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BY Joel Junker

Jobs for Military Officers in 2022 (the Where, How and Why)

The economy has definitely cooled from the rapid economic expansion we saw in late 2021 to early 2022.  However, there are still plenty of jobs for military officers, and we specifically experienced this at our recent August 2022 Career Conference.  During my interactions with companies, I heard three common reasons why they still needed to recruit junior military officers.

Many industries and companies are in growth mode.

While there has been a broader slowdown across the global and domestic economy, many industries and companies continue to thrive.  For example, some industries that have continued to display a need for hiring military officers include energy (alternative and traditional oil and gas), technology, semiconductor, healthcare and consumer products industries.  They need leaders as they expand production, initiate marketing projects, expand sales territories and improve customer support.  These companies want to hire leaders who have a proven track record of achieving results in a real-world environment.  Sure, they could hire someone a few years out of college or from a competitor.  These industry-hires would have the functional or technical know-how, but not all of them would have the most important trait; the ability to lead people and projects and solve problems.  Most importantly, they want leaders who have potential to assume bigger jobs as the company grows.

Companies need to fill their toughest, most-critical roles.

Other companies expressed that they had critical roles to fill.  One company had a Senior Financial Analyst role working with the marketing organization of a leading pharmaceutical company.  They needed someone who could plan and forecast financial requirements, manage budgets and allocate financial resources to key projects.  A medical device company recently launched a new product and needed a sales representative in a new growing territory.  A retail company is transforming its digital shopping experience.  They needed a project leader who could own the process for transforming the customer experience  with them on their app and website.  Other companies from the consulting industry, construction and logistics industries also fell into this category.  Even though their industries or companies are not growing as rapidly as last year, they still need to fill their most important positions.  You can learn more about the companies, positions and locations at our August Conference in this blog post.

Great companies do not turn off their leadership recruiting, they think long-term.

I learned this during my first economic downturn in the fall of 2001.  While fewer companies had jobs for military officers, there were still plenty of positions for top-performing junior officers who wanted a business career.  Then in 2008 and 2009, as deep as the recession was, I was concerned that this would remain true.  While there were fewer jobs for military officers, we still had more positions available than candidates.  Again, this held true during the Covid Pandemic slowdown in 2020.  The military continued to recruit, train and commission officers during the 2013 and military 2014 draw-down.  Great organizations do not just think about the now; they think about the future too.  My colleague Rob Davis wrote about this in our free transition guide, 3 Transition Myths Every JMO Should Know.

The caveat in all of this is…

Even though there remain many jobs for military officers, organizations have kept the bar high for making an offer of employment.  With a high bar, you have to be ready to interview and make the transition to business.  This will require preparation.  If you want to make the transition and land a great job, you need to have a plan. If you want to construct a solid plan, check out our free transition resources.

To learn more about careers for military officers available through Cameron-Brooks or how we can help you make the transition, email us at candidates@cameron-brooks.com.

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