I am a veteran of the US Air Force and I am seeking a mentor to help guide me into a role commensurate with my education and experience. I worked in the Security Forces career field while in the Air Force and I have been working in Personal Protection and Diplomatic Protection since 2010 domestically and internationally. I have a BA and Masters in Criminal Justice and I am graduating on Feb. 15th, 2015, with an MBA in Global Business Management. I am interested in transitioning to a corporate security management role or an entry level MBA role. I am interested in the Oil and Gas sector and the Aerospace and Defense sector. I look forward to some much needed help and guidance.
Answers
Hello Beau, Happy Holidays!
I agree that the Aerospace and Defense (A&D) industry is a good area with which to devote a portion of your search. They are especially veteran friendly and obviously play in the security arena at many different levels. A portion of that opportunity may be encumbered by the continuing budget/cost pressures currently being experience across that industry. Many A&D companies have looked to reduce or contain costs by subcontracting out for a lot of security related positions. This weakness however leads to strengths in other areas which in this case are those same security focused subcontractors.
G4S (formerly Wackenhut) is “the world's leading international security solutions group, with more than 50,000 employees across the United States and Canada” is one such company. They too are quite veteran friendly. http://www.g4s.us/en-US/Careers/Veterans/
Back to the prime A&D prospects:
Lockheed Martin http://www.lockheedmartinjobs.com/
Boeing http://jobs-boeing.com/careers/Military-Skills
Northrup Grumman http://www.northropgrumman.com/Careers/MilitaryVeterans/Pages/default.aspx
Raytheon http://jobs.raytheon.com/en/transitioning-military
Another great opportunity is with your current employer, the USG. “The Federal Government has a long and outstanding record of employing veterans. Veterans have technical skills in areas of critical importance, and many also already have security clearances required for some Federal positions. Federal service provides a means for veterans to continue their noble service to this country”. A quick search on security at their web site produced ~5000 hits.
https://www.usajobs.gov/Veterans
This particular site focuses on jobs requiring security clearances and requires that you currently have an active clearance: https://www.clearancejobs.com/?action=quick_register&ref=sem&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Job%20Seeker-Bing&utm_term=defence%20career%20board&gclid=CLip6PeO5MICFQrQ4AodTB0AuQ&gclsrc=ds
Starting with those avenues should give you plenty to think about and consider for the near term.
I hope this has been helpful. Good luck!
Hi Beau,
The area in which you are looking for a career is growing at a tremendous rate; corporate and cybersecurity (closely tied in now a days). Given the dynamic nature of the team, you will be given continuous training; make sure you take advantage of each of them. Most people focus on external strengths, but do remember most of the threats are internal in nature; either personnel, or the weaknesses of systems and process. Hence, also focus on security auditing, business continuity and disaster recovery.
In the security paradigm, Corporate organization structure does not match Service organizational structures; your access will be and should be to the C level decision makers, and not just up the food chain; develop communication and presentation skills that is capable of talking their language.
Good luck
Ravi
Thanks Tania, I will take a look and see what they have open.
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