding under pressure.

My goal for this podcast is to show you another way to approach the transition. Have a dialogue with your spouse and create a strategy before you start the transition. I encourage you to ask questions of a professional like Cameron-Brooks to understand the tradeoffs of different strategies. You will then more likely reach your goals.

Want to learn more about how to make a successful transition? Contact Cameron-Brooks, and we can walk you through a 50+ year proven preparation program to ensure you succeed in the interview and your career.

To stay connected, we encourage you to check out our website and YouTube Channel and follow us on LinkedIn.

If you want to learn more about your transition options, please get in touch with us.

You can also check out our Transition Guide on “3 Game-Changing Strategies for JMOs Making the Jump to Business” for additional transition tips.

To stay connected, we’d recommend subscribing to our YouTube Channel and following us on LinkedIn.